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.