Iceland's landscape is quite open, forests are few and they're cherished and protected. On an overcast day clouds move up and down valleys and fjords, and in this vast and open landscape you can watch the immense spaces and varied landscape being washed with Northern light and shadows.
Volcanic energy heats homes, the warm water community swimming pools and back-country hot springs.
With hot water available by drilling a hole, Iceland's cities and towns have large number of swimming pools, indoors and out, which are widely used year round. Much of the population of Iceland, especially those who live in and around the capitol city of Reykjavik enjoys hot water and space heat that is exclusively geothermal. Iceland's people are shaped by the land, and most of them aren't more than a generation off the farms where turf houses were common until a couple decades ago. Many speak other Scandinavian languages or German. Iceland enjoys universal literacy, and a rich literary and poetic tradition.