Our Iceland Saga: Current Times

So far, I've been mostly showing you pictures that reflect the natural beauty of Iceland. While it is not heavily populated (about as many people live in all of Iceland as live in Pittsburgh, PA), there are houses and roads and towns and other signs of human habitation - and here are some shots to prove it. ;)

For example, a church steeple in the capital, Reykjavik.

Here is a shot of the "major" road that goes all the way around the island. It is a 2 lane road - except for the bridges, which were generally only 1 lane. And it is mostly paved - but some sections are gravel!

Look at all that traffic! ;)

Next is the house in the Skalanes Nature Reserve, which includes a major puffin nesting site. Sadly, the puffins had already left to winter in the ocean by the time we got there...

Fishing is a major industry in Iceland.

You see harbors and boats of all shapes and sizes everywhere.

According to our guide book, Icelanders are very big into the arts. Here is one of my favorite statues - it reminds me a bit of Native American totem poles.

And I thought that this day care center, decorated with depictions of children's stories such as The Princess and the Pea...

and Little Red Riding Hood...

was adorable! :)

Tomorrow I'll have shots from our second favorite experience of the trip - back to nature, but something you'll never see in the continental U.S.!

Our Iceland Saga: Geothermality

It turns out that Iceland has been "green" since long before it was cool. While their cars do operate on fossil fuels, the rest of the power used in the country - all the energy that lights and heats their buildings, for example - is geothermal.

You can see signs of the natural geothermal energy all over the place. For example, we explored one area full of natural steam vents:

This area had very little plant life - so finding a somewhat scraggly clump of flowers was a big deal! ;)

This area also had boiling mud pots.

And the smell - phew! Talk about rotten eggs! ;)

Here's a power plant that was located in another area:

This was supposedly one of the most active geothermal areas in all of Iceland. You were warned to keep on the path to avoid melting the bottoms of your shoes!

Here's a close-up shot:

Not that you wanted to tromp across the cooled lava fields - that terrain reads "ankle breaker" to me...

One last clear sign of all this power was the geysers. Here is the base of the Strokkur geyser inbetween eruptions.

This geyser erupts every 6-10 minutes! But it shoots up and then disappears so quickly that it's difficult to get a shot of it at full height.

It turns out that we get the word "geyser" from the name of the most famous Icelandic geyser, which is Geysir. Geysir used to be quite active, but it's been blocked up and doesn't erupt as often anymore.

Of course, there's always Little Geysir! ;)

After all these landscapes and images of other natural phenomena, I thought I'd better prove that people actually live in Iceland. Thus, tomorrow's pictures will show signs of human habitation.

Our Iceland Saga: Climbing Adventures

While the entire trip was wonderful, without a doubt our single favorite day was the day that we hired a private guide to take us climbing!

We had intended to spend the whole day rock climbing and I had had several email exchanges with our guide ahead of time, planning out exactly what we might do. The US and Iceland use the same numeric system for rating the difficulty of a climb, but he warned me that the climbs in Iceland would be more difficult than we expected for a given rating. He wasn't kidding! Here I am on a supposedly easy, "warm-up" climb:

Based on the rating and our experience in the US, it should have been trivial. But, I hate to admit, it kicked my butt!

In the US, a climb is rated based on its single most difficult move. After this experience, I concluded that, in Iceland, each climb is rated based on its single easiest move! Yikes!

Our second climb went more smoothly:

Sadly, most easy climbs (in the US, at least) get pretty pansy-ish names. It's hard to go back home and impress your friends by casually mentioning that you climbed "Cotton Candy" or "Summer Rain" on your vacation. ;)

But not this climb - nosiree, Bob. In addition to the fact that it is a not-too-difficult, wonderfully fun, 90-foot romp up incredible rock - it also has a kick-a** name! It is called "The Guillotine"! It gets its name from the hole near the top, which apparently reminded someone of the neck slot in a guillotine.

As we were doing this second climb, it began to rain on us pretty heavily. So our guide suggested that we go try some ice climbing. Thus, as Summerset so presciently guessed in yesterday's comment section, the axe involved was an ice axe! :)

First was the hike across the glacier. That was so cool! It is so much more interesting to walk on one (dodging crevasses, etc.) than it is to look at one... ;)

Then, the climbing - here are 2 shots of my husband on his first ice climb.

At the very bottom, looking up:

Almost at the top:

Here I am on the same first climb:

And on our second climb, trying to get over an overhang. ;)

So, if taking up rock climbing as your hobby is a silly thing to do when one lives in flat, flat Florida, taking up ICE climbing is even more ridiculous! We had an absolutely wonderful day, but I don't think we'll be rushing to do more ice climbing in the future. ;)

If you can stand it, I have one more week's worth of pictures from Iceland. Monday I'll start with shots that focus on the geothermal aspects of the country.

Thanks to everyone for the kind comments!

