During our recent trip to Iceland we had some good time with Anna J, talking about her way of life and her family, and I promised to write a blogpost about her work, but finally it will be read in a next one.

It was meant to be all in one, but as it was growing too long, I decided to divide it into several parts. That's why it is written in english.

This first, together with the third part, are small reports on my impressions about Icelanders, after only 14 days with them. Well, with... and without them ;-)), all over their country.

Iceland is an impressive country. May be its natural preservation is due, (but certainly not only), to its small population, of about 300.000 inhabitants, more than two thirds of which live in and around Reykjavik.

In fact, one of the most unusual feeling, when driving through all the regions of the country, is the fact of being in an almost deserted land.

We felt happy, however, because we crossed, again and again, really happy sheeps, and really happy horses. They seemed to be happy because they actually live in freedom, at least during summer time! Think that there are twice as many sheeps as inhabitants, and, on the contrary to the later, the animals fully spread all over the land. In spite of the fences, we saw that the sheeps were able to jump over them: no real boundaries. Excepting in the last photo of the next series, all were taken from the main "ring road" too.

During the two weeks we spent there, we barely met a few people, mainly when arriving or leaving some of the guesthouses we lodged in. We were something between travelers and tourists, both taking lots of photographs and shopping at the supermarket, or having small conversations with locals. Apart from some of our hosts, the people at the shops and at the restaurants, we did have only a few true interactions. Icelandic people are scarce!

The first impression was that Icelanders, in general, are cold and serious people, contrasting with the (usual) openness of Spaniards. But lately we think this is not true, with many of them being really kind, warm, and talkative. They only need more time to connect.

There are a few issues that have attracted my attention about them, and these could be some of their cultural characteristics.

First of all, I see them as a very ecological people.

The 100% of the energy they use is renewable, and they get it from the natural and powerful geothermic sources, which are transformed into electric, thermic and other kind of energies. Home heating comes directly from it, and instead of regulating it, they are forced to open the windows to let get out the excess of heat.

Second, but related to the first idea, they are very practical.

Why should they construct highways if a double regular road is enough for them? (Most of the photographs in the Icelandic posts of this blog show the "ring road", or the main road that encircle the whole country). There are no highways at all!

Why should they eliminate the snow from many roads in winter, when only a few people are going to use them anyway (many of the inner roads are closed excepting in summer).

Why should they construct a parking when there is plenty of space for every need? No need to make a parking lot.

How to face the economic crisis? Changing the farm into a (growing bussiness of) guesthouse!

They are tough people used to bear and get through all kind of climatological adversities, and have learnt how to cope with such a difficult land. All the pictures are taken in July: don't forget to check the clothes...

So, we can apply the english proverb (I don't know the Icelander equivalent) "When life gives you lemon, then let's make lemonade".

I see into them a fine sense of humour.

They love painting murals.

AND ...They love colors!! Definitely.

Only 14 days, with their nights, could have been a short time for me to have a deep knowledge about them, but I promise to work hard in order to come back to study them more properly ;-))

To be continued...

Bonus track: Unforgettables, the Icelandic Of Monsters and Men, and their "Dirty paws", about an epical battle between different natural species, inspired in Icelander miths.

Pictures taken with the camera Panasonic Lumix DMC-GF6, and the lens Lumix G Vario X 12-35 f2.8 with a polarized filter. A few were taken with an iPhone 5s.

Some of them keep the dirty spots of the windscreen through which I shot the photo when copilot. I prefer to remember.

My respect to all the people whose pictures are anywhere on this blog, where I only want to represent the streets life. If you recognize yourself on a post, you can make any comment, or ask to eliminate the picture, if you want.

Mi respeto para las personas que aparecen en cualquier entrada de este blog, donde sólo quiero recoger el pulso y la vida de la calle. Si te reconoces en alguna de ellas, puedes hacer comentarios, o pedir que la retire si es tu deseo.