Gullfoss

Gullfoss is a waterfall located in the canyon of Hvítá river in the southwest Iceland. It is a very popular tourist attraction here in Iceland and can you see why here on these pictures.

Gullfoss and a rainbow

Gullfoss and the crevice

Gullfoss is like a staircase, about a kilometre above the falls it turns sharply to the left, but Hvítá rushes southward, after turning to the left it flows down into a wide curved three-step staircase and the plunges in two stages into a crevice that is 32 m deep. The crevice is at the right angles to the flow of the river so it ends going to the same direction as it started. The average amount of water running over this waterfall is 140 m³/s in the summertime and 80 m³/s in the wintertime.

Gullfoss in the night at wintertime and the northern lights

When you first approach the falls you can‘t see the crevice so it appears that the river simply vanishes into the earth. There have been attempts to utilizing Gullfoss to create electricity but many people were against it and now it is protected.

Did you know?

Did you know?

Very informative and use less information...

...that the Dettisfoss waterfall is the most powerful waterfall in Europe?

...that the tenor Garðar Thor Cortes is very sexy?

...that the Alþing, founded in Thingvellir 930, is the oldest parliament in Europe?

...that Icelanders are the biggest relatively Internet users in the world?

...that the glacier Vatnajökull covers more then 8% of Iceland?

...that the glacier Vatnajökull is the second largest glacier in the world?

...that the most famous of Iceland’s programmes is Lazy town and is broadcast in 103 countries worldwide? (Here is you can check it out: http://www.lazytown.com/)

...that Iceland consumes more Coca-cola per capita than any other nation?

...that Iceland has only 300.000 inhabitants?

...that Reykjavik is the capital?

...that no, no in Icelandic means grandmother in Chinese?

...that Vigdís Finnbogadóttir was the first female president of a country, in the world?

...that 10 Icelandic kronors is the same as 1 Yuan?

...that there is only 1% unemployment in Iceland?

...that in 2005 was Unnur Birna from Iceland, Miss World?

...that almost every kid in Iceland above 7 years old has a cell-phone?

...that most people upper secondary school has a laptop computer?

...that Björk is from Iceland?

...that Iceland’s national sport is Icelandic Wrestling?

...that Hvanndalshnjúkur is the largest mountain in Iceland (It is 2.109 meters high compared to Mount Everest that is 8.848 meters)?

...that Iceland has one movie that has been nominated to the Oscars award? (It is called Children of Nature).

...that Iceland has one Nobel writer? His name was Halldór Kiljan Laxness.

...that Iceland has hot springs?

...that Iceland has no army?

...that Iceland has many active volcanoes?

Did you know that Halla Eyjólfsdóttir og Reynir Þór Garðarsson published this?

Icelandic Music

Here you can read about some Icelandic bands and songs that are popular in Iceland:)







The national anthem of Iceland: “Lofsöngur” is written by Matthías Jochumsson with music by Sveinbjörn Sveinbjörnsson. The song was written in 1874 when Iceland celebrated the one thousandth anniversary of settlement on the island.
Here is the song and a beautiful photos from Iceland: http://youtube.com/watch?v=3ovknghc6PA




,,Ísland er land þitt” is a song that is also a very beautiful song written by Magnús Þór Sigmundsson. In english it means ,,Iceland is your country” that covers about Iceland.
Here is a video and the song: http://youtube.com/watch?v=-6kWrBJT4J0






Sigur Rós: Sigur Rós is a band from Iceland that consists of jón þor (jónsi) birgisson (vocals, guitars), kjartan (kjarri) sveinsson (keyboards), orri páll dýrason (drums) and georg (goggi) holm (bass). The band was found in 1994. The music is very special and hard to explain. They are very unique.They have released foru albums and one documentary called “Heima” that means “home” in Icelandic. They’ve reached popularity all over the world, especially in the United States, the UK and of course in Iceland.
Here are some examples of their music, enjoy :) http://sigur-ros.co.uk/media/index.php
The official homepage of Sigur Rós: http://www.sigur-ros.co.uk/











Quarashi: Quarashi is a hip/hop – rap group from Reykjavík, Iceland. The band started working in 1996. They are currently not playing anymore but they were very popular when they did. They did a world tour and they went to Japan, among other countries, and were very popular in Japan. The most famous song is “Stick’em up” and has been played in many movies in the United States.
http://youtube.com/watch?v=pAUS4OQ_06c
Video about the members.






