Iceland Pop Quiz

We hope you read and enjoyed our posts on Iceland. Hopefully, the information in those posts can help you with this short pop quiz to see how well you know Iceland.

(T/F) Icelandic horses are prisoners in their own country.

False. If they leave, they can never come back. These horses are pure breeds from the times of the Vikings. The Icelanders want to maintain their pure bred horses. [photo by Kathryn]

(T/F) It’s possible to circumvent Iceland by bicycle.

True. We saw this fellow at several points around the island, thus, it must be possible. [iPhone photo from a moving car – by Jeff]

(T/F) Hallgrímskirkja, the largest church in Iceland, was designed to reflect the rocks found throughout the country.

Hallgrímskirkja is the largest church in Iceland. [photo by Jeff]

True. Hallgrímskirkja looks like the basalt columns found in many places. [photo by Jeff]

(T/F) Church Mountain or Kirkjufell in Grundarfjordur is the most photographed mountain in Iceland.

True. According to the latest tourist information, it is the most photographed mountain. But just to be sure, we took several photos of it. [photo by Kathryn]

(T/F) Turf houses were used to feed the cattle in the winter.

False. Turf houses started in the Neolithic times because wood was scarce (still is, as there are very few trees on Iceland). Turns out that grass makes pretty good insulation too. [photo by Kathryn]

(T/F) Trolls are Iceland’s national animal.

False. The Gyrfalcon is Iceland’s national animal. Icelanders believe in trolls and elves. We believe this is the home for a family of trolls. [photo by Kathryn]

(T/F) Like many foreign countries, it is not safe to drink the water.

False. Iceland’s water is so clean, that drinking from the taps alone doesn’t even cut it; more often than not, it is completely safe to drink from the country’s streams and river systems, most of which originate from one of the island’s many glaciers. This waterfall was behind our hotel, seemingly the source of our water. The ultimate test was filling up my water bottle from the sink in a public bathroom. Yum! [iPhone photo by Kathryn]