Update #33 - Iceland - the land of fire and ice

April 10th, 2011 -

Hi there folks....i know, i know...its been almost two months since this trip and i am finally getting around to sending out the update....sorry about that, but we have now come barreling into the fourth quarter and time is flying past....this is actually my first full weekend in zagreb since the beginning of march...and it is the last one i am here until the beginning of may....i love this time of year....it's sunny...i am hitting the road....i am eating dark chocolate ice cream and did i say its sunny.....so much better and spring break is just around the corner, when i am off to edinburgh, scotland....a new spot in my life.....woot!!!!

but let's talk about this amazing trip to this incredible place of iceland.....all i can really say is wowowowowowowow and that my pictures do not do it justice....i will return to this part of the world when i can get all the way around the island and check out some of the interior....many people have asked if it was a crazy idea to go there in february....and i, and my friend catherine who traveled with me would say NO WAY!!!! it was named iceland, but we discovered they got the name wrong....they (the vikings that is) mixed it up with greenland....iceland is green and greenland is ice....so we didn't even have snow while we were there....it was mainly sunny and beautiful....we did have a day of rain....but that's it.....

we stayed in the town of Reykjavik and really enjoyed it....iceland has a total of 300,00o people on it and about 200,00 are in reykjavik....yes...you did not read that wrong.....2/3 of them live in the capital city and its cute and quaint and has absolutely amazing food....the other big question we got from people was about the prices of things.....yes - its expensive....but is it doable....i think so....yes....and if you are a camper and hiker and rock climber, then it would be cheaper than the route we took....although you would have to go in spring/summer/fall.....and the final question people asked was did you see the northern lights - and the answer is yes...but my camera was not good enough to capture them on film.....sorry about that....but it was amazing and mostly green and it looked like an artist had swiped a paintbrush with green across the sky....it was stunning....

which brings us to the pictures....and again....my camera did not do it justice.....i thought i would start with the quirky road crossing signs....don't you love the smiley and not smiley faces....very creative....which is what icelanders are....creative....they have come up with ways to use geothermal energy and they have greenhouses that are so big and bright you can see them from space (if you haven't figured it out yet - i LOVED this place!).....

this next shot was taken from the city hall building...feeding the ducks and geese is a favorite past time of families here in reykjavik....we even saw a little kid fall in while feeding the ducks and then get rescued by some guy who was there taking pictures....it was incredible & scary....if you look at the shot close enough you can see the the ice is partially gone...and the swans are hanging out on the ice on one foot....all of them were doing this....it was wild....in the background are some buildings along the lake....iceland is a conglomeration of architecture....a real mish-mash....especially the churches....more to come on that....

they also take they art seriously and have it everywhere....i loved this "block-head" statue....it was down behind some buildings, just kind of standing there....

and here is what i meant by the churches....this is the hallgrimskikja....you can actually climb to the top of the middle tower, but unfortunately every time we walked up to the church we either just missed opening hours or there was a funeral....it just was not meant to be and is a great reason for me to go back....
i even loved this church from the back as you can see - and check out that blue sky - wowowow... i guess its a lutheran church....but we never got inside....and was named for a poet/clergyman...i just thought it was an amazing piece of architecture....as were most of the churches we saw here...and all of them were different from each other....
the next shot is of a viking ship - called the solar craft....it is along the waterway that surrounds reykjavik....it is an amazing piece of art that you can walk around and climb on and fits perfectly with the past and present of this part of the world....i love that the mountains are in the background as well....they had snow, but there was none where we were....love it!!!!!!

we wandered around all of reykjavik....and we even tried to find the harbor....but this is all we could find....it was crazy....i did find a place that i was told sold the best lobster soup and had been selling the best lobster soup for 47 years....let me tell you....it was tasty....i didn't try many of the specialties of iceland while in town....many of them i just couldn't do....but i did have lobster and a drink called black death (vodka infused with caraway seeds - yucky!!!) i did not have reindeer or whale or seal or lamb.....so maybe when i go back i will need to do that...maybe

the shot below is some more of the cool art around reykjavik....this guy is just relaxing and looking back over the lake to city hall....the picture close to the beginning of the lake - this is the same one....just a different angle.....very cool....we actually were on our way to the national museum of reykjavik....which i have to say was a very cool place, with an interesting layout....the history of this place is just amazing....it started with all of the ruffians that were kicked out of norway....and they stopped in the UK along the way and picked up women and slaves to take with them into exile.....and that's just the beginning....just crazy.....

