So we took a week off, but came back with the extremely interesting country of Iceland.

It has a unique terrain formed out of volcanic lava flows and full of hot springs as well as glaciers. It is also one of the newest countries (in terms of when the land was formed) but has one of the oldest forms of representative government in its 1,100-year-old Althing.

And compared to most all of the other countries we have studied it is far in away the most well off with a a GDP of $49,730 and a life expectancy of 82 (higher than even the U.S.)

Here is the link to the information sheet if you want to learn more details (iceland_info)and below are a few facts that everyone found interesting:

1. Most of the population lives in the capital Reykjavík, and more than 80 percent of the island is unpopulated because the land is covered either with permanent snow.
2. The town of Thingvellir is one of only TWO places in the entire world where you can see two of the earth’s tectonic plates meeting above the earth’s surface (the other is in Africa).
3. The country was independent for hundreds of years, but 1262, the Althing voted that Iceland should come under the rule of Norway.
4. The fox is the only four-legged animal native to Iceland.
5. About 80 percent of Icelandic people believe in elves. Roads have even been built to specifically avoid rocks and trees where elves are rumored to live.

FOOD

If you search online for Icelandic cuisine, you come across a fair number of articles about the weirdest and grossest foods in the country. So we tried avoid the, um, interesting delicacies of boiled sheep’s head and cured shark meat, and go with some more appetizing items.

On a side note, hot dogs are apparently hugely popular in Iceland as they have their own kind made with beef, pork and lamb meat. But I could not find anything similar at speciality stores in the U.S. Just another reason to visit Iceland in person!

Breakfast

Pönnukökur (Icelandic Pancakes) – These are delicious. Kind of a crispy crepe. We ate them with a little white sugar and strawberries

Skyr – Classic Icelandic yogurt.  Technically not yogurt but tastes almost like the Greek variety (apparently they are made differently and with different cultures.) And we think the Skyr is even more delicious and not as tangy. And available at Giant under the Icelandic Provisions brand.

Dinner

Plokkfiskur (Icelandic Fish Stew) – Mixing fish, a milk-based rue and potatoes did not sound super appetizing but it was quite tasty. Reminded us of a New England clam chowder. Just make sure to season it all well! (We even used cod straight from Iceland!)

Pickled Cabbage – Iceland has few home grown veggies so once that keep for a while – like cabbage – are ample.

Brown Bread – Another dinner staple.

CULTURE

After reading a book about Iceland, Andrew became obsessed with learning how to play handball as it the default national sport of Iceland.  In fact, its men’s team won a silver medal in handball in the 2008 Summer Olympics, marking its first team Olympic medal ever.

So we learned the rules  and watched some Icelandic professionals play. And then tried a little on our own. It seems like a cross between soccer and basketball, and Andrew was particularly amused by the way the goalies attempted to stop shots – jumping up like a big X.

I hope you have enjoyed the fascinating country of Iceland. Next week we will be back with our most mainstream country yet – Japan!