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Iceland Jan 08 - 1


Iceland Jan 08 - 1, originally uploaded by LaryT.

Iceland series [alexpapanik]
Two friends from Greece was there @ 18 Jan 08




Seven months ago 4 friends from Greece decide to make a trip to the North Cape in Norway. That trip took place in late May so; up there in the North was daylight all around the clock and the ice was melting all over the place. The experience and what we saw during that trip was astonishing but the feeling was we had missed the winter beauty of the landscape.
So, in early January 2008 another opportunity came up when a cheap flight to the US was found. In the flight plan there was a stop for the night at Keflavik airport, 50 Km from Reykjavik (Iceland). The temptation was so big that I couldn’t resist. 2 of the 4 friends after some hours of an excellent flight were landing on the land of ice just for a long weekend. The weather was extremely bad, a snow storm and a wind of about 40Km per hour welcome us at Keflavik. Such a bad idea, we thought, we should have stay in Greece. Next day we started to explore with our 4x4 car the island and all the top destinations that were reachable. The famous Geysir geothermic spring, the Gullfoss waterfalls and the Pingvellir national park, where we had a full of agony crossing of the heavy snow covert road. We visit the south coast area with the beautiful Skogarfoss waterfall, the Dyrholaey rocks up to the Jokulsaron glassier. North up to Borgarnes and the last day spa at blue lagoon and enjoy downtown Reykjavik. Where ever we went people were moving just like we did in Greece during a light rainy day. That monstrous 4x4 with their huge tires made our Susuki Grand Vitara look like a scooter. We learned that driving on the ice when you have the correct winter tires with spins is fun and safe, even with 120 Km/hour. But also travelling around Iceland with its amazing landscape can be unforgettable for a bad reason. Roads are narrow some of them with gravel, very narrow bridges and a lot of blind rising points. So, considering all these covert with snow with a volatile weather means that driving careless might cost your life or other people’s life.
Furthermore, people are working hard during the week such as you can hardly find a restaurant open to eat after 22:00 because everybody is at home. But, Friday and Saturday night was a pleasant surprise. Downtown all roads were full of cars and the pavements full of people. Bars full of young people dancing and drinking beer. So, much fun and energy, I had the feeling that all these young people were thirsty to have some moments of good time and enjoy but with a completely different way from their same age in Greece. Their way of having fun was wilder and out of limits from their same age in my country. Always measuring their limits with my own measures not theirs. Cultures are different and it’s always great to meet new cultures and learn from them.
Finally, during our take off we asked ourselves if after seeing the Northern areas during winter time we had the feeling that we where covert by all means. I start wondering how this astonishing combined scenery of volcanic rock covert with ice might look like in spring, when the soil will be covert with a green carpet. I can see myself trekking on the mountains, riding a Viking pony horse, diving in the lakes or be on a boat watching the whales. That’s why I think there is still something left behind in Iceland.
[alexpapanik]