we also made it outside of the capital city....we hit the blue lagoon...a stunning waterway that is a geothermal spa, where the water has a combination of sulfur, calcium, salt and silica....people climb into the hot water and just soak for hours (or at least that is what we did)....it is amazing and you can see from the shot below that the water is truly blue....not artificially either....it comes this way.....simply stunning,...

on the way to the blue lagoon the landscape looks like something from the side of a volcano...i have never seen anything like this except for in hawaii and the galapagos....its incredible landscape....although instead of just being lava rocks....it is lava rocks coated in green moss and lichen....just incredible....i kept trying to get pictures of this, but they just didn't turn out as i wanted them to....another reason to go back with a better camera......
on our last full day in iceland, we rented a car and drove the golden circle and then some....and it was stunning....we went to the place of the first parliament on this planet....it was founded in the place below in 930.....yep....you read that correctly.....just amazing....and this is where two continental plates slam into each other so the cliff faces and upwelling and geology of this place is incredible......
from parliament we went to these enormous falls...gullfoss waterfall...which sometimes freeze in the winter (which i wish we had seen)......so much water, but it was not frozen....because of the slush and ice here and there, we were not allowed to go down close to the waterfall (another reason to go back)....the amount of water falling was incredible....it is a two tiered waterfall and stunning....

along this route we also saw the icelandic horses that live all over iceland....as you can see they were wearing their winter coats....and i guess they were specifically bred for iceland and are found nowhere else in the world....i loved that this one stared me in the eye as i was taking the shot :)

from waterfalls, continental rifts and horses to geysers.....this was one of my favorite things we did in iceland....we stopped in this national park and you just get to walk along the edge of the geysers as they are bubbling and erupting....nothing like the strict rules and walkways of yellowstone....didn't really have the microbial colors either....but amazing to listen to, smell and watch erupt none-the-less....below you can see one of the bubbling pools....this was around 100 degrees celsius....hot, hot, hot.....

i took this shot so you could see how close people were allowed to get to the geysers....this is stokkur before it erupts....which is does every 8-9 minutes.....you can stand this close and watch it bubble and hiss.....

and when it erupts, some of the liquid may even land on you....there were a bunch of kids there when we were there (they were brits)....and they stood right where it was the wettest and then complained that the water was hot and made their clothes smell.....hmmmmmm....smart kids, that group......

while we were in town one night we went to comedy show about the history of iceland and how it all began....when we got there there was a crown on the chair to be used in the show....if any of you know catherine, you know how much she loves being a princess and because she was so good during the show as an audience member, she got to perform in it and wear the crown....all hail princess catherine!!!!!
and of course there had to be a traditional shot of me here too....of course with the viking beer....the food and drink of iceland was amazing....from the tasty lattes to the gourmet and incredibly expensive pizzas, to the homemade thai food at the best place in town and the incredible lobster soup tradition.....and of course the beer....as you can see from my smile....

so there you have it....iceland in a nutshell....i really, really , really loved this trip and i will go back there again....just not sure when....i highly recommend this place for a visit....but rest assured, it will cost a bit of money once you get there....even though the locals say everything has dropped by an enormous amount.....but it is totally worth it in my book....a beautiful land of ice and fire....i hope to see volcanoes next time around and make it all the way around the island....get there if you can....you will not be disappointed....

okay....that's it for this update.....the next one will be about a trip i took to italy with my friend wendy from the ice....and then i went to a robotics competition in romania....where my kids won...i will probably just include a cool shot of the robot....it was a blast and sooooooo cool to see past students, friends and colleagues and get to say goodbye.....my last big trip during this school year is to scotland for part of spring break....more on that, after it happens.....

hope all is well with you and your families....drop a line if you wish and i will try and get back to you....life is on full speed though, so please do not hate me if i don't get back to you quickly....the end of the year is approaching fast....yahoo!!!! enjoy spring and talk soon.....