Bubbi Morthens: Is one of the most popular songwriter and singer in Iceland. He's born in 1956 in Reykjavík.He has played in many bands, best known are Egó and Utangarðsmenn that are both rock bands. He was a singer in those two bands. He plays now solo and has released 37 albums and sold more albums in Iceland than any other Icelandic or foreign artist. Bubbi does always sing in Icelandic.

Bubbi's official site is http://www.bubbi.is/








Megas: Megas is born in 1945 in Reykjavík. His real name is Magnús Þór Jónsson but he uses Megas as his art name. He is a poet and a songwriter and he also sings. His songstyle is unique and he tells stories in his songs and poets. Megas has released out many albums and also a few books of poetrys.
Megas doesn't have a webpage but here you can listen and buy some of his albums or songs.
http://www.tonlist.is/Music/Artist/2675/megas/






Sálin hans Jóns míns: is a band from Reykjavík that was founded in 1988. They are still working and are the most popular band in Iceland. They play rock and sing in Icelandic. They have released out 15 albums. The band has 5 members.
Here is the official webpage of the band http://www.salinhansjonsmins.is/
Here is a video from Sálin hans Jóns míns and it is pretty old video :)
http://youtube.com/watch?v=wPOhyAEN0J8




Hjálmar: Hjálmar is a reggie band from Iceland appointed 6 members. Their songs are relaxed and in the style of Bob Marley but most of their songs are in Icelandic. Here you can see the band and also listen to some of their songs:
http://www.myspace.com/hjalmarmusic








Björk Guðmundsdóttir is one of the most well known singer in Iceland. She‘s born in Iceland in November 21 ,1965. She is a singer and a songwriter, composer , actress and a mucis producer. She has been nominated for 13 Grammy Awards, and more of awards.She plais on intrumenst like Vocals,keyboards,piano and flute. She has been playing in a band like”The sugarcubes, Tappi, Tíkarrass, KUKL”
http://www.bjork.com/
The official homepage of Björk.






Guðmundur Magni Ásgeirsson he is a singer, songwriter and a musician. He is best known from the reality show Rock Star: Supernova. He is born in Iceland December 1st , 1978. Instruments that Magni plays on are like vocals, guitar and piano. He has been playing in one of the most popular band in Iceland “ Á móti sól” or Against the sun. ,,Á móti sól" is one of the biggest pop bands in Iceland. They have produced seven albums, two of which went gold.
www.myspace.com/magnirocks
The Official homepage of Magni
http://www.amotisol.is/
The official homepage of Á Móti Sól




Páll Óskar Hjálmtýsson or Paul Oscar is the most famous DJ in Iceland. He is born in March 16th , 1970. He plays disco music that is fun to dance to, traditional Icelandic songs, ballads, love songs, house and techno. His most recent album is Allt fyrir ástina (All in the Name of Love, 2007). In Reykjavík, Paul Oscar performs regularly as a disc jockey in clubs and appears on radio and TV shows.
Here is his official homepage and some examples of his music.
http://www.myspace.com/palloskar







Emiliana Torrini Davíðsdóttir, best known as Emiliana Torrini is a young singer from Iceland. She is best known for her album ,,Love in the time of Science” that was released in 1999 and for performing “Gollum’s Song” in the film Lord of the Rings: The two towers





http://www.emilianatorrini.com/






GusGus is a band from Iceland/Reykjavik. Their band started in 1995 and their sixth album is ,,Forever” and came out in February/march 2007.Music that they play is techno/electronic
Website http://www.gusgus.com/








Mugison it’s a one-man band and the man name is Örn Elías Guðmundsson. He uses a guitar and a computer to play his music. He did study in London to become a record producer. He is now on a tour in Canada. His song ,,Murr Murr” is best known and was the main theme song in the film ,,A Little Trip to Heaven”.
http://www.mugison.com/



here is the song ,,Murr Murr": http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_Lba_FkqZag






Bands from Selfoss:






Veðurguðirnir: it all start in a joke, three boys met in a garage drinking beer and singin songs with the band SSSól in the year 2003.but now to day Veðurguðirnir are popular band from Selfoss (our town) they sing in Icelandic and their songs keep getting better every year and more popular.
Here is their new song ,,Bahama” that is one of hit singles in Iceland at the moment:
http://youtube.com/watch?v=AZFMHUk-0BQ










