Home At Last

After a brief two day stop in Philadelphia, three quarters of us (everyone but mom) boarded an Amtrak train bound for Charleston. Our train was delayed three times by other trains (the last delay taking 30-40 minutes), so our 12 hour ride turned out to be more than 13 hours. All three of us (and everybody else on the train) were very happy when we finally pulled into our destination. Our arrival home comes exactly one month (we left and arrived on the eighth) after our departure. (TS)

Our train pulls into Charleston after multiple delays

Three intrepid travelers return home. Mom will return in a week or two via car.

Home at last

Back to the USA

On our last day in Iceland (and in Europe), we spent the time before our afternoon departure exploring more of Reykjavik as well as the Reykjanes peninsula (where Keflavic is located). In the former we strolled through the marketplace near the old harbor before moving on to the Perlan (if you don't remember, this is the building constructed around the hot water storage tanks for the city). Here we got excellent views of the surrounding city from the observation deck mounted on this structure. We also attempted to get a view of the interior of Hallgrimskirkja (the lava pillar cathedral), but this attempt was thwarted again by another (prohibitively expensive) organ recital in progress. 

On the barren lava fields of the peninsula, we saw (some of) the Blue Lagoon, a man made lake of hot, milky blue water that was formed from runoff from a nearby geothermal station. Bathing in this lagoon is a big attraction, which we did not indulge in for lack of time and interest. Most of the lagoon is hidden from the casual passersby, but we saw several pools of the iconic blue water by the road leading to this site. Running short on time, this was our last stop in Iceland before returning the car and taking the shuttle to the Keflavic airport, where we awaited our six hour flight back to the United States. (TS)

A statue of Leif Erikson (Leifr Eiricsson in Icelandic) standing outside Hallgrimskirkja. Done by Alexander Calder, this statue was a gift to Iceland from the United States in 1930 as part of a festival commemorating the 1000th anniversary of Iceland's first parliament at Thingvellir (Thingvellir is the site of the separating tectonic plates which we had visited the previous day).   

The dome of the Perlan. Taking advantage of the abundance of geothermal activity here, Reykjavikers and other Icelanders store (and pipe in) their hot water separately from their cold water. Because of this, the hot water often smells of sulfur, which was quite a surprise during the first shower.    

 Reykjavik viewed from the Perlan, with Hallgrimskirkja prominently visible in the center of the image.

The author on the Perlan

Lava fields in Grindavik on the Reykjanes peninsula

Crevasses and fissures in lava field mounds

More cracks, as well as the thick moss

 Although this thick green moss appears soft and plush, it is actually very rough. 

Mom, Maryrose, and Nathaniel in front of the milky blue waters near the Blue Lagoon. Silicate minerals give the pool its color.  

This water is runoff from the Svartsengi geothermal power plant, which runs the super heated water fresh from the ground through turbines to generate electricity. 

 Stone towers on the peninsula

The Keflavic airport

In flight to Dulles

The Golden Circle

For our last full day in Iceland, we drove the Golden Circle; a circular, scenery filled, roundabout route frequented by many a tourist and native Icelander alike. Our first stop found us at the mid-Atlantic ridge, the tectonic origin of the North American and Eurasian plates. Straddling two continents, we admired the scenery while discussing the formidable geothermal forces at work beneath our feet. After a quick lunch, we continued on to the site of the Geysir and Strokker geysers, the former of which has given us the word geyser itself. Although Geysir has long since sputtered its last sulfurous breath, its younger sibling Strokker still puffs along, reliably sending forth its terrestrial fumes every 5 to 20 minutes. While its pyro-tectonic show is not as impressive as Geysir's was, at only 7 to 25 meters tall (as opposed to a maximum of 70 meters for Geysir), the display was gratifyingly geyseresqe, with a violent expulsion of water and egg-mort odors into the sky. Much humbled by this powerful show of force from within the Earth, we proceeded to the falls of Gullfoss. Meaning golden waterfalls, perhaps because of its heavenly appearance in the sunlight of the never ending twilight during certain parts of the year, the river drops twice in a short distance, its tumultuous waters gushing incessantly on-wards for quite an impressive show. Starting our return trip to Reykjavik, we left the watery fury of the falls, stopping on the way at Kerith, the crater of a long dormant volcano. Its desolate crater extends beneath the water table, meaning that a small lake sits within its stony embrace. We circumnavigated the crater once and continued on. Our return trip contained just as much scenery as our site-seeing filled day. Striking across the Nesjavellir mountains, we experienced grades as high as 16 percent while weaving our way through twisting roads and dodging falling rocks and sheep alike. Leaving the moonscape of the mountains behind, we were presented with a stunning view of the ensuing plane leading to the coast and our destination, Reykjavik. (NS)

