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Written by Administrator
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Tuesday, 13 December 2011 17:46 |
Iceland is a unique country – and what makes Iceland so special – it´s geological characteristics. In one country you can see glaciers, mountains, vulcanos, geysirs, waterfalls and Mid-Atlantic Rift on land. How come?
Iceland is built up with the same material as the ocean bottom (tertiary basalt formation). The country is geologically an unusually thick (20km-40km) ocean crust. Iceland is located where two tectonic plates meet – North American and Eurasian plates. This is the main reason why Iceland has had so many active vulcanos. There are few places in Iceland where you can see Mid-Atlantic Rift on land, but most popular would be Thingvellir National Park.
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Last Updated on Tuesday, 13 December 2011 18:27 |
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Written by Administrator
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Tuesday, 13 December 2011 18:09 |
When traveling around Iceland, you will probably notice the Icelandic horse, wherever you go. The small horse might look wild, but it is known for being very friendly, it is also believed to be one of purest horse breeds in the world. So what is Icelandic horse and why is he so unique? Here will be answers for those questions.
This small horse (average 135cm) came to Iceland when first viking settlers sailed to Iceland around year 800. Even though it is not a big horse, it is very strong, can carry a full-grown man and has adapted to Icelandic weather conditions very well. Most of the time horses spend outside, and during the winter time they grow very thick coat to protect themselves from the cold and strong winds. Icelanders are very proud of their horse, and it is not recommended to talk bad about their horses in front of them. Even they are in size of ponies, they are not called Icelandic pony.
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Last Updated on Tuesday, 13 December 2011 18:30 |
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Written by Administrator
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Wednesday, 19 October 2011 13:42 |
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Iceland has been fairly peaceful country through the ages, however we should not forget about Sturlung Era which is told to be bloodiest and most violent period in history of Iceland. Age of Sturlungs is in mid 13th century. The period is marked by conflicts of powerful chieftains „goðar“ who ambassed followers and did battle. The name of era comes from the most powerful family clan in Iceland that time – Sturlungar. At that time power in country had consolidated by family clans, which were: Haukdælir (of Árnesþing), Oddaverjar (of Rangárþing), Ásbirningar (of Skagafjörður), Vatnsfirðingar (of Ísafjörður), Svínfellingar (of Austfjörður) and Sturlungar (of Dalir in Hvammur).
At this time Hákon the Old, king of Norway was trying to extend his influence in Iceland. Many Icelandic chieftains became his became his vassals and were obligated to do his bidding and in exchange they received gifts, followers and status of respect. The greatest chieftains of the 12th and 13th century started amassing great wealth and subsuming lesser dominions. This is believed to be one of the main causes of the civil war – Age of Sturlungs.
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Last Updated on Wednesday, 19 October 2011 13:53 |
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Written by Administrator
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Tuesday, 13 December 2011 17:29 |
Even though Iceland´s national bird is gyrfalcon, Atlantic puffin is probably most popular that catches tourist´s eye. So, little bit about this bird, that can be seen in Iceland from April until September.
Atlantic puffin (Icelandic: Lundi, Latin: Fratercula Arctica) is a small bird (around 30cm and weights 500-600gr) is most popular bird in Iceland. In autumn around 8 to 10 millions puffins are in Iceland. Which means around half of all Atlantic puffin population is located in Iceland for few months. The Vestman Islands in south of Iceland is has the biggest population of puffins on whole world. Puffins live near the see and their main food is sand eels and capelins. Puffins are known for their diving skills, and when watching them dive, it looks like they are flying under the water.
Take a look at the video .
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Last Updated on Tuesday, 13 December 2011 17:46 |
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Written by Juris
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Saturday, 15 October 2011 12:49 |
Here is a little insight in a jeep tour organized by GILDO, which led us to Landmannalaugar. The trip was supposed to be on Saturday, however because of bad weather conditions, it was decided to wait until next day. Weather condition in Iceland can be very harsh and it could be dangerous to travel in such conditions, but safety of people is in the first place for GILDO team.
But everything from beginning. In Saturday morning the group met at Olís gas station, ready for adventures, even though the strong wind was almost 28 m/sec. After serious conversations about the trip and weather we decided to wait until Sunday for the trip. Some of the group went straight home, however there were few persons with true viking attitude, who said that no wind or rain would stop them from adventutes, so we decided to spend the day near Reykjavik. The plan was to explore a little bit of Hvalfjörður area, so off we went. Most of the participants of the trip were using jeeps from GILDO car rental. As we were almost at Hvalfjörður tunnel, we took the turn to right, and there most of the drivers had chance to fight the strong wind to try to hold their vehicles on the road.
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Last Updated on Wednesday, 19 October 2011 16:07 |
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Written by Administrator
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Thursday, 03 November 2011 13:39 |
Iceland and its capital Reykjavik have hit the number one spots for Lonely Planet’s Best in Travel 2012 list as the top country and city to visit, as voted by its readers.
Lonely Planet, the largest travel guidebook and digital media publisher in the world, compiled some 3000 votes by its readers and staff for the annual Best in Travel Readers’ Choice award. After the final votes were counted, Iceland came out on top as the most favourable country, and Reykjavik as the most favourable city to travel to in 2012.
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Last Updated on Thursday, 03 November 2011 13:44 |
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Car rental in Iceland
Bílahótel
New! Car with driver. 
