Thoughts

Statistics	So this was our trip through the land of ice. We were fortunate to have warmer than usual weather, espeically in the first week, when we walked around in short sleeves. In the second week the weather turned Icelandic -- cold and gloomy -- but we were still able to see the sun from time to time. Icelandic weather is famous for being unpredictable; a sunny and bright day may turn cloudy and chilly in no time. (The opposite change, regrettably, is much less likely.) Still, it rarely snows in the summer (as long as one stays away from the interior highland). An additional advantage of visiting Iceland in summer was the twenty hours of daylight, which was helpful to our long distance driving. We were also fortunate in finding a roof to spend the night under without being punished for the cardinal sin of not making reservations way ahead of time. Actually that gave us more flexibility in our itineraries. We enjoyed our stays at the farmhouses most; the rooms were most cozy, and services were most personal, and there were often adorable kitties or doggies to play with. Due to the harsh climate, there are hardly any agriculture in Iceland. The best of Icelandic crusine consists of lamb (we saw sheep all over Iceland) and fish, the freshest you can find. (My month waters at the thought of the Icelandic seafood.) The most widely available beer is the Viking, which tasted like lite beer. (Beer was banned in Iceland until 1989 -- not that the ban had much effect -- so it is understandable that strong malty hoppy brews are not yet widely available.) And you have been warned about the Malt Extract.
Top 10 regrets	There are many great Icelandic sights which we failed to experience on this trip, due to constraints on time, budget, or simple bad weather. If we pay another visit to Iceland in the future, we would like to ... 10. Visit some of the off-shore islands: the quiet Flatey in the West, Grimsey in the north which saddles the Arctic Circle, Papey in the East with the smallest church, and the volcanic newborns in the South, the Westman Islands. 9. Enjoy the scallop tasting in Stykkisholmur. 8. Take a soak in an outdoor natural hot spring (Blue Lagoon was not really natural), preferably when it is snowing. 7. Some hiking, hopefully under the sun. 6. Some sea kayaking would be nice too. 5. Explore some of the ice caves in the glacier. 4. Fly over Iceland, to view the land from above. 3. Witness the Aurora Borealis (the Northern Light), in the winter. 2. Visit some of the live volcanoes, like Askja or Helka. 1. Follow a rugged path over miles of lava field through the uninhabitable interior of Iceland and spend the evening at a hut miles away from the nearest human settlement.
Statistics	Total driving distance: 3500 km. Number of pictures taken: 2402. Number of pictures included on this site: 277 + 28 panorama. All pictures on this site were taken by us. (Those amazing panorama were taken by Thomas.)

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Created on 12th Sep 2003. Last updated on 11th Aug 2006.
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