🎵 We’re leaving on a jet plane 🎵🛫

Somewhere below those clouds is Iceland!

Our first glimpse of the Land of Ice and Fire! Cue that GoT theme song ya’all!

We were strolling down Laugavegar street when we heard the vocal rumblings of TSwizzle and looked up to see one of the coffee roasters I’d researched. It was a sign from the goddess herself.

Rainbow Street, painted in 2019 as a global sign of Reykjavik’s acceptance and joy of their LGBTQ community, stands in front of Hallgrímskirkja church and leads the way to Sun Voyager on the riverfront. ~100k people attend Iceland’s annual Pride event each year.

Hallgrímskirkja church.

Views from the top of Hallgrimskirikja

The gleaming steel sculpture on Reykjavik’s splendid waterfront that resembles a Viking long-ship is the ‘Solfar’ or ‘Sun Voyager.’ The striking landmark was created by Icelandic sculptor Jon Gunnar Arnason.

Leif Erickson, who’s statue was gifted from the US on the 1000th anniversary of the Icelandic establishment of parliament.

The organ is comprised of 5,275 pipes!

Reykjavík waterfront with Mt Esja in the background.

A sod covered shop.

Strokkur geyser errors every 6-10 minutes and reaches 15-20m (49-66 feet).

Geysir, the original geyser which all others are named after, only erupts after earthquakes, the most recent of which took place in 2000. It can erupt up to 70 metres (230 ft) in the air.

Friðheimar famous tomato soup and bread. Elisa is lucky I only planned one specific meal on this entire ten day adventure.

The origin of Kerið has been debated by scientists, but it was formed about 6,500 years ago. Most scientists believe that Kerið was once a cone-shaped volcano which subsequently erupted and exhausted its magma reserve. This made the foundation fall in on itself and thus result in the formation it has today.

The waterfall drops 60 m and is part of the Seljalands River that has its origin in the volcano glacier Eyjafjallajökull.

Gljúfrabúi is hidden behind a considerable cliff which faces out towards Ring Road. The waterfall is 40m (131 feet).

A stream, the Gljúfurá, runs through a cleft in the cliff, and those who wish to approach the falls must do so by wading through these waters.

Skógafoss is a waterfall on the Skógá River in the south of Iceland at the cliff marking the former coastline. After the coastline had receded (it is now at a distance of about 5 kilometres (3 miles) from Skógar), the former sea cliffs remained, parallel to the coast over hundreds of kilometres, creating together with some mountains a clear border between the coastal lowlands and the Highlands of Iceland. It is 60m (200 feet) tall.

Obsidian, what is believed to be the source of Dragon’s Glass from GoT. It is lava that is rapidly cooled without bubbles or crystals.

“Not today!”

Jökulsárlón is a glacial Lagoon formed when the local glacier receded, leaving the Lagoon in its wake. It is home to playful seals.

Pieces of glacier on a black sand beach, dubbed this area Diamond Beach.

Took turns driving from Iceland’s “Fountain of Youth”. 1000 year old water, straight from the glacier. It tastes like a smooth, freezing nothingness and is the best eater in the world.

Stuðlagil is a ravine in Jökuldalur in the Eastern Region of Iceland. It is known for its columnar basalt rock formations and the blue-green water that runs through it.

The Dettifoss waterfall is the most powerful waterfall in Europe, 500 cubic meters of water per second plunge over the edge. Dettifoss is 45 m high and 100m wide. It is the second largest waterfall in Europe, overall.

Selfoss waterfall. Selfoss is much wider than it is tall; its height is eleven metres (36 feet) while its width is around 100 metres (330 feet).

This Viti is a large crater approximately 300m in diameter whose name signifies Hell..

This particular Víti was formed in 1724 by a massive eruption in part of the Krafla volcanic region. This event lasted, in its entirety, for five years, and was called the Mývatn Fires. Jets of lava shooting in the sky were said to have been visible from the South Coast.

Hverir is a geothermal area at the foothill of Namafjall, not far from Lake Myvatn. Features include colorful sulphurous mud springs, steam vents, cracked mud and fumaroles. It is also called Hverarönd or Namaskard.

Grjótagjá is a small lava cave located near lake Mývatn in north Iceland, famous for featuring a beautiful geothermal hot spring in its depths.

“You know nothing, John Snow” | Site of the famous scene between John and Ygrit in GoT.

Icelandic Christmas folklore depicts mountain-dwelling characters and monsters who come to town during Christmas. The stories are directed at children and are used to scare them into good behaviour. The folkloreincludes both mischievous pranksters who leave gifts during the night and monsters who eat disobedient children.

The Yule Lads are the sons of Gryla and Leppaludi. They are a group of 13 mischievous pranksters who steal from or harass the population and all have descriptive names that convey their favorite way of harassing.[1]They come to town one by one during the last 13 nights before Christmas (Yule). They leave small gifts in shoes that children have placed on window sills, but if the child has been disobedient they instead leave a potatoin the shoe.

Dimmuborgir is a large area of unusually shaped lava fields east of Mývatn in Iceland. The Dimmuborgir area is composed of various volcanic caves and rock formations, reminiscent of an ancient collapsed citadel. The dramatic structures are one of Iceland's most popular natural tourist attractions.

Apparently, it is the result of a couple spending their summer vacations at Hofdi for decades planting trees and plants. When the husband died, the wife donated the place.

The Skútustaðagígar Craters are found in the Lake Mývatn area, which is very volcanic, being near to the Krafla volcano system. The nature of the lake itself and the volcanism of the region both led to the creation of these unusual formations.

During an eruptions, lava ran across the area of Skútustaðagígar, which at the time was swampy wetlands. The heat caused steam eruptions, which resulted in their crater-like shape.

As they were not the sources of lava, or volcanoes in themselves, they are not considered true craters.

When Iceland was first settled in the 9th and 10th Centuries, the vast majority (who were not slaves, at least) were Norwegians who followed the Old Norse religion, worshipping deities like Thor, Odin, Loki and Freya. However, after the Commonwealth was established in 930 AD, pressure to convert began to push from Christianising Europe.

By 1000 AD, it seemed that Norway would almost certainly invade if the country were to stand by their pagan beliefs. The issue was thus discussed at Þingvellir, where the parliament met once a year. The lawspeaker at the time, the Ásatrú priest (or goði) Þorgeir Ljósvetningagoði, was given the responsibility to make the decision.

It is said he lay under a fur blanket for a day and a night in silence, praying to his Old Gods for the right decision. Eventually, he emerged and said, for the good of the people, Christianity would be the official religion, but pagans could practice in private.

To symbolise his decision, he returned to his home in north Iceland and threw idols of the Old Gods into a beautiful waterfall. Since then, it would be known as Goðafoss.