The capital and largest city is Reykjavík. Reykjavik and the surrounding areas in the southwest of the country are home to over two-thirds of the population.

The world's most northerly capital, Reykjavik, was founded by Norwegian Vikings running away from their king and the Celtic slaves they picked up in Scotland and Ireland during the late 9th century. A Viking called Ingólfur Arnarson named the place Reykjavik ('Smokey Bay') after the steam rising from the hot springs.

In Reykjavik there was a little bit of farmhouses until the middle of the 18th century, until a small trading community began to grow thanks to a Dane called Skuli Magnusson known as the father of Reykjavik.

In 1874 Iceland was granted a constitution, and by 1918 it had become an independent country under the Crown of Denmark known as the Kingdom of Iceland.

With the Nazi occupation of Denmark and Norway in 1914, the British and the US to control to keep transatlantic sea roads open. Grateful for Icelandic help , the two countries supported Home Rule and then independence in 1944.

Iceland is the second largest island in Europe - after Great Britain.

To reach Iceland's capital city Reykjavik, it takes around three hours flight from the The Republic of Ireland. There are two flights a week by Icelandair.

Iceland is covered by ice, volcanos, glaciers and geysers. About 11 % of the country is covered by glaciers. The country has more than 20 active volcanoes. Grímsvötn and Hekla are Iceland's most active volcanoes.

The country lies on two tectonic plates along which the volcanoes are located: the Eurasian and North American plates. The lava which came from the volcanoes on the plate borders formed the island. The last land addition to Iceland was formed in 1963: This island is called Surtsey and is located 30km/18.6 miles off the main island. Iceland lies on top of the Mid-Atlantic Ridge and due to the movement of the tectonic plates Iceland grows by about 2.5cm/ 1 inch per year!

There are also many waterfalls, hot springs, mud pools and geothermal vents, where the heat of the earth comes out from the earth surface. The energy of the Iceland volcanoes and vents is used by geothermal power stations and supplies the heating to around 85% of all households.

Northern Lights season in Iceland starts in October and lasts through March. The final winter months are the best time to visit Iceland for the Northern Lights in 2020, where you will witness the brightest auroras!

Icelandic is a Nordic language which is similar to the old Norwegian which was spoken over 1 000 years ago.

The Icelandic language has an alphabet with 32 letters. They use the Latin alphabet, similar to the English alphabet.

Most people speak English as a second language in Iceland. There are also many people speaking Danish or Norwegian.

Most Icelanders do not have a family name or surname, they take on their father’s name.

So if the father is called Jakob, the daughter is given a first name for example Eva and then the father’s name with an added –sdottir and is then called Jakobsdottir (Jakob’s daughter), so we would call her: Eva Jakobsdottir. For sons they just add –sson: thus they would call Adam, their son, simply: Adam Jakobsson.

I invite you to take some Icelandic language lessons.

HAVE FUN!!!!

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In Iceland is this fish stew, known locally as “Plokkfiskur”. It consists of boiled cod or haddock filets with potatoes, either mashed and scrambled

+ Living in Iceland is very expensive.

+ Store opening hours... And holidays like Easter, and New Year’s Day. Good luck finding a grocery store, gas station, or restaurant open!

+ Vegetables are pretty tough to find here. Iceland does a good job about growing what they can in greenhouses, but this is limited to tomatoes, cucumbers, peppers, and herbs. Anything else has to be imported.

+ When traveling to Iceland you need to remember that is not Spain or any other hot country and you will find handy your rain coat and hat. But don't forget your swimming suite as the temperature of the Blue Lagoon is around 34°C.