Every part of the planet leaves the visitor with some indelible memories, in which they can be counted in landscapes, animals, plants, uses or unusual customs. Something that we, residents of Italy, are not used to, something where the differences are so evident as to allow our mind to enclose them in long-term or infinite-term memories. Iceland has many "inputs" of this magnitude, but certainly when you visit the area around Snaefell, the predominant one is sheep. Yes, you got it right: sheep grazing undisturbed on the hills, in sparse groups composed of two or three elements, of a color generated by a random mix of black and white.

I am sincere in saying that I had never seen black sheep before this holiday, discovering that the phrase "You are a black sheep" does not apply here, because a black sheep is not the exception to a rule: it is the rule.

These sheep are free to roam and graze where they see fit, being the masters of the sparkling green lands covered with inviting fresh grass.

Smaller in size than their European cousins, during spring and summer go around in groups of three (due to twin births), escaping any tourist who tries to take the perfect photo. They are almost all reluctant to any close contact, and chasing them would only scare them, so it would be a completely wrong approach. To take a noteworthy souvenir photo, you have to wait patiently, seizing the moment they are within range of the camera.

Seeing them conveyed a sense of calm, and once you got used to them, it often happened to look for them scattered in the landscape, as if to make a sort of census.

The sheep we met on our first day were present in all the stops to visit selected in advance (it was a titanic job worthy of a travel agency):

•  At the Gerduberg cliff, where a 15-meter high wall of basalt columns (which the locals use as a climbing wall) stands out in the grass near some farms.
• In Kirkjufell, a scenic place where there is a sharp mountain. Right here, for fans of the “Game of Thrones” series, one of the key scenes involving the Night King was shot.
• Wandering around Snaefell, especially in the area around the enchanting black church of Budakirkja.

We also met sheep near Ytri Tunga beach, another unmissable stop on our trip. In this area it is possible to observe (if you are silent and lucky) some seals resting slyly on the rocks, receiving heat from the sun.

We were lucky enough to see them a few meters away.

Upon our return to Borgarnes, a small town chosen for our first overnight stay, we had dinner eating lamb, one of the typical Icelandic dishes (perhaps the most iconic).

The meat was truly delicious, among the best meats in the world; it could not be otherwise, since the sheep are immersed in an uncontaminated and luxuriant environment.

Icelanders share the territory with over 400,000 sheep, raising them despite the difficulties, because of the low remuneration and fatigue. They do it to eat healthy all year round and by tradition, to keep alive the customs of the ancestors, who like them had an uncontaminated territory forged by ice and fire, where sheep reigned (and reign) sovereign.