The land of fire and ice- Iceland

Our trip began to the land of fire and ice in June 2016. We made Reykjavik the capital our base. The city is located 2 degrees south of the Arctic Circle and in Summer there is about 21 hours of light per day. 80% of the people live in Reykjavik. Most of the country is uninhabited. It's very environmentally friendly. They use their geothermal activity and hydro-power to provide citizens hot water, electricity and heat. The countryside is filled with moss and greenery and is very magical looking.

We started the classic Golden Circle tour at Frioheimar Green House- It is powered by green energy and is a supplier of the sweetest tomatoes. They even bring in  bees to help with the growing process. The homemade tomato soup with bread was delicious!

Geysir Troll. Trolls are a big part of Icelandic mythology. He came down from the mountains because he loved the sound of church bells. He  stayed and was even buried near the church, so he could hear the bells forever. 

Geysir- This is a geothermal area and is home to the geyser after which all others are named, as well as the Strokkur hot spring, which blasts out water every 4-8 minutes up to 20 meters into the air.

Gullfoss Waterfall
The waterfall is created from glacial melting and falls deep into the Hvitargljufur canyon. The highlands were beyond beautiful. This waterfall is breathtaking. Pictures can not capture how powerful it is.

Thingvellir National Park

At this national park Thingvellir "parliament plains" is where the first parliament in Iceland was established in 930 a.d. Parliament continued to be held at this spot until 1798. All major government activities were held here. It was also a place where merchants met for trade. In 1000 a.d. parliament was religiously divided (pagan and Christian). It was at this meeting where they decided it was in the best interest of the country to be united with one religion. Thus Island became a Christian country.

Another amazingly beautiful trip was to the South Coast of Iceland. First stop was Skogafoss Waterfall.

The next stop was to the black sanded Reynisfjara beach with basalt columns, cliffs and caves. This beach was right on the North Atlantic Ocean. Man, the waves were so powerful and you could see how dangerous the water was. 

Eyjafjallajokull Glacier -- The glacier is one of the smaller ice caps in the country. The glacier covers the volcano. The volcano last erupted in 2010. You can still see the ash on the glacier from the eruption.