Submitted by Sara on Fri, 10/08/2010 - 09:19

...Planning to soon return, it was so nice.
Have you ever been to a completely new city or country, but felt that it was somehow strangely familiar? Well, Iceland had that quality to it, but it wasn't only that. It exciting and new yet comfortable and homey all at once, and I really enjoyed my time there, even if it was only for two nights. It was also the perfect place to kind of take it easy after all of the craziness that was involved with preparing to leave Minneapolis.

I'm happy that it's so convenient for doing a stopover between the US and Europe, because not only was I charmed by the place, but there is tons more that I want to do there! Most of my time was spent wandering through Reykjavik, marveling at the magnificent views of the sea and mountains, and scoping out the pretty parks and colorful buildings with Scandinavian and nautical details. Lots of photos are included in this post! I was snapping away the whole time there, haha, but I tend to do that a lot when traveling, as you'll soon come to realize... ;-)
Cute wooden houses

The weather was ideal for autumn - crisp and cool with blue skies that opened up just as I was about to head out each day. What luck! Some of the leaves had started to change as well, as you can see in my photo below. They added some great flair to the scenery!

Lava fields with the ocean in the background on the way back to the airport - looks like the moon!

Shadow shot!  :-P  Me taking a photo of some lovely ivy. 


This very diverse group of birds, including Mallards, swans, pigeons, farm ducks and seagulls, get lunch from a friend.  

It seems as though you can only drive your tractor during off hours on the streets of Reykjavik.  :-D

I was very excited to find this steaming water right in town, since I didn't have time to go out into the countryside to find the famous geysers. I think it shoots up sometimes.
One of the many "magnificent views of the sea and mountains" that I mentioned, plus a sculpture.
The very unique and towering Hallgrímskirkja is visible all over town. 

Matching boat planters at a marina

I think everyone I encountered in Reykjavik spoke English, and most of them quite well, so that made things much easier. And besides that, English was everywhere else, from menus to signs to food labels etc. The more it seems that English is going global, the more thankful I am that it's my mother tongue! I still like to learn some key phrases in the local language though, especially when staying for a long time, like in Poland. I'm still working on my Polish, but it's tricky! 
I'm in Krakow now (and LOVING it), but this post is dedicated to Iceland, so I'll get to Krakow in the post after this.
That's all for now, so as they say in Iceland, sjáumst!  
Until next time,

Sara :-)