Iceland Expedition 2015

Hello friends!  Good news.  I have returned to the United States of America after a 10 day expedition (the term expedition used broadly) in the Land of Fire and Ice.  On May 21^st 15:20 (after a brief panic in the morning that I had missed my flight) I boarded a plane from Anchorage, Alaska that took me across the North Pole and half way around the world to Iceland.  Why Iceland for my vacation you might ask?  Because I am a lot a bit adventurous and a little bit crazy…

First of all, I am SO SORRY this post is like almost a month overdue… Life gets busy you know!?  So I’m employing the adage ‘better late than never’ and crossing my fingers I finish this series before the end of the summer…

Ok back to the interesting parts, and a little history.  The Sagas of Icelanders are a collection of literature written in the 13^th and 14^th centuries.  They mostly focus on the history and events of Iceland in the 10^th and 11^th centuries.  While traveling around Iceland, references to these Sagas were found all over the place (mostly on all those little plaques for tourists – like me! – to read).  Names in Iceland are very specific.  Children who are born must be named from a specified list of approved names.  Last names are the first name of the child’s father followed by the suffix –dottir (if a girl) or –sson (if a boy).  The rest of this blog series of my trip to Iceland will be written as the Saga of Elly Carrolldottir (Emily) and Arnsteinn Williamsson (Aidan), and their adventures together over the fire and ice. 

Day 1

There was a woman named Elly, daughter of Carroll and of Elizabeth, daughter of Virginia the fearless.  One day she stepped aboard the 21^st century edition of the Viking vessel that would take her across the arctic to a beautiful land full of adventure, beauty, and mystery.  She arrived in the wee hours of the morning, traveling with the sun that shines continuously at the farthest reaches north, and settled into her Hyundai Getz beep-beep car that would take her around the island.

Once in drive, it wasn’t long before our heroine encountered her first challenge: To fill the car with gas.  With all instructions in Icelandic, a credit card that doesn’t work without the pin (which she doesn’t have), and all the nerves associated with being in a foreign country by yourself for the first time, it proved a difficult encounter!  Thankfully she managed (the actual battle contained little to report), and continued on her way to explore the Icelandic countryside between the airport and Reykjavik.  Here are some pictures from her first day!

A beautiful church in Keflavik....

With some impressive architecture!

A typical street in Reykjavik

A pond near the University of Iceland

A Coast Guard vessel, Iceland's only branch of military

The Convention Center in Reykjavik

The Lutheran Cathedral in Reykjavik

A statue of Leif Erikson, a Norse explorer who
landed in Vinland (America) around the year 1000

At the end of a long day of walking and sightseeing, Elly found a room to stay in for the night.  She drifted off to sleep anticipating the adventures for tomorrow, and the reunion with her companion Arnsteinn Williamsson.