Some Better, Not Much Worse, A Lot Different!

You know the saying, "Not better, not worse, just different?"  Well, that applies in many ways, especially when traveling.  On this trip, however, I have found that there are some things in Iceland that are just better than what we are doing in the U.S., there isn't much that is worse, but there is a lot that is different.  For example:

Better:

1. Towel bar heaters in most standard hotel rooms :)
2. Spelt flour - makes breading for fish light and airy
3. Geothermal energy to heat water and lights - very ecological friendly
4. Beautiful rest areas with clean bathrooms
5. Drivers.  They drive the speed limit, they do not drink and drive, they buckle their seat belts, they are courteous.  Novel idea!
6. Their English is wonderful.  We have yet to find someone who does not speak English well.
7. The drinking water tastes wonderful!

Worse:

1. Prices.  Now, mind you, some of it is a bit illusory since the krone is worth 7 cents, US Dollar.  So a meal that is $4,300 krone is about $35.  A car is over 2 million krone.  But nevertheless, it is expensive here.
2. Weather.  It is even more changeable than Kansas, though milder.  It is very wet, however, so rain jackets are a must.  And we are wearing our winter coats.
3. Geothermal hot water.  It smells a little like sulphur.  So I wonder if we smell like sulphur, though it might be a bit like garlic.  If everyone smells that way, no one notices.

Different:

1. Fold-up supports that can be used for older or handicapped people in the restrooms.  They appear to be standard - at least in women's bathrooms - and I know would be wonderful to have in the USA for people who have trouble sitting down.  Then again, they would probably be ruined in the US.
2. The asphalt used in paving.  It is very noisy, but I am sure it is because they have to make it to withstand all of the snow.
3. Credit cards for gas.  They not only have to have a chip (which we have), but they also need a 4-number PIN, which we do not have.  Tricky.
4. There are many more . . . I will post another series later on!

More Fosses

We are really getting into this Icelandic language!  We now know the reason for such long names - they just put together a variety of words to make another bigger word.

We visited two waterfalls today - Seljalandsfoss and Skogafoss.  Seljalansfoss is the waterfall at Seljalands; Skogafoss is the waterfall at Skogar.  Easy, huh?  Well, not exactly.

Anyway, the Seljalandsfoss is a very large waterfall, but the cool (literally) part is that one can walk behind the waterfall.  It sounds better than it really is.  First, going up the rickety metal stairs, we were blasted with a wind and rain that soaked our jeans.

We could handle it, however, and walked behind the cascade.

It was a muddy mess.  On the other side, we noticed there were no stairs - just a path with volcanic rocks on it.  We began to climb it, and it didn't seem too bad . . . until I put my foot on what appeared to be a rock but was instead a deep mud hole.  Oh dear - my brand new hikers!

They were gray!

The good news is that most of the mud eventually dropped off, and my feet never got wet!

As recompense for the mess, however, we purchased a lovely handknitted Icelandic sweater for me.  It is warm and prettier than many of the things I own, so I imagine I will be wearing it a lot next winter!

Icelandic Horses

One of the things we had read about were the Icelandic horses.  They were originally brought here in the 800's, and since then, no other horses have been allowed in the country.  These horses therefore, are a very pure breed, and over the years they have adapted to the cold weather.  They are stocky like a draft horse, and their manes and tails remind us of Shetland Ponies.  They are also smaller than most horses in the States.

Horseback riding is a very popular activity here, and the horses are used to round up the sheep that roam in the summertime.  We were not expecting to see the numbers of horses and horse farms we have seen, but we suspect it is a very expensive hobby.

Gullfoss

Well, we finally figured it out.  Why are there so many Fosses in Iceland?  Once we realized foss means waterfall, we understood.  Because there are a lot of them.  But one of the most spectacular is Gullfoss - Waterfall of Gold.  It is named that either because of the color of the water in the early evening, the rainbow that appears in the sunlight, or the legendary miser who threw his gold in the river so that no one else could have it.  So who knows?  But it is beautiful.

Dubbed as the Niagara Falls of Iceland, this tiered fall sends thousands of gallons of water into a narrow river valley, that during the spring runoff can completely fill up and run over.  Yikes!  Wouldn't want to run into that river of water.

It is just a short trip to the falls, and a slightly longer walk to the topside, but well worth doing.  I have never seen Niagara Falls, and I suspect these are not quite as grand, but then again . . . these are not turned off at night!

Geysir

One of the distinctions of Iceland is its geothermal fields, much like Yellowstone.  We are quite fascinated with geysers, so we went to the attraction in a geothermal field.

To compare it with Yellowstone is not quite fair, as this was a small field - we hear there are larger ones elsewhere on the island.  The biggest geyser, that shoots higher than Old Faithful, has not erupted for quite awhile.  People threw trash into it, causing it to plug up.  Now it only erupts during earthquakes.  The most reliable one, however, is called Strokkur.  It was really fun, because it would erupt about every five to ten minutes.  And it was easy to tell when it would happen, because the water in the fumarole would well up right before it went off.  It did not shoot nearly as high as Old Faithful, and it only lasted a few seconds, so pictures were hard to get, but its rapidity of fire made is easy to wait for.  Once while we were there, it shot three times in a row, within a minute or two!

The water welling up

Yep, that is water!

This stop only took about 30 minutes, but we enjoyed looking at geysirs!

Homemade Ice Cream

After visiting the National Park, we began looking for lunch.  I noticed on my map that the tour folks had written the words Homemade Ice Cream.  And coming up on our left was Efstidalur, a farm and restaurant.  We decided to forego lunch and just have ice cream.  That sounds reasonable, doesn't it?

We drove a narrow road, wound around a few buildings, and stopped at what looked like a restaurant. We walked in downstairs, and we went into a cafe, complete with this scenery:

Yes, cows.  They are housed in the barn right behind the ice cream store.  So while we ate the ice cream they ate their dinner.

This farm happened to be a full-scale dairy.  They grow their hay, milk their cows, and then make all sorts of dairy products with it.  If their ice cream is any indication, they do a fine job!

Pingvellir (pronounced Thingvillar)

Back in the 800's, Iceland was settled, and as it grew, they came together to create laws and a government.  They would meet at Pingvellir annually and read the laws to the citizenry, work out problems, and socialize.  They were of the opinion that problems should be solved by talking, and for many years, that was how they did it.  As always happens, however, someone gets stubborn, and it falls apart.  Generally, however, it worked.

Pingvellir celebrates the heritage by allowing visitors to see where the meetings were held.  It is a fascinating area, complete with a gorgeous waterfall,

Water was diverted here so that it would be used for the annual meetings

a fissure that is the place where two tectonic plates are up against each other and where the plates are spreading 2 cm per year,

Yes, that is a walkway in the fissure

and beautiful views of the valley and the church below.

We understand a lot more about the Icelanders now, and had a wonderful walk learning about them.