I expec­ted more ice, it has to be said.  I also packed my thermals and it turned out to be warmer than home.  But, I also know how bit­terly cold it can get in coun­tries like this in Winter even if the ther­mo­meter doesn’t show it as look­ing so bad — driv­ing rain, strong winds and per­vas­ive damp­ness can chill you to the bone where the same tem­per­at­ure on a sunny day in the Alps could feel pos­it­ively balmy.

This was my 40^th birth­day present from Romana.  The hope had been to see the North­ern Lights, some­thing I always wanted to wit­ness.  Sadly the weather and con­di­tions meant it wasn’t to be.  But I still appre­ci­ated the trip and the unique exper­i­ences — it was a great gift!

I’m not going to extol the vir­tues of Ice­land too much here — it’s a small coun­try, with a rich cul­ture and her­it­age.  It’s def­in­itely one of those places worth vis­it­ing if you get the chance.

One note, though — I expec­ted to be hungry, but it turns out there’s six veget­arian res­taur­ants, and most (but not all, by any means) res­taur­ants offered fairly decent veget­arian options.

PS — some pic­tures are rather grainy as I had to push the cam­era some­what.  This is one dark country!

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