Iceland

When I flew in to Holland I had a layover in Iceland.  The flight over was far enough North, that we had daylight the entire trip, so when I landed at 7am, it felt really strange.

The seats on the airplane had Iceland quotes like this one... "Ast" is the noun for love in Icelandic.  But the verb is different.  Be careful not to say: "Pu ast mig." That means: You ate me. Use the verb "elska" instead.

Iceland is a strange place.

It's about the size of Kentucky, and inhabits only 300,000 people.  60% of the people live in Reykjavik (which is where I landed).

In my mind, I think Icelandic sounds a bit like Russian spoken with a Spanish accent. Their language is so close to what the vikings spoke, that most Icelanders can read viking!

The country is kind of like Alaska - known for its raw beauty.  Iceland boasts incredible waterfalls, whale watching, geothermal pools, and active volcanoes (I'll bet that last one came as a surprise!). 

When I landed I saw black earth extending for miles and miles, dotted with vegetation here and there, which upon a closer look turned out to be tiny purple flowers.  I caught myself wondering "what is this place?!" But maybe that was the jet lag?