Iceland with Niall and Libby

In October last year, Libby Davies (Sennybridge) and myself were provided the chance to travel to Iceland with NFYFC. This was my first travel trip with NFYFC having made use of the programme extensively in Wales, so was great to meet members from other parts of NFYFC network and understand more about each of the areas. YFC travel offers some of the best opportunities to meet new people and learn not just about the country that you are visiting but also in some part learn about our own country through their eyes.

After catching the National Express in Cardiff and travelling down to Heathrow the day before we were flying out, we enjoyed an evening getting to know our group over a couple of drinks and some food. As most people didn’t know one another, this was a great way of breaking the ice and having conversations.

With the early morning flight upon us, we made sure we were at the airport early, maybe too early as we were waiting for the gates to open over an hour but at least we weren’t late for a change.

When we got to Iceland, it soon became obvious why the country was nicknamed the land of ice and fire. Volcanoes, Glaciers and waterfalls were a plenty across the island, In fact we were warned when we got there that an eruption was due at any time.

We spent our time touring the south coast of the island. We visited some farms along the way as well as museum’s and met some interesting people. The Icelandic cuisine is very much fish, lamb and vegetables, so very healthy in general. Now with this in mind, I couldn’t turn down the opportunity to try Hákarl, fermented shark to you and I. Definitely a unique taste, glad I tried it but never again.

Fun fact, there is only one breed of cattle, sheep, goat and horses on the island and that is the Icelandic breed. They are starting to bring in some Aberdeen Angus to cross in the cattle but this is still in it’s early stages.

Our final full day was an opportunity to explore the capital city of Reykjavik as well as a relax visiting the blue lagoon. Would definitely recommend if you get the chance. To top it all off on the way back to the airport, We saw the Iceland shop in Iceland and that about blew my mind.

If anyone would like to know more about travel through YFC I highly recommend it and will be happy to provide more information should you wish.