ICELAND - REYKJAVIK

Geographically, Iceland is located between Europe and the United States. This has had a significant impact on the way of life of the Icelandic people, which can be seen in many different things. For example, the building style is a mix of English/Irish, with the wide sidewalks coming from America. But also culturally, Iceland is very much shaped by Western influence. This can be seen in the fact that a large part of the population is also Christian. Thus, most Icelanders have the same values and celebrate the same cultural events.

In this blog although, I want to reflect about the effect  the daylight  had on my while in Iceland and how it affects the culture and the city Reykjavik I lived in. For those who don’t know it, Iceland is located far up North in the Atlantic Ocean. This is why in summer they have days where the sun never goes down, but in turn in the winter also days with only four hours of sunlight. This tremendously affects the life of people living there, which I will analyze more in depth below.

Especially in the summer months starting from Mai till August, the weather in Iceland is usually very nice and you have around 18-22 hours of sunlight. The average temperature is also around 15 degrees Celsius. This makes it ideal to travel through the country as the roads are open and the trails are all set for hiking in the highlands. As there is so much daylight and good weather, this is the busy season for Iceland in terms of tourism. Especially because Iceland heavily depends on tourists, a great part of the economy is shifted towards fitting their needs. This is why also the city center is completely different when compared to winter months.

In the winter, the days are getting much shorter in terms of daylight. For example, in December there are only four hours of daylight and if there is bad weather you don’t get to see the sun at all. This is very common in Iceland. Especially in the winter Iceland is known for its fast-changing weather conditions. It can be sunny, cloudy, stormy, snowy and windy somehow all at the same time or within a couple of hours. But with the change of season, there is also a cultural change in the city of Reykjavik. You can clearly observe as the tourists vanish from the city, that the Icelandic people are starting to fill the city and bring in their traditions. Although, its much quieter, it is also much more peaceful und brings out the real charm of Iceland. This is also the season where you get to experience the northern lights, which is amazing if you see it for the first couple of times. As the entire city turns into a more peaceful state, you notice also the people are getting more relaxed and not that stressed compared to the summer months. Furthermore, the short amount of daylight makes you really need to structure your day – especially when you are planning to do trips on the countryside. The short time really limits your ability for hikes etc.

In all in, I was quite surprised by the impact of what daylight can have on a country, culture and its people. I have never experienced that nature can have such a high impact on the people’s living – especially considering only the state of the sun. After all, I really liked experiencing both, summer as well as winter, in Iceland as it really shifted from one being active and outside the entire day to being more inside of the comfort of one’s home and getting calmer towards a more peacful state of mind.