Iceland

They call it ‘The Land of Fire and Ice’ and the geography of Iceland is as dramatic as that sounds.

Volcanoes and glaciers dominate the landscape here. The huge Vatnajökull Glacier alone covers eight percent of the island’s landmass – and seven of its active volcanoes.

Up to 500 earthquakes are recorded in Iceland each week. Fortunately significant volcanic events are less frequent, but occasionally those rumbles under the ice build to a full scale eruption. The last one was in 2010. The resulting ash plume closed most of Europe’s airspace for six days.

In some ways ‘Fire and Ice’ seems an apt description for the people here, too. Icelanders are strong and resilient, and fiercely proud of their heritage. At the same time the country is a powerhouse of contemporary culture – music, art, literature, film. It’s a fascinating country.

Iceland is home to around 360,000 people; of those more than a third live in the capital, Reykjavik

It's a small city with a great energy

The Harper Concert Hall

And the Hallgrímskirkja church; the statue is of Leif Eiriksson, the first European to arrive in America (in the year 1000, almost 500 years before Columbus)

Reykjavik's Old Harbour

And the wonderful 'Sun Voyager' sculpture

Making new friends

We enjoyed our few days in Reykjavik but then it was time to hit the road

Thingvellir National Park and the site of Iceland's parliament from the 10th to 18th centuries

Thingvellir is located right in the middle of the rift valley where the North American and Eurasion tectonic plates are drifting apart at a rate of about 2cm a year

In the park's Silfra fissure it's possible to swim between the two plates; that water is about 2C

Not a road sign you see every day

We spent about a week driving along Iceland's south coast

For much of that time the days were grey and the clouds low

It was dramatic and seemed somehow entirely appropriate

Iceland is Europe's most sparsely populated country

And it must also be one of the most beautiful

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

The country is located in the North Atlantic Ocean, just south of the Arctic Circle

So the climate is generally milder than you'd expect (though 'mild' would be a subjective concept)

Lamb huts at Keldur, a farm that has existed since the Middle Ages

 

Iceland's black sand beaches are extraordinary

 

 

 

The most common religion is the Lutheran State Church

And most tiny communities, and even large farms, have their own church

 

 

Halfway through our trip and we couldn't wait to see more