Author: Christina Ritchie

Why not? My obsession with this island country started in 2nd grade. Mrs. Pippins assigned us a “country project”. We could choose any country and had to produce a report, filled with pictures and facts about the geography and culture. This curious little girl chose Iceland. I am not sure I fully remember the “why” behind that choice but I have to believe it’s because of the mystery of this island that is about the size of Kentucky and officially sits on two continents, Europe and North America.

I remember coloring Iceland’s flag 🇮🇸 and noticing it has the same colors as US flag. The red cross symbolizes fire and the ~32 active volcanos 🌋 ; the white is the ice 🧊 as ~10% of the island is made up of glaciers; and the blue is water 💧 as the island sits right where the northern Atlantic and Arctic Oceans meet.

In addition, what child isn’t fascinated by the legends of Vikings, elves, and trolls? Plus I remember someone saying to me, “Iceland is Green, and Greenland is Ice”. Hmm…something my 8 year-old self pondered. In fact, information about Iceland was barely in the encyclopedia I used for my research (there was no internet and therefore no Wikipedia). And while it wasn’t Canada, or Italy, or one of the more commonly known/visited countries (especially in 1976), it sparked a curiosity that remains today.

Let me dispel a few common beliefs from questions I have been asked or my findings through research:

1. There are no penguins in Iceland, only puffins! And puffins are a delicacy to eat.

2. There are no polar bears in Iceland. In fact, there is only one land animal native to the country and that’s the Icelandic Fox. There are whales—humpback, Orca, Minke, Fin (similar to what I saw in Antarctica). And, there are also Icelandic horses—they are beautiful in pictures so I hope we have the opportunity to see them in person! Another fact is if an Icelandic horse leaves the country, they can never return. That’s to preserve their pure-breed (Iceland hasn’t imported horses since the 11th century).

3. Iceland has a long and rich history. It’s also relatively “new” as the Vikings are credited for the first settlement around 874 AD (although I have read some articles that say the Irish Monks were there before). They passed the years under Norwegian and Danish rule, and became an independent republic in 1944. In addition, The Althing is one of the oldest parliaments in the world, starting in 930 AD.

5. Iceland has never won Eurovision. I am not sure what the Icelandic people think about Will Ferrell’s movie, Eurovision Song Contest: The Story of Fire Saga. It was filmed in Iceland and the scenery is drop dead gorgeous. I hope some day they take home the coveted title but for now their beautiful country wins the scenery prize!

4. Iceland does more with their geothermal energy than just take a bath in it. They use it to heat their homes/businesses and generate electricity. Iceland’s goal is to be carbon-neutral by 2040.

6. This and That: Icelandic is their official language. The currency is the Krona. Today the exchange rate is 1 Krona to .0073 USD. More than half of the population of 340,000 people live in the capital of Reykjavík (and almost all live near the coastline).

7. In preparing for this trip, I used Duolingo to practice some common Icelandic word/phrases. Let’s just say I have a lot of work to do! Whew. Speaking Icelandic will take a lot more practice and I am not confident anyone will understand me anyway. 🤣 I read Rick Steves Iceland. Rick is the travel guide king!

I also looked for my report so that I could learn from my 2nd grade self—I think it’s somewhere packed away in a box, but “where” is the question! Oh well, I will be able to write a new report after this visit.

Time to start writing!