My summer Icelandic trip
Over the summer of 2017, my family and I went to Iceland, specifically the southwestern corner. As it was a short trip, we tried to pack the 5 days full of activities. The first day, we climbed off the plane and headed straight for Reykjavik, the capital city of Iceland.
We headed for a sandwich on the busiest shopping road of Reykjavik. After a delicious tuna toastie, we were on our way to Hallgrímskirkja, the famous Lutheran Church that towers over the town-sized city. The views were amazing, the interior of the building is grand and spacious, and the church organ is a masterpiece.
Next, we set off inland. We had booked a lovely little cottage on a hillside near the town of Laugarvatn, we couldn't wait to arrive. But the thought of this quickly disappeared from our minds as we took in the beauty of the Icelandic landscape, the land is like something out of Lord of the Rings, and then you turn a corner and you're on another planet, the rocky landscape sprawling around you in all directions for what seems like miles.
When we arrived at the house, we found a cute little kitchen with an incredible view, a sprawling landscape contrasting the beauty of nature and brutality of industry. Iceland is full of geysers and hot springs, fueled by the lava which is so close to the surface, and the Icelandic people have seen an opportunity in this. Almost every town, and sometimes even individual houses have central heating fueled by these hot geysers. This is shown in my photo below, I would also like to apologise now for the poor quality of the photos, I took them using film and then managed to get them on my computer by taking photos of the prints on my phone, primitive I know.
The next day, we decided to go to the famous waterfall Gullfoss, and amazed at the beauty of it, we decided to see another waterfall. And then another. And then another. Our final major waterfall was Skógafoss (there were many other smaller ones just on the roadside), the 200ft tall waterfall towers above you as you stand at the bottom of it, the climb to the top is a tough one, but well worth the view. Seeing the almost perfectly flat landscape below you is an incredible sight, and I know it sounds silly, but you do feel like the king of the world when you're up there.
At the start of the trip, I wasn't expecting much. I had been woken up at 3 in the morning to get a flight from Heathrow, and I had been told that Iceland was cold, uninviting and boring. I found this to be a complete fabrication. Although Iceland may not be a pictureesqe, sunny country like Spain or France, it has its own beauty in the empty cold that is its landscape. And just because you can't see activiteis and shops scattering google maps, it doesn't mean there isn't anything there, you just have to look a little deeper.
Below are some assorted photos of the trip, I would also appreciate it if you were to leave some constructive feedback on my photography, I want to get into it, but I'll be honest I'm not very good at the moment.
