Island
Republic of Iceland
The Icelandic national flag
Map of Iceland
A Island in the Atlantic ocean, discovered by the Vikings in 800'rd century, and formally established as a independent state in 936, by the creating of Altinget, which is considered to be the oldest parliament in the world.
Colonized by Vikings ( Norway ) in the year 1262.
Became this way part of the Nordic union under the Danish Queen Magrethe I, in the year 1380, and stayed under the Danish Crown after the Nordic union was abandoned.
Occupied by British forces in 1940, joined by American forces in 1941 to avoid Nazi German occupation of Iceland.
In 1944 Iceland left the Kingdom of Denmark, by a vote of the people of Iceland, turning Iceland into a Republic.
1980 Iceland was the 1'st country in the world to elect a Female President, by the name of Vigdis FINNBOGADOTTIR.
Facts on Iceland, see
here 
I have some of my very good friends on Iceland, which I meet during my engineering studies in Denmark.
Visited them in 1994, which was the 50'th anniversary of independence form Denmark.
Iceland is a very unique Country, with it's volcanic landscape, but rather mild climate (-10 to +20 Celsius.) due to the golfstream in the Atlantic ocean. The people are very friendly and it is truly a place to go for holiday at least one time in your life, for a adventures experience.
Go there in the summer for polar light, 20 hours long days, some great food such as salmon in many varieties & lamb, and some really fresh air......
To go there is easy, you have direct flights from Copenhagen, London, Paris, New York etc, aprox 4 hours flight from Copenhagen.
Some of my pictures from Iceland,
Welcome to Iceland, the land of the Vikings...
The celebration of 50 years independence, 1994
National dresses from different regions on Iceland.
Summer house on the inland lake area's.
Icelandic horses, a special race with heavy fur & short legs.
The oldest wood house on Iceland.
Build in 1869 entirely of imported timber from Denmark.
On the way up to the North East of Iceland.
As Iceland is a volcanic Island, you only have black "sand beaches"
Driftwood on the beach
The temperature is very low, was there in June 94,
and there was 3 degrees Celsius, basically like inside your fridge.
it is therefor possible to dry fish, just by hanging them up.
Snowtractor used at the skiing liftstations
A special place in the North East, Asbyrgi.
The legend tells that long time ago, the Nordic good Thor
went for a drive whit this wagon pulled by two goats.
Accidentally one of the goats hit the earth, at this place.
Thus the shape of the canyon is the from of a goats hoof, going 50 meters vertical up.
Time for some fishing, our river of choice to catch some Salmon,
Got a bite, very quickly
A very fit & struggling Salmon
My 1'st Salmon,
unfortunately you can not feel how cold it was,
3-4 degrees Celsius, and a vindspeed of 5-6 m/sec.
It was very cold.... but worth it.
Quickly followed by my host,
Our catch for the day, which was beyond our wildest expectations
If you go there for fishing, remember you need buy a license.
A view at the sky 3 AM, North Iceland
Reykjavik, Capital city of Iceland.
Blue lagoon hot springs, just next to the airport.
Some nice looking Jente girls
Traditional Icelandic house, build almost without use of timber
which hardly exist on the Island.
Located at Laufas, Eyjafjordur, North Iceland
Iceland, a volcanic Island in the Atlantic Ocean,
located on a mostly under water mountain,
stretching from the North Pole, down to the South pole.
(Other Islands located on the same stretch are Svalbard, Jan Mayen, Acoerne & Bouvet)
A beautiful, but sometimes deadly view.!!!!
Lake Myvatn, North east
Haufursa waterfall, with ice in peculiar pattern
Gullfoss waterfall
Svartifoss waterfall, south east
Basaltic columns at Hallormsstaour, east.
Finally a little Viking humor,
I hope you enjoyed this little trip to the land of the Vikings,
I can only recommend you to go there to experience all of it, yourself.
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