Maryrose, mom and Theodore at the ridge

A cooled lava flow

The ridge separates at the brisk pace of 2 cm per year

Between the rocks

Theodore, Maryrose, and Nathaniel in the ridge

Pools near the ridge; divers brave these cold waters to see what lies beneath

Mom tempting fate on a rock jutting out over the pools

The author, Maryrose, and Theodore in front of Strokker

Steamy runoff from the geyser

Although not as impressive as Old Faithful, Strokker erupted approximately every four minutes for us, considerably more frequent than the former

Strokkur erupting

Theodore, Maryrose, and the author in front of the Gullfoss falls

Maryrose in front of the second drop

The falls drop twice, cutting through a layer of soft, sedimentary rock

The falls

The crater Kerith

The author and Theodore in front of the crater

Travelling is easy with helpful signs such as this

Part of our route through the mountains

More mountain driving

A steep descent ahead

The author, mom, and Maryrose

Biking in Reykjavik

We spent our first full day in Iceland exploring Reykjavik, walking into town from our conveniently located apartment on the outskirts of the city. Our first destination was the Hallgrimskirkja Cathedral, a plain structure composed of five sided columns reminiscent of cooled lava pillars, which form in this shape. Originally planning to linger for the noon organ recital, we were deterred by the prohibitive ticket price (almost 2000 Kronur), and decided instead to satisfy ourselves with a circumnavigation of the cathedral before moving on through the city. 
Walking west brought us to the harbor, where we had lunch (just pizza, we will sample the local cuisine at some other time) before renting four bikes for a ride around the peninsula. Cycling along the bike path kept us next to the ocean, which is lined by kelp covered beaches (which smell like similarly adorned San Diego beaches), beaches of fine grey sand, or simply just rocks, most of which are porous and volcanic in appearance (similar rocks of all sizes are everywhere here). We started to cut back across the peninsula near the Perlan, a dome covered structure containing shops, a restaurant, and a viewing platform, which sits on top of tanks containing geothermal water for heating the city. It was almost 5:20 when we returned our bikes and beginning to rain, so we ended our day and walked home, stopping on the way to purchase some Icelandic beer (we had been unable to do this the day before in the supermarket because alcoholic beverages and all other edibles are segregated here). 
Tomorrow we embark on the Golden Circle Tour, a trip around some of this country's remarkable landscape. (TS)

3 in the morning 

A vehicle upgrade; in addition to the speedometer, the left turn signal did not work on our first car. 

The author, mom, and Maryrose in front of the Hallgrimskirkja Cathedral

Note the five sided columns

The author, Maryrose, and Nathaniel at the old harbor

A rocky, kelp covered beach 

A grassy field near the ocean

Throwing rocks on the beach

A rock tower built by Nathaniel. Note the porous rocks. 

The author, Maryrose, and Nathaniel on a bench on the peninsula, with our bikes (and a golf course) visible in the background.

A light house on a subpeninsula protruding from Reykjavik

Skimming stones on the ocean

Mom in front of a Danish vessel at the harbor

Back to Iceland

Today we left the United Kingdom and flew back to Iceland, the last stop on our journey before returning to the United States. All were relieved to vacate our small hostel room in London (even the airplane seats seemed bigger by comparison) in favor of the broad desolate terrain of Iceland, not to mention our comfortable AirBnB dwelling in Reykjavik.
Our first order of business in Iceland was to pick up our rental car, a fancy Toyota (see pictures) from the esteemed rental car company SadCars. We next drove into Reykjavik to find our apartment, which we did shortly after correcting one wrong turn made at the outset of entering the city.
The drive from Keflavic (name of airport) provided us with views of the rugged Icelandic terrain, which is mostly rocky with thick moss and grass. There is also an abundance of wild flowers, in particular the purple and white lupines. In some spots, the ground looks as if it has been pushed up from beneath by some huge fist, which leaves behind many rocky mounds crisscrossed by large cracks. The terrain turned more grassy and hilly as we entered Reykjavik.
We ended the day with a walk along the ocean and dinner purchased from a nearby supermarket. (TS)

Our aircraft after landing at Keflavic. We exited onto the tarmac and were bused to the terminal.

The SadCars Keflavic headquarters

 Our vehicle, a 1998 Toyota Avensis
(Note Icelandic pixie peeking out behind trunk!)

This picture was taken while driving on the highway into Reykjavik. What's wrong with this image?

Some Icelandic terrain

More Icelandic terrain

Snow capped mountains in the distance

An interesting sculpture on a footpath in Reykjavik 

One the way home from the supermarket