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After being home for a few days now, it's like our trip might have been a beautiful dream. Looking back, we surely underestimated how much we would enjoy the visit. We were wrapped up in the Northern Lights. We thought of nothing else. No, we did not see them, but we weren't disappointed at all. We found winter beauty that we could not have imagined before and we found that we sun-lovers could enjoy in fact enjoy a cold weather vacation. We learned there is absolutely nothing like the night-time, misty, tingling experience of swimming with the moon and stars above in a pool of mineral water, filled by hot springs mineral water heated by the earth in chilly 29-degree weather. We met some of the smartest, forward-thinking, progressive, genuinely nice Icelandic people we have ever encountered with names we could never pronounce. We also met other tourists from all over the world, all coming for the Northern Lights, but we heard no one complain when the Lights did not make themselves visible. If there is ever a next trip to Iceland, it will be for a longer stay - we want to see more!
Before I close, I want to share some little-known but interesting facts about Iceland and the Icelanders:
Until the 1940's all roads were unpaved. The first highway around the island was completed in 1974. New good roads ushered in great growth in the last 40-50 years.
Per our travel guide, Gunnar, this land of fire and ice is home to one of the greatest concentrations of geysers in the world. The word geyser itself comes from Geysir which is the name of the now-defunct spring in the Haukadalur geothermal field we visited during our Golden Circle excursion. When still active, Geysir shot water 300 meters into the sky every 6-8 hours. The name Geysir, in Icelandic means geysa, "to gush".
Iceland has the highest literacy rate in the entire world, and thirty percent of all Icelanders have college degrees, but more than 50 percent believe in elves! Who wouldn't in this magical country? Icelanders are among the most well-read peoples, more books are published there than in anywhere else in the world. Iceland is said to have the world's highest number of writers, authors and artists per capita. They say everyone writes, is a musician, is a singer or an artist.
Eighty-five percent of the population is Evangelical Lutheran; only 12 percent are Catholic.
Their water is pure spring water and does not need chlorination. The geothermal water serves to heat 85 percent of all homes (think modern radiators). Thirty perceng of Iceland's electricity is of geothermal origin - the highest percentage worldwide. The rest of the nation's electricity is generated by hydro power, making of Iceland the world's most eco-friendly country in terms of energy.
These folk eat a very healthy selection of foods consisting mainly of fish, lamb, hearty breads and vegetables. In their short summer growing season, crops of cabbage, broccoli and root vegetgables are grown but only one variety of fruit is grown there - green house strawberries. Also interesgting is that hey love Coca-Cola!
According to the Economist Intelligence Index of 2011, Iceland has the 2nd highest quality of life in the world. But sixty-five percent Icelandic children are born outside marriage - the highest rate in the world! This does not mean that mothers and their children are a burden to society; families and the culture are very accepting of single moms, encouraging their continued education and careers.
In their college studies, nearly all students do some portion of their education abroad. Many have careers in other countries for a while as well but generally, they all return home to Iceland at one point or another. They love their land. We like it too . . . very much!
So this is the end . . at least until the next trip. Thanks for coming along with us.
- comments
Janie To all our friends who were kind enough to read my blog and leave comments, thank you! Stan and I thoroughly enjoyed this trip! To answer a couple of your questions, yes, the weather is cold. But the temp does not vary a lot between high and low temps during the day and night -- only a few degrees. The average temperature is around 27-30 degrees Fahrenheit--but it feels much, much colder, 10-15 degrees cooler, because of the Artic wind, Brrrrr! As far as indoor temps, we did not notice much difference there than how we heat our homes and businesses here. But after being out in the cold all day, we needed to open the window a while each evening because even with the geothermal radiator turned OFF, the room temperature was too warm to sleep comfortably. Next trip? We want to visit India and the Middle East but we have not been able to work that out yet because best time to visit that area conflicts with other things we have going on. What we are thinking about instead is an Autumn trip back to Europe visiting countries we have not before and finishing the trip in November in Norway where we might once again have a CHANCE t see the Northern Lights!