Ed writes: One of the many things I've come to love about Iceland is the architecture. The straight, simple design combined with the vibrant colors makes the perfect combination for me. Because of this affinity (perhaps obsession is a better word) a lot of my photos tend to contain random structures, mainly houses. I saw this lovely blue-green house with the deep red door and stair railings and blue posts as I approached from up the street and began pulling my camera out of my bag in anticipation of the picture I would instinctively take. To my surprise as I got closer, I noticed the equally colorful sock stuck to the post. It seemed to me to sum up my perception of the Icelandic people I'd encountered on my visit : very neat and put together but with a wry sense of humor when you spend the time to get a closer look.
Ed was born in Boston and has been a resident of Massachusetts his entire life. He's a programmer in an application development group for the health care industry. He's been reading Iceland Eyes for a while now, and sent me a link to his Flickr photo album of his most recent trip to Reykjavik via Twitter. I invited him to choose a few of his photos and be a guest photographer.
About discovering Iceland, Ed says:
The idea to make the trip in 1999 came about somewhat coincidentally over the preceding New Year's holiday. While at a holiday party, my hostess friend mentioned that her parents had visited Iceland earlier in the year and they raved about it. All I knew about Iceland up to that point was that the capital was Reykjavík, Reagan-Gorbachev something-something, and something to do with chess. It piqued my curiosity, however, as an interesting and exotic place to visit.
After his boss randomly mentioning a great package deal with Icelandair a short time later, Ed decided to make the trip happen, and three months later he was "geared up and mounted on our Icelandic horses for a nice afternoon ride in the mist."
On our first day we witnessed mist, rain, hail, snow, and sun. Then later that night we saw the sun set somewhere around 11:00 p.m., in early April. And with that (and the ensuing, unbelievably fun 3-night stay that followed) I was hooked on Iceland for good. The country is beautiful and the people are as friendly as ever. What's not to love? I finally returned again in June of 2012 and have just booked my third trip, along with a couple of friends who will be first-timers, for April 2013.
It's always fun hearing about how people got here for the first time, and often it's exactly this kind of seemingly random yet serendipitous situation. And most often our visitors, like Ed, can't wait to come back for more : )
To see a few more of Ed's photos with his wonderful descriptions, go to the Iceland Eyes Facebook Page. If you would like to share your own pics of our lovely island, just let me know ~ Maria Alva
