When you are in Iceland and your husband asks the tour guide what he thinks of Jaja Ding Dong, you hope it’s a short tour. You wonder if he will be misunderstood, or even worse if the question is too self-disclosing about our taste in modern film (which for me leans toward funny, silly, and witty). This movie was recommended to us because we were traveling to Iceland and because I like Will Ferrell, at least most of the time.

Well, our lovely twenty-something guide responded with, “I loved it.”

Whew! And in case you are unaware, Jaja Ding Dong is the catchy song from the movie Eurovision Song Contest: The Story of Fire Saga, which was set in Iceland. While the song itself is not featured heavily, it is often referred to and it has a catchy tune. FYI, it is also laced with sexual innuendos. Where we may fail to remember the title of the movie, it was easily identified by our tour guide by the mention of this song.

She was excited that Eurovision Song Contest: The Story of Fire Saga brought some attention to the continent-wide competition, which began in 1956. It is still going strong today. You may have heard of the winner from 1974 – a group called Abba singing Waterloo.

Here’s a clip: https://youtu.be/Xe40P8qzQh4

The interesting thing about our conversation with our guide and the reason why this deserved a mention is that it was this very movie which inspired her to move to Iceland. Ah, to be young again! She watched the movie and fell in love with Húsavík, the little-acclaimed Icelandic town in which our singing competition hopefuls, Lars and Sigrit, reside. She had previously lived on an island in Germany. Yes, there are islands in Germany – that was new to me. I guess she really likes the island life. She confessed to the same and told us she can’t handle hot weather. She hates it. I should clarify that the weather that day was what I called chilly, and she called hot. So, clearly, we had to define terms.

This conversation took place during our Jewels of the North excursion out of Akureyri, Iceland. The tour is aptly named. This region is stunningly beautiful and diverse. It included geothermal features, waterfalls, and rock formations.

I felt like a kid again as we searched for trolls disguised as rock formations during our hikes in the region of Skutustadahreppur. That’s how they trick you, you know.

Can you see the faces?

I couldn’t help but think about Yellowstone National Park as we toured the geothermic area in this region. Fascinating!

Mud Pots

The waterfalls were breathtaking.

Godafoss – foss means waterfall

During the first few days in Iceland, I thought I’d never get warm. It’s a far cry from Florida.

I especially loved the Icelandic horses, which pepper the landscape. You might be tempted to call them ponies because of their smaller size, but the locals are adamant about it. They are horses and the only breed allowed on the island. They are hearty and sure-footed, which is important in a terrain of volcanic soil.

A side note, there are no food crops produced in Iceland. Farms are only for livestock. The only crops grown are grass and hay to feed the animals. This explains why we were hard-pressed to find a decent salad during our short stay there. There would be plenty of time to eat our vegetables once we were home.

This is a geothermal power plant. They pump the heated water from the springs into town and heat the houses through radiators. The hot water when we took a shower in Ryjkjavik smelled less than delightful – like sulpher. We are told you get used to it. We didn’t.

We also experienced a few earthquakes while there. This is nothing new to the locals and didn’t freak us out either, but they had increased in number and intensity indicating that a volcano eruption was imminent. On July 10, just after we left that side of the island, Litli-Hrutur erupted. It is part of the Fagradalsfjall Volcano system, which I am only sharing with you so you can try to pronounce the names. Icelandic is a Germanic language, like English, though I was unable to pronounce 95 percent of the words I read. They use a lot of letters! English speaking persons are at a great advantage as they travel. I am thankful for that.