Iceland: Staggering beauty

[Courtesy Flush]

I've gotten the itch to visit Iceland. I hear nothing but good things about it, and it seems that it isn't even as cold as I thought. I check their weather daily, and lately it isn't any colder than much of our Louisiana weather in winter. But we'd go in summer.

Look at these pictures!

[aikoaiko]

1. And they put criminal banksters in jail.

Nice.

[Courtesy Flush]

2. Yeah, that's one of the good things I've heard. nt

[awoke_in_2003]

65. Damn straight....

part of me wishes I could emigrate.

[petronius]

3. Spectacular country! I've been there briefly in summer, but I'd love to

see winter... Great pics!

[GoCubsGo]

4. It's high up there on my "bucket list"

Been wanting to visit there for ages...

[ColumbusLib]

5. Beautiful

My stepdaughter is a photographer, and took amazing pix of Iceland on her trip there last summer. She also had an amazing time. Seems like a wonderful place to visit!

[loudsue]

6. Those pictures are stunning!

I never knew! What language do they speak?

[scarletwoman]

11. They speak Icelandic, which is a form of old Norse.

Iceland was settled by Norwegians around the 9th century, and due to the isolation and limited contact with the outside world for many centuries, their language did not go through the changes that happened in Norway.

[loudsue]

13. Well, hello, stranger! And thanks for the info!

It's good to see you around here!

I think a trip to Iceland is in my future. Just wow!

[scarletwoman]

16. Hi there, old friend!

It's always good to see you, too.

Yeah, Iceland would definitely be a fascinating place to visit.

I got the Iceland bug when I saw the (relatively obscure) movie, "Beowulf and Grendel" which was filmed entirely in Iceland (U.S. release date was 2006). The scenery in that movie is absolutely stunning! Anyway, it got me curious about Iceland so I started researching some of the history and culture, etc.

Also, one of my favorite authors is Icelandic, Arnaldur Indriðason, and all his books are set in Iceland. I've recently picked up on some other Icelandic authors as well.

I've been on a bit of an Iceland kick for awhile...

[loudsue]

17. Very interesting! I'll have to check out the movie.

I had never thought much about Iceland, but when I just showed my husband these pictures (on the OP of this thread) , it turns out he's already been a fan of Iceland, and named off a couple of movies, as well, and some books (fiction) that are centered in Iceland.

[scarletwoman]

20. Just a bit of warning about the movie - some people REALLY don't like it.

I totally loved it myself - and it has the yummy Gerard Butler playing Beowulf - but it definitely isn't everyone's cup of tea.

That's cool about your husband - should be easy to talk him into a trip to Iceland, eh?

[Lydia Leftcoast]

22. If you haven't read anything by Yrsa Sigurdardottir, you will enjoy her books

especially if you're an Arnaldur fan.

[scarletwoman]

34. I read her first two books, but I didn't much care for the 2nd one, so I haven't read any others.

I can't remember what it was that put me off, since it was a few years ago now. I may try again, but what I REALLY want is Arnaldur's Strange Shores - waiting for my library to get a copy in.

I recently got into Viktor Arnar Ingolfsson, another Icelandic author - very interesting books, all stand-alone mysteries. I'm anxiously awaiting his new one, due out sometime this year. I would highly recommend him.

[Lydia Leftcoast]

51. "Jar City" has been made into a movie, which I saw at the local film festival

It's been released on DVD in the U.S., but it's a bit hard to find.

[scarletwoman]

74. I knew there was a movie, but I haven't tried to find it.

I tend to prefer my mind's eye to movies made from books I really love. But I'm sure it would be interesting to see...

[a la izquierda]

42. Indridason's books are great...

(Sorry, too lazy to go look up the little symbol).
One of my favorite bands is Icelandic. I'm hoping to visit for a few days on a trip to Europe at some point.

[scarletwoman]

72. If you DO make it to Iceland, be sure to post about it here!

Obviously, there's lots of interest about Iceland DU!

And Indriðason is one of my most favorite authors!

(Re: the little symbol thingy - I don't actually do it manually, I just copy/paste from a web page. )

[hughee99]

33. If I understand, it's a rather difficult language to learn because of the inflection system,

and the conjugated nouns, unless you happen to be that guy that learned it in a week for a TV show.

[scarletwoman]

71. I honestly don't expect to try to learn it - although I imagine it would be quite fascinating.

I have always regretted that my Norwegian immigrant grandparents didn't pass on the language. Knowing a bit of Norwegian might have been helpful in tackling Icelandic - but maybe not so much, since I'm told that modern speakers of Norwegian pretty much can't understand Icelandic, either.

[Xithras]

55. If you want to visit, virtually all Icelanders speak at least a little English.

When I visited, they explained that the Icelandic school systems require children to learn two or three languages before graduation. Nearly all of them study English at some point, and in most areas some English education is actually required (so they would learn Icelandic, English, and a third language of their choosing).

