Piotr (Peter in Polish) is our guide.  He was atleast 2 feet taller than me…OMG!  Nice guy but we had a lot of difficulty understanding all that he had to say.  

The most famous mountain near Grundarfjörður is Mount Kirkjufell, often called “Church Mountain”. It stands 463 meters (1,519 feet). Volcanos here erupted 12,000 yrs ago but because they were covered by snow, caused them to be flat. This volcano is a pinnacle….. was carved by glaciers. You need a guide now to climb it cuz it’s dangerous…4 Brits fell to their death. 

At the same stop we saw Kirkjufellsfoss…. Same name but with the “foss” (meaning waterfall) added. 

Black sand beach.. is a caldera created by volcanic blast…. Just a drive by. 

Iceland is only 24 million years old…. young by world standards. 

They have 30 active volcanos. 

One in 1783, “Laki”, that spewed for 8 month, decimated the island. Toxic gases and ash killed 50-80% of all livestock, and 20-30% of the population by starvation. Toxic gas and ash are the worst for killing people and livestock . As well, earthquakes and molten lava (they create flat surfaces) kill. That one killed 6 million in the world from famine, crop failures, and respiratory illness and is believed to have been responsible for starting the French Revolution. There is more info on it….. check it out on internet  

When Vikings came to Iceland in 9th century, it was treed. (Sorry if I am repeating myself)

Sheep are free to roam from May to September when all the farmers come together to round them up. They are then distributed to their owners. The grass near the road is tastiest (and get in the way of the traffic) where they get their fix… lol!

Djupalónssandur, the sea-polished beach pebbles-the black lava pearls of Djúpalón-the elf rocks, and the sea

Iceland had the 1st parliament in the world. The Althing (Iceland, 930 AD): Founded by Viking chieftains as an open-air assembly to make laws and settle disputes.   “Human life” is the most important thing for Icelandics.  For example at one point in history when told they had to convert to Catholicism, instead of fighting, they chose to go with it instead of being subjected to death). 

In 1943 they gained independence from Denmark. 

We saw literally hundreds of teepees to the side of road …(“they will all be getting high on mushrooms”….lol) are here to observe the solar eclipse. 

No GMO is used in farming in Iceland. 

If someone is using an umbrella here, they are new to Iceland cuz if you have been here for a while, you know that rain and snow comes down horizontally so an umbrella is useless. 

The volcano when exploded in my 2010, went 8 km into air affected 100,000 people when all air traffic was halted. 

Bridge that “was built by God” at Arnastapi 

OMG it is expensive here….$54CAD for caesar salad ….or fish and chips, or 15$ for small fries. We decided we were not that hungry!! 

Black church, in 1816, a decision was made to rebuilt church. The first church built at Búdir was consecrated in 1703.  The Swedish-born merchant Bent Lauridesen built the church with his own money. The church was a low-rise turf church with a cemetery, and the first burial took place in 1705. Over time, the church fell into disrepair. A royal letter in 1816 made it official that it was no longer to be used as a church.

It was not until the middle of the 18th century that Steinunn Sveinsdottir, a wealthy widow born in 1777, changed that. One spring day, Steinunn was working outside turning peat that had been stacked in the tufts of the old church. Suddenly, she was overcome with fatigue, so she lay down and fell asleep.

Then a man came to her in a dream and asked her to take up the challenge of rebuilding the church at Búir. Steinunn woke up and realized that this man had been Bent, who had established the first church.

Steinunn accepted the challenge and in the same year, 1847, she applied for permission to rebuild the church. However, the church authorities refused. The King of Denmark and Iceland, gave his blessing for the construction of a new church. Steinunn built the church with no support from the spiritual leaders, now stands at Búdir. It was completed in 1848. As pay back to the church, she had it painted black. Steinunn put the door ring from Bent’s original church on the church door. Steinunn died in 1854.

There were 30,000 English and 60,000 American here occupying  Iceland during war.  Icelanders suggested that they say “they were where to protect them so it would be easier to accept”. 

Winds are not a joke here in winter. You are not allowed to drive when it is blowing 40 metres per sec. (I don’t know how you calculate that)

Sunrise 4:19 am tomorrow and 10:30 pm is sunset