Iceland Gets it right~ Why No media coverage?

[Lydia Leftcoast]

47. Not many people would ever travel to Iceland? I beg to differ!

I live in Minneapolis, which has direct air connections to Europe on Icelandair. Many, many people in Minneapolis (and the other cities served by Icelandair) have taken advantage of free stopovers on the way to and from other European countries.

At the last meeting of a film group that I belong to (a couple hundred members), Iceland was mentioned in passing, and the discussion moderator asked for a show of hands of people who had been to Iceland. About 1/4 of the audience raised their hands.

I chose Icelandair because it flies directly into the city where my Norwegian relatives live with a 90-minute transfer in Reykjavik. (Since Iceland is a Schengen Treaty country, you go through immigration and customs there and you're done for the rest of your European trip.)

On the way back, I took advantage of the stopover option to spend three days there. It's a great destination, especially if you're into nature and outdoor activities. The tourist infrastructure is well set up, and there are plenty of organized tours and activities (pony treks, glacier hikes, bathing in thermal pools, whale watching---which is beginning to bring in more money than whale hunting, cross-country skiing in the winter).

The Icelandic language is opaque to outsiders, but most people speak English and at least one other language. On one of the tours I took, the guide asked how many people spoke which languages. When it turned out that everyone spoke either English or German, he gave his spiel in both languages. His English was flawless with only a slight accent, and his German sounded pretty good, too.

I'd like to do another stopover on my next trip to Europe, whenever that is.