The icing on the cake....
Ok, ok I know its a cheesy title line, but I said that about Iceland once without trying it, so I decided it would be appropriate. Wow. Iceland was definately the best part of the trip. I think it was due to 2 factors. 1) The whole country is incredibly small, and the capitol city is barely the size of Harrisburg. It didn't have a buisy feel to it, and the people were very helpful. I also spent a large ammount of time in the middle of nowhere(and I mean that in the most literal sense), and void of any people. This was a big change from all of Europe, where there were people everywhere. I was for once, not in a big crowded metropolitan area, and I loved it. 2) The country itself it absolutely beautiful. It has to be one of the most beautiful places that I have ever visited. It ranks up there with NZ as far as picturesque landscape. There was such diversity among the mountains, plains, rivers- the country had everything. Since it was so cold- mot much grew on the mountains, except for moss. This gave them a green glow- especially when the sun set and rose. I could sit and just watch the lighting on the mountains for hours...actually I did.
The first 2 days were in Reykjavik- the capitol. I stayed in a YHA there which was very nice. I was right outside the city center, and could walk there in a half hour. The town had a very northerly feel to it. Small houses- often wooded lined the streets with small shops in the first floor. There weren't many busiling streets with busses and tractor trailers at every stoplight. I visited a park, hot springs, the lake, the ocean, a few churches(Lutheran, not Catholic), all in one day. It was very relaxed and even though I just meandered- I found just about all I watned to see.
The next 3 days I spent in a park called Þorsmork. This was a national park of sorts, located about 3 hrs east of Reykjavik. It was very dificult to get to- buses and a few large suvs can actaully, physically get there. We had to cross several streams/rivers to get into the park. The entire place sat at the base of 3 glaciers, in a river bed. The buses drove up the river bed to the base of the glaciers and droped people off. These buses were not crowded(20 people) and made the trip once a day. There were 3 huts with acomodation- stove, bed, toilet, and thats it. They provided the basics for you at a reasonable price. Each day, I took a day hike to some point of interest. All the mountains are void of vegetation(with the exception of moss) near the top. As I was hiking, I could see all around me, and exactly how high I was. It was incredible, because in the Appalachians- we have trees everywhere, and finding a scenic view is difficult. Here, the entire hike was just one big scenic view.
Overall- it was just awesome. I don't think words, or even pictures can acurately describe how cool the country was. Its just one of those places that you have to visit for yourself to appreciate it.