I just crossed a country that feels like another planet!
The moment I set foot on Icelandic soil, I knew the normal rules didn't apply here. The landscape changes constantly: the road runs alongside moss-covered lava fields, and then out of nowhere a waterfall appears, with no sign, no warning, nothing. That's exactly when Yuuki poked his head out of his bag, watched the water plunge 200 feet, and decided it was nap time. I swear, this cat has perfect timing.
The moment that really threw me was standing at the edge of Strokkur. You wait and wait, everyone staring at the same blue spot in the ground, and suddenly the water shoots 100 feet into the air with a deep rumble you feel in your chest as much as you hear it. I stepped back laughing, cold spray on my face, and Yuuki leapt as if he'd set off the eruption himself. It took me five minutes to fish him out from between the other visitors' legs.
In the evening, on Reynisfjara beach, the sand is so black it sometimes feels like walking on charcoal. The Atlantic waves roll in without warning, fast and powerful, and a red sign warns you never to turn your back on the ocean. I followed that advice to the letter, facing the basalt columns, while Yuuki stared down a puffin with an intensity that didn't bode well for the poor puffin. Iceland has a way of making you feel tiny and incredibly alive at the same time, and I think my cat figured that out before I did.
Iceland as I lived it!
The puffins of Látrabjarg
I'd been told puffins were curious. Not this curious. They came within three feet of me, looked me straight in the eye, and completely ignored Yuuki, who was quivering beside me the whole time. I had to hold him back three times. The cliffs drop more than 1,300 feet beneath your feet, and these little birds act as if it were their living room. My takeaway: get there early in the morning, they come even closer, and you'll have the cliff almost to yourself.
Deep inside Vatnajökull
Walking on a glacier is nothing like what you imagine. The ice cracks under your crampons with a sharp, clean sound, the crevasses glow a shade of blue that exists nowhere else on earth, and the cold rises from the ground even in the middle of summer. Yuuki spent the entire hike perched on my backpack, eyes wide open, without moving an inch. For once he wasn't trying to run off. Book a certified guide, because the surface changes every year. It's pretty risky!
Reykjavik at midnight
It's midnight and the sun is still there, hanging above the water as if it had forgotten to set. The harbor is buzzing, the patios are packed, and everyone looks slightly disoriented by this soft golden light that never seems to end. Yuuki settled on the railing and stared at the sun's reflection on the water for a solid fifteen minutes without blinking once. I think he was trying to make sense of it all. To be honest, so was I.
Обязательно посетить ♡
