Iceland Adventure: Land of Fire and Ice

Today, Emily and Grandpa Gus are visiting Iceland — "The Land of Fire and Ice".

Emily and Grandpa Gus begin their adventure by visiting one of Iceland's famous waterfalls.

​Welcome to Skógafoss, Emily! It's one of the biggest waterfalls in Iceland.

​It's so pretty! But it has such a funny name!

​Well, it's an Icelandic name. The language hasn't changed much since the Viking times.

​Oh, I had no idea Vikings used to live here!

It's true! And there's an old story that the first Vikings who lived here hid a treasure behind this waterfall.

A little bit later, Emily and Grandpa Gus head to the Blue Lagoon.

Just look at how blue the water is here, Grandpa!

Yeah, this is the famous Blue Lagoon. Many people come here to relax, swim, and get warm.

So it's like a nice, hot bath out in the open!

​Exactly! With all the ice and snow around, it can get pretty cold. So relaxing in this hot water and steam is like sitting on warm clouds!

That sounds lovely, Grandpa! Can we go in, too?

Of course! Let's go change our clothes first.

Emily and Grandpa Gus continue exploring Iceland. They stop to take a look at a volcano.

​Take a look at that mountain, Emily. Do you see the smoke coming out of it?

​Is that mountain on fire? Should we call 911?

No need to worry! That's actually a volcano, and that's pretty normal here. There are more than 100 of them in Iceland!

​Oh, so that's why they call it "The Land of Fire and Ice"!

Exactly! Pretty cool, isn't it?

Emily and Grandpa Gus are outside, looking up at the sky.

Look at the sky, Grandpa! It's like someone is painting on it!

These are the Northern Lights, Emily. You can only see them in special places like this where the sky is very, very dark.

So cool! I wish I could fly so I could see them up close!

Well... astronauts get to see the Northern Lights from space, and they say they're even more beautiful from up there!

No way! I think I know what I want to be when I grow up!