I didn't meet a single person in Iceland who couldn't communicate with me at some level. A lot of them spoke English very poorly, but most could carry on a passable conversation and some were more fluent than many of my fellow Americans.

If you're interested in visiting, don't let not knowing the language stop you!

[progressoid]

7. ...

[JI7]

8. i will never get why people who have a lot of money and don't need to work much

don't just go to places like this .

is buying expensive bags, big ass homes ,diamonds and other overpriced jewelry etc really more appealing than just seeing the world and taking it all in ?

[A HERETIC I AM]

28. How do you know they don't? nt

[LibDemAlways]

29. If I had the time and money I'd do

nothing but travel. So many places....so little time.

[Scootaloo]

35. Never figured it out, myself

But then maybe we're some of those rare people who measure success by contentment rather than possession.

Iceland and the Faroes remind me of Alaska... which makes perfect sense of course. Thing is, aside from the scenery, Alaska is like texas if Texas were run by libertarians. Which is one reason I had to get the hell out of there.

[raouldukelives]

38. If they don't I would thank them.

The last thing we need is extra carbon spewed into the upper atmosphere. Especially for something as trivial as sightseeing.
I find Iceland to be a very lovely country. I will do everything in my power to assure it stays that way, including staying away.
Unless of course I could move there. Now that would be something I'd consider if I were wealthy enough. One nice little permaculture plot of heaven.

[El_Johns]

39. I think most of them do. All the people with money I know do more than the average amount

of travel.

[laundry_queen]

40. Everyone around here travels if they have any extra money at all

but being from Canada almost everyone chooses warm beaches in January and February over anything with a cold climate. I'm strange...if and when I get money, the 2 places tops on my list are Iceland and the UK.

[NoOneMan]

53. Those type of people don't make choices that accumulate a ton of unneeded capital

See?

[Matariki]

9. Check out the amazing movie Cold Fever

It's a wonderful movie. The Icelandic setting is marvelous.

http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0109028/?ref_=fn_al_tt_1

[Beringia]

10. FYI, Iceland is still a whaling nation

along with Japan and Norway.



http://www.ifaw.org/united-states/our-work/whales/meet-us-don%E2%80%99t-eat-us-campaign-take-whale-meat-menu-tourists


In 2013 Iceland was reported to have killed 134 fin whales and 38 minke whales

Fin whales 60 feet
Minke whales 23 feet

Fin Whale



Minke Whale

[Lydia Leftcoast]

23. However, it's gradually dawning on them that

they can make more money by taking tourists to watch whales than by catching whales.

[Beringia]

47. You think so, that would be great

[Lydia Leftcoast]

49. On our city tour, we went down to the harbor and saw all the mothballed whaling ships

The whaling industry there is a fraction of what it once was.

[Beringia]

66. Good to hear

[Major Nikon]

12. I recently saw the movie, "The Secret Life of Walter Mitty"

It has some great footage of Iceland.

[Demo_Chris]

14. Wow, I had no idea it was that pretty! Man...

I wonder what it's like to live in a place like that.

[Xithras]

54. I vacillate between Iceland and New Zealand for the title of "prettiest place on Earth".

I've been to both, and could happily spend the rest of my life in either one.

[all american girl]

15. Those are beautiful!!!!

My son went there about 9-10 years ago...he was 11

We lived in Denmark and he had a friend from there. I told him in the states many kids don't even cross state lines, and here he was going to another country...I got eye rolls from him

I have wanted to visit, what a wonderful country....and the people are great!!!!

[Cha]

18. I've always been fascinated with Iceland, too, CF..

Thank you for these beautiful pics of Islenska!

This is as close as I will get.. I hope you get to go someday! I especially like the one with the giant Green slope down to the houses.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Icelandic_language

Here's a pic of the Northern Lights in Iceland..

[Tyrs WolfDaemon]

19. I want to go there too

I keep telling my dad and sis that we should go there, they are both not up for it.


I still hope to make it one of these days though.

[bhikkhu]

21. Their willingness to reroute roads to avoid disturbing elves and fairies is well known

http://news.softpedia.com/news/Icelandic-Roads-Rerouted-Due-To-Elves-Tradition-5001.shtml

...and kind of cool. Perhaps I would find it annoying if I lived there (atheist here, with little patience for nonsense), but for some reason I think its nice that there is a place with that kind of innocence still. Or perhaps its just that they don't treat the world as if it were a property we may use and dispose of however we like.

[LibDemAlways]

24. Just added Iceland to my

bucket list. Thanks for posting the beautiful photos!

