Iceland - 30th April to 4th May, 2004 Arriving at about 11pm on Friday night, just after the sun had set (yes, it sets late here!!) we went from the airport to the Youth Hostel in Reykjavik - our home for 4 days. Firstly many, many thanks to Kelly and Matt for inviting me along, I had an amazing trip - one in a lifetime. Although a trip I'd love to repeat, twice - once in the summer and again in the winter. There is so much to see and do here!! Iceland is an amazing country of harsh volcanic landscapes, accented with snow capped mountains, stunning blue lakes and rivers, beaches with black sand, colourful houses and friendly faces. Itinerary: Friday 30th April - Arrived in Iceland Saturday 1st May A lazy morning checking out the city of Reykjavik, including the bay which was a bit windy and cold. Iceland's capital city, Reykjavik has a population of approx 180,000 in the greater city area. So you can image how quiet this place was. The whole of Iceland has only about 290,000 population!!! We also climbed the city's biggest Cathedral Hallgrímskirkja, and admired the beautiful view of the colourful city from the bell tower. We spent some time at the city Pond, and also the Botanical Gardens. We also booked our tours at the visitors centre with the help of the young girl whom gave us many options and alternatives. Sunday 2nd May Up early and off to collect our hire car!! Yep we hired a car for the equivalent of £16 each for the day and drove on the wrong side of the road. Initially a very weird experience but it didn't take long to get use to it, just had to think very carefully going round round-abouts :) But boy was it ace to drive again !! We headed off down south, our first stop - Seljalandsfoss a beautiful waterfall (foss in Icelandic = waterfall). Then just down the road a bit another amazing waterfall - Skogafoss, 62m high. We climbed the stairs up the hillside and viewed the waterfall and surrounding country from the top. Then onto Vik, a lovely little town on the edge of the ocean, with a black sand beach. After a quick bite to eat on the beach we headed back with a stop at Dyrholaey - well we attempted to get there, but the road was closed :( Nevermind, we headed on and stopped in Eyrabakki, another beach town that was the largest town in Iceland in 1900 with 1000 inhabitants, for afternoon tea. A quick drive down the road to another beachside town - Stokkseyri where Kelly and I braved the fierce icy winds for a quick walk on the volcanic beach. We stopped here for their legendary Lobster dinner - yes a little decadant but hey was worth every krone!! We arrived back in the city for a walk home in daylight at 10pm in the freezing cold (about 1degree C). Monday 3rd May Off to Ishestar Riding centre for 2hours of horseriding on Icelandinc horses. And I must say their unique gait, the tölt, is a smooth trot like gait that is soooo comfortable to sit. (is a cross between a trot (the really bumpy one) and a canter (which is quite fast)). I had a ball, not only was I on the back of a horse, but we were divided into less or no experienced and experienced riders. So the experienced (all 4 of us) headed off enjoying the lava fields at a smooth pace called the tölt . Oh I enjoyed it *beam* From here we did an express tour of the 'Golden Circle' which began by being picked up and taken back into town to meet up with the tour for our afternoon Express Golden Circle Tour. We first visited Þingvellir where the countries ancient parliament established in 930 A.D. This is also were we saw 'no-man's land' the divide between the two plates that are pulling Iceland and making it bigger. We then traveled through the lovely countryside to a very active geologic area. We stoped to view the majestic waterfall Gullfoss, the incredible spouting hot spring of Geysir, and an old implosion crater, Kerið. Tuesday 4th May Our last day :( saw us head out to The Blue Lagoon, for a morning of relaxing. The lagoon is rich in a unique combination of natural minerals, blue green algae and white silica mud, which give the lagoon its soft, milky, aquamarine color. All this set against the rugged volcanic rocks of the area. After a bite to eat, some more happy snaps, it was time to leave and head to the airport. After soaking for a couple of hours, taking numerous pics and having a bite to eat, we took off for the airport and headed home to London. Useful websites: haven't had time to get these yet - will soon though, so come back and check them out so you can plan your own visit to Iceland :-)