Skítamórall: is a band from Southern Iceland, Selfoss. They started playing together when they were just teenagers in 1989. They started playing in the high school of Selfoss but they got famous in Iceland when they released the song “Ertu þá farin” or “Are you gone”. They sing in Icelandic.
Here is the official webpage of Skítamórall:
http://www.skitamorall.is/
and here you can see some videos :
http://www.youtube.com/results?search_query=sk%C3%ADtam%C3%B3rall&search_type=



Þóra Margrét and Erna Kristín

Icelandic Food

Food

Icelanders have a great selection of interesting and delicious ancient food. In the old days Icelanders didn’t have much food choice so do they devolep meat and fish that could last longer. They exploited the food to the full. Like when Icelanders eat lamb, they often eat most of the parts of the lamb. The best meat is the leg and the head (we even eat the eyes, the tounge and also the testicles). Other of examples of what Icelanders eat is: jelly made of the sheep head, smoked lamb, blood pudding (made of the lamb blood) and liver pudding, salted lamb, dried fish and also normal fish, greenland shark (it is let rotten because of the uric acid that is mortal), sausage, hot dog and rye pancakes.

We also like cruller (like a twisted doughnut), icelandic chocolate and licorice, cocktail sauce (made of mayonnaise, ketchup and mustard), and the very famous skyr.

Icelanders drink alot of milk and we love our world famous water. For holidays feasts we drink malt and orange soda.

Cruller (the twisted doughnut)

Lamb head

Here is one of the Icelandic santa clauses with Icelandic sausage

Here is a plate with many kinds of Icelandic traditional food. For example 8: smoked lamb. 7: Dried fish. 6: Sheap head jelly. 3: Greenaland Shark.

The delicious coctail sauce which all the Icelanders love

Here is Bill Clinton (former president of the United States)
eating our world famous hot dog.

And at last but not at least our world winning Glacial Water

But please attention our dear Chinese friends, we do not eat this in a daily basis. Yes, we drink alot of water and sometimes have hot dogs but we also eat Pizzas, Hamburgers, Spaghetti and also Chinese food. Chinese food has become very popular here in Iceland.

Halla Eyjólfsdóttir og Reynir Þór Garðarsson

Aðalbjörg

My name is Aðalbjörg Skúladóttir, I´m 17 years old born 13.april 1991 in chinese sympol goat. I live in a farm in Grimsnes called Sel with my dad (Skúli) and my stephmother ( Unnur) brother ( Árni, 11) and sister (Dóra ,14) on the farm we have sheep, hens, cats and dogs. My intress are travel, animals, and much more. I have been twice to Denmark and once to Norway. I don´t have work now but i have work in a greenhouse, supermarket in Reykjavik called Bónus and in a hotel . Interest in China because i like to learn about diffrent culture and other countries that is why i think China is interesting.

Sandra

Hi my name is Sandra Ósk Ben Viðarsdóttir and I'm born in 1989 which makes me 18 years old, soon to be 19. My birthday is the 18th of August. In China that makes me a Snake but here I'm a Leo. I live in Selfoss where I have lived my whole life. It's a small and nice town in the south part of Iceland. I live there with my mom and dad. My mom name is Unnur and she works in the family business at the office and my dad name is Viðar and he works at the same company as my mom. I have one sister and her name is Hildur, she lives in Reykjavík but soon she will move to Selfoss. I'm at my third year in F.Su. and I like it very much. I don't work with school but at the summertime I work in the same company as my parents. I have a website which is www.myspace.com/sandraben , you can check it out.=) I'm interested in China because there are such beautiful clothes there=) and the culture is so different from Iceland, and the people and just everything is so different so it would be very nice to see it and get to know the country.

Gerður Ósk

My name is Gerður Ósk Guðmundsdóttir and I am 16 years old. I was born in 11th of may 1991. So in Chinese symbol am I goat.
I live in Þrastarimi 25 in Selfoss with my patents and one little sister. My mother, Guðbjörg, my father, Guðmundur and my little sister, Anna Margrét. I also have a brother, Davíð Örn and he lives with his wife and his two children and also I have an older sister who lives with his boyfriend in Reykjavík.
I work in Pylsuvagninn and training gymnastics and also practice gymnastics. My interests are gymnastics, dance, music, singing and I love being with my family and friends.
My best friends are Harpa María and Kata and of course my boyfriend, Eyþór.
I am interested in China because of this different world in China, the food, the history and the travelling.