Greenhouse
The volcanic crater
Gullfoss
distant glacier
geysir
tectonic plateYou all might find this amusing: the Icelanders are big consumers of...ice cream. Yes, they live in one of the coldest countries on earth, and yet they love...ice cream. Go figure.
Have I had any ice cream since I´ve been here? As the locals say, Yeeow!
It´s beautiful today here in Reykjavik on my last full day in Iceland. It´s mild and sunny. I bought another disposable camera today (my third) and plan to just take a ton of shots of the city. I also took some additional shots inside the city library to show to my co-workers, should the pictures come out (pardon my fatalism).
The reason I had to buy a third camera was because of yesterday. I went on the Golden Circle Tour, which comprises stops at a greenhouse, a volcanic crater, a medieval church, a gargantuan waterfall, the geysirs, and finally the national park, all of which have names I can´t pronounce or spell (I left the brochure back at the hotel). Up till now all of the landscape I had seen outside of Reykjavik were fields of volcanic rock---unique but desolate. The bus tour yesterday, however, drove us through farmland and along huge open vistas of vast mountains. I saw my first glacier, the largest in Iceland, but only from a distance. The landscape is overwhelming, and at the risk of sounding like a surfer dude, awesome. I finally made it into a Roger Dean Yes album cover. If the pictures don´t come out I´ll spew.
At the volcanic crater I decided to walk the circumference of the crater back to the bus. In my haste to return to the bus on time I, of course, slipped and fell in the mud. Consequently at the next stop, the church, I spent most of the time in the bathroom trying to clean the mud off the back of my pants, shirt, and coat. It was when the female tour guide came in that I realized I was in the ladies room.
At the waterfall (I believe it´s spelled Gullfoss) I managed to get down to the falls themselves. It was frigid cold, and my glasses were covered with spray from the water, but it was exhilarating. I climbed to the highest point overlooking the falls, and it was there that I got pictures of the glacier and the largest active volcano in Iceland, off in the distance. The landscape was downright Siberian. I could see for miles and miles and miles . . . .
We stopped for lunch at the Hotel Geysir, and I finally had a chance to eat some genuine Icelandic cuisine---cold smoked salmon, potato salad, fried haddock, and geysir bread, which, as its name implies, is baked in a geysir (it´s moist and tastes like gingerbread, only not as sweet). Then I went to take some shots of the geysir. He´s a tricky fellow, you have to really be quick with the camera or you´ll miss a shot. One can get within 10-20 feet of the geysir and when it goes off, it´s pretty spectacular. The water in the geysir pools was turquoise, like at the Blue Lagoon.
The national park is located on the shores of a vast lake. I was down to my last three shots, and used two of them to get pictures of the American tectonic plate for my sister the geologist. The climb up to the top of the tectonic ridge was arduous, but once you got up there the view was... well, kind of a shock, really. It seemed as though I were on the pinnacle of Everest. One could see such vast distances in all directions. Huge mountain vistas. I had one shot left, and took it, and then...started walking back to the bus. Then I stopped and said to myself, What the hell are you doing? I think I was so focused on getting the best shot I could with a disposable camera that I simply forgot to stop and enjoy the view.
Next time I come to Iceland I´ll have to rent a car and drive up there, so I won´t be on the tour bus´ schedule. It simply wasn´t enough time to take it all in. It was like the Grand Canyon and the Pacific Coast all rolled into one. I was literally on top of the world.
Then I came home and slept. Had lasagna for dinner.
John
P.S. The bus to the airport doesn´t arrive at the hotel tomorrow until 1:30, so I will try and post a final entry before I leave.
Have I had any ice cream since I´ve been here? As the locals say, Yeeow!
It´s beautiful today here in Reykjavik on my last full day in Iceland. It´s mild and sunny. I bought another disposable camera today (my third) and plan to just take a ton of shots of the city. I also took some additional shots inside the city library to show to my co-workers, should the pictures come out (pardon my fatalism).
The reason I had to buy a third camera was because of yesterday. I went on the Golden Circle Tour, which comprises stops at a greenhouse, a volcanic crater, a medieval church, a gargantuan waterfall, the geysirs, and finally the national park, all of which have names I can´t pronounce or spell (I left the brochure back at the hotel). Up till now all of the landscape I had seen outside of Reykjavik were fields of volcanic rock---unique but desolate. The bus tour yesterday, however, drove us through farmland and along huge open vistas of vast mountains. I saw my first glacier, the largest in Iceland, but only from a distance. The landscape is overwhelming, and at the risk of sounding like a surfer dude, awesome. I finally made it into a Roger Dean Yes album cover. If the pictures don´t come out I´ll spew.
At the volcanic crater I decided to walk the circumference of the crater back to the bus. In my haste to return to the bus on time I, of course, slipped and fell in the mud. Consequently at the next stop, the church, I spent most of the time in the bathroom trying to clean the mud off the back of my pants, shirt, and coat. It was when the female tour guide came in that I realized I was in the ladies room.
At the waterfall (I believe it´s spelled Gullfoss) I managed to get down to the falls themselves. It was frigid cold, and my glasses were covered with spray from the water, but it was exhilarating. I climbed to the highest point overlooking the falls, and it was there that I got pictures of the glacier and the largest active volcano in Iceland, off in the distance. The landscape was downright Siberian. I could see for miles and miles and miles . . . .
We stopped for lunch at the Hotel Geysir, and I finally had a chance to eat some genuine Icelandic cuisine---cold smoked salmon, potato salad, fried haddock, and geysir bread, which, as its name implies, is baked in a geysir (it´s moist and tastes like gingerbread, only not as sweet). Then I went to take some shots of the geysir. He´s a tricky fellow, you have to really be quick with the camera or you´ll miss a shot. One can get within 10-20 feet of the geysir and when it goes off, it´s pretty spectacular. The water in the geysir pools was turquoise, like at the Blue Lagoon.
The national park is located on the shores of a vast lake. I was down to my last three shots, and used two of them to get pictures of the American tectonic plate for my sister the geologist. The climb up to the top of the tectonic ridge was arduous, but once you got up there the view was... well, kind of a shock, really. It seemed as though I were on the pinnacle of Everest. One could see such vast distances in all directions. Huge mountain vistas. I had one shot left, and took it, and then...started walking back to the bus. Then I stopped and said to myself, What the hell are you doing? I think I was so focused on getting the best shot I could with a disposable camera that I simply forgot to stop and enjoy the view.
Next time I come to Iceland I´ll have to rent a car and drive up there, so I won´t be on the tour bus´ schedule. It simply wasn´t enough time to take it all in. It was like the Grand Canyon and the Pacific Coast all rolled into one. I was literally on top of the world.
Then I came home and slept. Had lasagna for dinner.
John
P.S. The bus to the airport doesn´t arrive at the hotel tomorrow until 1:30, so I will try and post a final entry before I leave.
1 comment:
The single shot I took from the top of the tectonic plate came out so badly that I was unable to use it.
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