Never in a million years could I have dreamt that I would find myself in a car being driven around Iceland, yet here we are. We have thoroughly enjoyed our 4 day stopover en route from Copenhagen back to Washington DC. The weather has been cold, but as I am typing this, there are blue skies and sunshine outside my window - it is 10pm the night before we fly back to DC. Most days we have been lucky enough to catch some blue skies, and fortunately the few drops of rain we have encountered have occurred when we were in the car and not out and about.
We arrived at Reykjavik at 9am, had the hire car picked up before 10am, and had checked into our bed and breakfast (private studio apartment attached to the owner's home) around 11am. We dropped off our suitcase and drove into the city to have lunch at The Perlan (Pearl) - see top photo. From there we got our first view of Reykjavik. That was enough to lure us into the tall spire we could see in the distance. It was a Cathedral where for about $USD6 (everywhere seems to take Euros, US dollars or Icelandic Króna) you could catch a lift (elevator) up to the top for a great view of the city and environs. From the Cathedral we could see the Perlan where we had lunch, and look out to the glaciers in the East, and the coloured roof tops below. Very pretty. We couldn't wait to see further afield.
 |
| Rooftops seen from the Cathedral |
 |
| Top map shows route from Copenhagen. Left lower map is route on Day 2 and 3, and Day 4 on right. |
The next day, map in hand, we headed north west of Reykjavik to the coastal town of Stykkishhólmur. We saw a red beacon on top of a hill, so we figured we needed to climb the stairs and check out the view.
 |
| Icelandic Ponies |
 |
| Scenes from Day 2 |
 |
| Geothermal area - similar to Yellowstone |
 |
| Gullfoss Waterfall - 105 ' (32 meters) double cascade |
 |
| Only place on earth to see tectonic plates above ground: separation of Eurasia and North American plates |
Although it was a cloudy day, we were thrilled to see the amazing blue colour of the crater lake in this cone volcano with its red volcanic rock. It is reported to be about 3000 years old.
Iceland has seen a lot of volcanic activity with 30 active volcanoes remaining today. Consequently there are many towns, like the one at left, that are built among the lava. I wouldn't want to be looking at that ugly landscape from my windows, let alone try to establish a garden!
 |
| Blue Lagoon |
I'll sign off this blog with one of our most memorable moments - seeing the Blue Lagoon - a geothermal spa that is the most visited attraction in Iceland. When it is freezing cold outside, well it was 8 C (46F) on the day of our visit, but with a brisk breeze blowing, it was such a delightful sensation to lower into the warm/hot waters. The water looks so beautiful against the grey/black of the volcanic rock that surrounds it. This area is only 40 km (25 miles) from Reykjavik, so very handy.
Never in a million years could I have dreamt that I would find myself in a car being driven around Iceland, yet here we are. We have thoroughly enjoyed our 4 day stopover en route from Copenhagen back to Washington DC. The weather has been cold, but as I am typing this, there are blue skies and sunshine outside my window - it is 10pm the night before we fly back to DC. Most days we have been lucky enough to catch some blue skies, and fortunately the few drops of rain we have encountered have occurred when we were in the car and not out and about. 
The next day, map in hand, we headed north west of Reykjavik to the coastal town of Stykkishhólmur. We saw a red beacon on top of a hill, so we figured we needed to climb the stairs and check out the view. 
No comments:
Post a Comment