Wishing you all a wonderful weekend! :)

Our Iceland Saga: Land of Contrasts

One of the contrasts in Iceland that struck us particularly forcefully was the contrast between cold and hot. Much of the island is covered by an icecap and glaciers.

Here a glacier forms the backdrop for a lake.

And here you see it having no impact whatsoever on the sheep grazing in the foreground. ;)

From a distance, a glacier looks like a (somewhat dirty) snow-covered hill.

From up close, however, you can make out the ridges and crevasses.

Co-existing with these icy cold glaciers are abundant quantities of natural hot springs.

Here are some shots of the most famous semi-naturally heated pool - the Blue Lagoon. I say "semi-naturally" because the heated water is actually an output of a geothermal power plant. It's kind of like the super-heated water underground happens to go through a power plant on it's way to heat the water in the pool. So it doesn't actually come straight from the ground, but it's not like fossil fuels are used to artifically heat the water.

The water is generally a little over 100 degrees F. I think that's pretty much perfect - you can enjoy a good long soak without getting over heated.

This hot spring contains a type of silica mud that is supposed to have anti-aging and therapuetic effects on your skin. I know that my skin felt extra soft for a few days after we went in. :)

But it also wrecks havoc with hair! It took several days of using conditioning shampoo before my hair was back to normal. :(

This was kind of funny - a big sign in the lagoon detailing the characteristics of the water stressed that it contained approximately 200 different species of bacteria. But, don't fear, according to the sign, these are NEW bacteria that haven't been found anywhere else!

Now, why doesn't that make me feel better? ;)

Tomorrow's pictures will be from our big adventure day! I'll give you a hint - I got to carry an axe! :)

Our Iceland Saga: Animals

The most common sight across all of Iceland is the sheep.

You see them everywhere - in every field...

...and by (or in!) all the roads.

I was surprised by the fact that they generally didn't appear to have been sheared recently - especially given that it was the middle of summer, Icelandic wool is highly valued and knitting is a big deal in the country.

But someone told us that there are so many sheep that they are able to satisfy the demand for wool by shearing each sheep only once, at the end of its life.

The other animal we saw frequently was the Icelandic horse. These small, hardy horses are descendants of Viking ponies from the 9th and 10th centuries, and they have a unique gait that is not found in other horse breeds.

Their bloodlines have been kept pure by not allowing other horses to be imported to Iceland, and, once exported, not allowing an Icelandic horse to return.

They are especially sure-footed over rough terrain and have double coats to protect them against cold weather.

They are friendly and beautiful! But the fences that hold them in are often electric - ask how we know! (Or just imagine my husband jerking up with a loud shout, and all the horses running away in surprise...)

Tomorrow's pictures will cover one of the startling contrasts in Icelandic scenery.

Our Iceland Saga: Waterfalls

Waterfalls are everywhere in Iceland. And not just slender, delicate roadside waterfalls - but massive, thundering waterfalls!

Here is a map locating the waterfalls in my pictures. The word "foss" in Icelandic means "waterfall" and so it is the last syllable of the name of every waterfall.

Now for the Falls themselves. The pictures start with Godafoss (top center on map) and work their way around the country clock-wise.

Godafoss

Selfoss in Jokulsa Canyon National Park

Dettifoss in Jokulsa Canyon National Park - this is the most powerful waterfall (in terms of volume of water moving per unit time) in all of Europe. Look for the people in the picture to get a sense of scale.

Litlanesfoss - I really liked the hexagonal columns of cooled lava surrounding this waterfall.

Hengifoss - and here I liked the red layers running horizontally in the cliffs.

Svartifoss in Skaftafell Natiuonal Park - more lava columns.

Skogarfoss - do you see the people hiking to the top? The sheep are content to graze along the bottom...

Seljalandsfoss - you could actually walk behind this one and take a picture through the curtain of water!

Gulfoss - this double layered waterfall is one of Iceland's most famous sites, and is situated in the "golden circle" right outside of the capital.

There were others, but nine seemed like enough! ;)

Tomorrow's pictures will feature some Icelandic animals - although, don't get your hopes up too high, we missed out on the puffins.. :(

Our Iceland Saga: Land and Sea Scapes

Iceland is an island located northwest of England, sandwiched between the Greenland Sea and the North Atlantic Ocean. The island is roughly the size of the state of Kentucky (USA) and just slightly over 300,000 people live there - half of whom live in the capital city, Reykjavik.

My husband and I spent 9 days there this summer, and over the next 2 weeks I'll show some of our best pictures and tell you about our adventures.

Despite its name, the Iceland landscape is so much more than ice. There are black sand beaches.

Cliffs and rock towers divide the land from the ocean.

Ruins help illustrate the scale of Mother Nature's efforts.

Of course, you never know when an otherwise desolate, wild landscape will be domesticated by Icelandic sheep.

There are peaceful, green plateaus dotted with lakes and pseudo craters.

Snow-covered mountain tops peak out over clouds...

and are warmed by the sun.

And there is still more! Tomorrow, the waterfalls. :)