[NickB79]

25. My dream is to be an Icelandic tree farmer

If I ever won the lottery, I'd move there, buy massive acreage, and indulge in my fetish for growing trees and shrubs by the tens of thousands.

Why move to Iceland just to grow trees and shrubs, you might ask? Because there are almost no other trees and shrubs growing there. It's an empty palate, open to anything I want to try.

And with climate change progressing, their weather is no colder than what I've grown up with in Minnesota, so I could plant a massive variety of plants there.

[The Velveteen Ocelot]

26. I know a guy from there, who said if you are going to visit

be sure and go in the summer, because the winters are cold and dark and everybody just stays inside and drinks.

[aptal]

27. So beatific I want to visit.

nt!

[Lydia Leftcoast]

30. I stopped over in Iceland on the way back from Scandinavia in 2011

If you fly Icelandair, you can stop over for up to five days at no extra charge. (You have to change planes in Reykjavik anyway, but because of the Schengen treaty, you go through Customs and Immigration there and don't need to again in the rest of Western Europe.) One reason I chose Icelandair is that they fly out of Minneapolis in the summer and aren't Delta, but the Iceland stopover was an added attraction.

The national language is Icelandic, of course, but it's one of those places where everyone really does speak English, and a good thing, because even other Scandinavians can't make head or tail of Icelandic.

It's well set up for tourists. Your hotel will have brochures of all kinds of sightseeing and outdoor activity options, everything from exploring glacier caves to riding Icelandic ponies to visiting old Viking settlements.

I took four arranged tours: 1) Reykjavik city tour, 2) The Golden Circle (the geyser, Geysir, that gave its name to all other geysers, the geological divide between Europe and North America, and the site of the first democratically elected assembly in the world), 3) The south coast (a day-long trip through splendid emptiness to a glacial lagoon), 4) The Blue Lagoon, a natural hot spring spa that is between the city and the airport.

Thanks to the collapse of their economy, Iceland is a bit cheaper than the other Scandinavian countries.

And yes, it really does look like that.

[Vashta Nerada]

31. I want to live there.

I love these vimeo videos of Iceland. I think you'll like them:

"Elemental Iceland":
http://vimeo.com/75646917

"The Flow of Time":
http://vimeo.com/71721727

[adirondacker]

32. I've spent nearly two months hiking there 10 years ago. It's an awesome place to see, especially in

the back country. The best time to visit is at the end of summer, last week of August/ first couple of weeks of September, when all the typical tourists have left and the crowds thin.

The Landmannalaugar to Þórsmörk trek is rated in the top three treks in the world and will not disappoint. The best company to do this through is the following...
http://www.fi.is/en/home/

I'll definitely return when the opportunity arises to reacquaint with some old friends and to catch a few places I've missed.

[Scootaloo]

36. Here's one of my favorite music videos, has a lot of Icelandic scenery

[Iwillnevergiveup]

37. WOW!

Looks like something out of "Lord of the Rings." Thanks for posting - I'd go in a heartbeat.

[MattSh]

41. Sadly, you listed no photo credits here...

It took me like 2 minutes to find out that second one is by Max Rive.

http://500px.com/photo/46424674

[Martin Eden]

43. Beautiful

I want to go there!

[jpak]

44. The Sagas of the Icelanders

required reading for Iceland-o-philes.

[Corgigal]

45. It does look beautiful

and while you're out seeing all that nature has to provide, don't forget to try a horseback ride on one of the most famous horses in the world.

[mainer]

46. If you do go, some suggestions:

The Clinic Hotel at the Blue Lagoon. (Great place to rest and recover from your flight, and you get free admission to the Blue Lagoon.)

Stay at Hotel Ranga in the town of Hella (out in the country -- very comfortable and great food -- best place to view the northern lights.)

To view northern lights, some other tips:

Go during a period of no moon, or you won't see the lights. Check the moon calendar before booking.
Go during winter, autumn, or spring months, so the nights are longer. Summer is gorgeous, but you'll have only a few hours of nighttime to see the lights.
Bring a yoga mat or camping backrest to lie on the ground. The lights are often straight overhead, and you'll want to lie on the ground, not strain your neck.
If you're going to photograph the lights, bring an SLR camera, and TURN OFF YOUR FLASH, for god's sake.

I loved Iceland. They all speak English, they drive on the right, and it's easy to travel on your own.

[Lydia Leftcoast]

48. If I go again, I want to rent a car and drive all around the island

or else cobble together a bus trip.

(Iceland has never had a train system, so it's car or bus.)

[bettyellen]

73. the longest days are late June, so very early spring or late summer have less daylight.

[mainer]

75. Aurora borealis often peaks in spring or autumn

So March or october would be good times to go for that purpose.

But there's a cool atmosphere and energy when you go in December or January -- this wintry attitude that makes the big city even more interesting.

