Introduction
This weekend I got the urge to rewatch The Secret Life of Walter Mitty (it’s great and you should watch it right now). A good chunk of the film is in Iceland and has inspired this week’s blog post! I’ve always wanted to visit Iceland mostly because it seems so peaceful and watching Walter Mitty again reminded me of that the brought me a feeling of exploration and wonder that attracted me to Iceland in the first place.
Incredible nature
Despite Iceland’s small size as a nation, it offers a diverse set of beauty that can only be found here: from active volcanos to ice caves to hot springs and even puffins. Iceland is considered the best place in the world as a significant portion of the global nesting colonies make their homes on the rocky shores of Iceland, which makes for prime puffin observation.
You’d think that fire and ice wouldn’t mix, right? Well, Iceland has both active volcanos and massive ice caves which has always been a fascinating contrast to me. It’s one of the few places on earth where one can see running lava and massive intricate formations of ice all in the same day both of which I have always wanted to see (it would just be more efficient to see it this way).
The geographic location of Iceland also means that on winter nights one can gaze upon the northern lights as they wave across the sky in its colorful beauty but in the summer where one can spend the day at night as the sun dominates the sky, never setting, resulting in perpetual daylight.
Culture
Iceland has a rich culture rooted in the Vikings that settled on the island. The Icelandic language is a result of these settlers and I find the Icelandic language beautiful and, sadly, such a small population of the world speaks it. The people of Iceland are also frequent users of ice baths and hot springs. The volcanos that formed Iceland also blessed the island with a plethora of hot springs. The people have taken full advantage of these hot springs along with the abundance of ice resulting in the practice of contrast bathing which has been shown to help circulation and relax the body. The clothing is also something I find myself drawn toward, full of warm clothes and sweaters. My father went to Iceland once when he was younger and bought a sweater that he’s been wearing for decades now. It’s incredibly warm and soft and I feel that I could use one myself I’d honestly make the trip just to pick one up although I don’t think my bank account would like that very much.
I’d also love to visit Iceland at some point. Iceland has a really distinctive natural landscape, with everything from active volcanoes and hot springs to the aurora and glacier caves. It’s hard to believe that so many landscapes can exist on a small island. In winter, the aurora lights up the night sky, and in summer, there’s the amazing phenomenon of eternal daylight, where the sun never sets. I’m also really interested in Icelandic culture. Iceland is a beautiful, isolated island with a strong Viking tradition. It’s a great place to study Viking history, both in terms of history and language. For me, it’s not just a tourist destination, but also a place to study its history and culture. My only concern is that I’ve often heard friends who have been to Iceland mention that it’s expensive. However, I’m confident that once I save up enough money, I’ll definitely buy a plane ticket to Iceland.
What a beautiful country! One of my bucket list items is to see the northern lights (not like the small bits of them we saw here a couple of weeks ago). The contrast between the ice caves and the lava is amazing; I would love to see that! There are so many places I would like to go, but I agree with you that my bank account would be very unhappy with me.
Iceland sounds like such a fun place to go to. My friend traveled there recently. She said that she went horseback riding to some of the hot springs. I knew of the hot springs, but I didn’t know that they had volcanoes and even a different language. I wonder if the Icelandic language has as small of a population speaking it as Latin does (or if it is smaller). Do you know if the people who speak the language have a different alphabet than us?
Iceland has long been on my visiting list, and this blog made me even more excited to go there. I had no idea that Iceland had beat all the odds, and had both fire and ice, while still living in harmony! How has this influenced the culture around Iceland, and the people how live there? I also remember reading about the Puffin releases that happen, and they sound so exciting!