The land of Ice...

Iceland... Land of the explosions. According to this "quality condom" anyway:

If you were in, or trying to fly into, Europe a couple of years ago, you might remember us all getting grounded due to the volcano, Eyjafjallajökull (don't ask me to pronounce that), kicking off, resulting in a two week ban on all air travel. After visiting its home though, all is forgiven, and if you were lucky enough to be stuck in Iceland at the time, there are certainly worse places to be caught in (I'm talking to you, China).

A few helpful things you should know about Iceland...

It's expensive, but not as bad as everyone bangs on about. About £5.50 a pint (the standard way to judge the economy of any country in my book). This may sound like a lot, but that's only about 50p more than most places in London and, I think, it's just the way the world is going. At the airport (which is one of the best I've frequented in the world) they're Tax and Duty free, which means you can save 50% on city prices. Well worth stocking up before you walk out... They even have a supermarket in the baggage claim area.

It's very safe. A friend told me that he was here about 10 years ago and everybody was going on about "the murder" with such shock that he asked when it happened... 19 seventy something, apparently.

 

The people are very polite with a great sense of humour (see the blurb from a book, below). There doesn't seem to be much of a queuing system (again, that's how us Brits judge manners abroad), but the service everywhere is very good and I saw a t-shirt earlier which said, "You are what you eat, but I haven't eaten any f*cking legends today..." Genius, I'm sure you'll agree.

They drive on the right, a question which much amused the car rental man as he handed over the keys. I'd definitely recommend hiring a car (and make it a 4x4) as there's a lot of space between their limited number of roads and it'll give you the freedom you wouldn't get from an organised excursion. If you do decide to go for an excursion though, try Grayline. We used these for the Northern Lights and they were very helpful and informative.

If you go out at night, it doesn't really kick off until after midnight, probably due to the £5.50 a pint issue. They have great live music though. I can recommend Lebowski Bar and (sorry, there was a football game on) The English Pub. Below is a video of a singer in The EP, who was so amazing that I took about 15 videos of him. If he suspected me of being a descendant of the murderer from back in the 70s, he was too polite to say.

They're very up on their natural energy. All over the airport they have posters bragging, "Why use coal when you have fire?" and a lot of their buildings, heating and electricity is powered by geo-thermal power. I spoke to a local who told me how great it was that he never had to shovel snow from his driveway as it melted the second it landed. That's some under-floor heating.

It's beautiful. Seriously. Despite 2013 being the best time to visit in terms of Northern Lights (Aurora Borealis) activity, it was unfortunately too cloudy during the few days that I spent here so we ended up stood in a field at midnight looking at the dark sky, but between the Blue Lagoon (Bláa Lónið), the Geysers, the Gullfoss waterfall on the Golden Circle and generally just driving around the country, including the Þingvellir national park, it's absolutely breathtaking....

 

(The Blue Lagoon at dusk)

(I got in the next morning - Top Tip: pay the entry level price, about €35, and skip the robe. Trust me, you won't want to be out of the water long enough to use it and you get the standard mud masks in and around the pool, if you're just after the experience for a couple of hours).

 

(Driving around. Get a 4x4 and go it solo).

(The Gullfoss "Golden Waterfalls" - Absolutely breathtaking. Could've stayed here for hours).

(The Northern Lights. I pictured them brighter, but the experience was still good fun).

 (If I were to go back, which I will be; those lights won't get the better of me, I'd skip the tour and drive myself to the best place to see the lights, on a clear night).

(The Geysers/Geysirs on the Golden Circle drive - Above and below. Quite possibly the weirdest and most brilliant thing I've ever seen our planet produce. Don't get too close).

 

And below, some pictures of in and around Reykjavik.

 

So, well done Iceland. Despite the ground constantly being at risk of blowing up under your feet and the inability to show me what I was hoping to be the world's greatest light display, you've won my heart.

(Couldn't forget the puffins).