[godevil10]

50. Gorgeous! Thanks Courtesy.

[MoonRiver]

52. Iceland murders whales and uses their meat for dog and cat food.

No amount of natural beauty can compensate for that horror.

[Courtesy Flush]

56. We live in a glass house

My nation denies civil rights to her citizens, invades other nations on a whim, pollutes the world, and uses the global economy for a punching bag.

No amount of natural beauty could make me want to live here. Yet here I am.

[MoonRiver]

57. I see your point to a degree.

But, as it relates to the discussion about whaling, I cannot defend my nation because it allows indigenous people to massacre whales. Yet, yes I am here, because I was born here and it is too difficult to leave. That does not mean I don't fight to correct the wrongs here AND in Iceland. I boycott everything from Iceland, Norway and Japan, and would never travel to any of those nations. That is not trivial as my husband and I have traveled all over the world. He was in Japan and Iceland long ago before we learned about their whaling practices. NEVER AGAIN.

[dionysus]

59. .

[philosslayer]

63. We murder cows and turn them into hamburgers.

Whats the difference?

[MoonRiver]

67. I don't eat cows or any meat, but cows are not whales, not even close.

Whales share the spindle neuron with humans, which is unique to the two species, as well as dolphins and the great apes. It gives us all very advanced and unique reasoning abilities. Eating a whale is about as close to cannibalism as it gets.

[dionysus]

58. spectacular.nt

[mainer]

60. I landed during a snowstorm. White-out blizzard.

Exhausted from overnight flight, I caught a taxi to the hotel attached to the Blue Lagoon. It was like stepping into a sanctuary -- so quiet and peaceful. The Blue Lagoon is otherworldly, and nothing beats soaking in a hot outdoor pond when you're surrounded by snow and ice.

We also saw northern lights several times during that trip, although we had to wait for several nights of snowfall and clouds to pass. Only a few hours of daylight each day, and it's weird to be a tourist during a month when it's mostly dark. But the people are wonderful, the seafood is amazing (but I was shocked to see whale meat and puffin on some menus) and the glaciers are gorgeous places to walk (only with a qualified guide, however; they're very dangerous)

[treestar]

61. Very Pretty

Looks very beautiful in the autumn.

[shenmue]

62. It's beautiful

I want to go there too, someday.

[truedelphi]

64. Thank you for the photos -

If I get a bit of money, I am moving there. They still have a working democracy, for one thing.

BTW, that whole area (Iceland, Norway, Sweden, etc,) has weather that is fairly mild in the winter due to the Ocean Currents that bring warm water from the Caribbean up to those parts of the world.
In the winter, it is normally not often less than 20 degrees, at least that is how it would be near the ocean. (On a mountain, it would be much colder, I imagine.)

However, in the summer, it is often only 50 degrees or so. The tourist guides use photos taken during the six nice days of the summer, so don't pack only shorts and sleeveless attire.

[William769]

69. If you go to the Library you can look up better pictures.

[scarletwoman]

70. Interesting fact: Iceland legalized same sex marriage in 2010.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Same-sex_marriage_in_Iceland

Same-sex marriage has been legal in Iceland since 27 June 2010. The bill providing a gender-neutral marriage definition was passed by the Icelandic Althing on 11 June 2010. No members of parliament voted against the bill, and public opinion polls suggest that the bill is very popular in Iceland. Iceland became the ninth country in the world to have legalized same-sex marriage.

[mainer]

76. For Aurora Borealis watchers: great website

we used this to predict maximum aurora activity during our trip to Iceland. It was my first time seeing northern lights (it was a bucket list thing of mine) and was thrilled to see such a spectacular display there.


http://www.swpc.noaa.gov/pmap/

[Beartracks]

77. Took my breath away. Beautimous!!

Thanks for sharing.


===========================

[Siwsan]

78. I lived in Iceland, for a year. It remains one of my favorite places, on earth

Breathtaking natural beauty and VERY little commercialization. We could drive right up to spectacular waterfalls and geysers and see them sans the glare of neon and trashy souvenir and junk food stands. Low crime, virtually no pollution, and some of the most down to earth people you will ever meet.

[mainer]

79. Most luxurious public toilet I ever came across

Last edited Mon Jan 13, 2014, 11:10 PM - Edit history (1)

It was at an isolated waterfall in winter. In the middle of nowhere, it was heated to about 75 degrees, hot water in the taps. All courtesy of geothermal energy. A homeless person could move into that restroom.

The sidewalks are heated, for god's sake, and you can take endless hot showers without worrying about wasting energy because in Iceland, they have endless geothermal.

[Siwsan]

80. The Icelanders have mastered the harnessing of nature, that's for sure

I was there during what they called their harshest winter in 100 years. Lots and lots of snow, but being from Michigan, it didn't phase me.