(all pictures are low res, for high res click here)
After a marathon flight where we sat next to
Bill Nye the Science Guy (Seattle to
Washington DC) and Public Enemy
(Frankfurt to Copenhagen), Ellen, our bags
and I finally made it to
Reykjavik, Iceland. One the way
from the Keflavik International
Airport (home of the
US Naval Base)
to our guest house, we began to notice
the interesting landscape that awaited us
.
Finally, we got to our guest house. We had room 602, on the 6th floor
overlooking the city and the bay. The guest house was located in the prime area
of town where all the shopping and partying happens! Our room was basically a
condo
, with a
magnificent view
(big
picture!) - here's a smaller picture
. Across the street was a trendy
spot that was a cafe
during
the day and a happening club at night. As we discovered the first night, the sun
will briefly dip below the horizon for about an hour, but you can't really tell.
However, we were given this spectacular sunset around midnight
During the day, we
walked
around the city and found some of the oddest things
.
Icelanders aren't too fond of America (they like Americans, just dislike the
country)
, their
graffiti is weird
(this
next picture is the side of our guesthouse!)
, have
interesting museums
,
and have a funny sense of (rated "R" picture) humor
. We found some really cool art
, a cool
photography exhibit called "Earth
From Above" by
Yann Arthus
Bertrand
,
and a
beautiful city hall
. The
port is very cool too -
. Don't
miss this cute video of the baby ducks running
across the port. (All videos take a long time to load, regardless of connection
speed - Be Patient!) Lastly, in our day time travels we found the
Hallgrimskirkja
church
that
includes a statue of Leif Eriksson
(the
statue was a gift from the US)
as well
as the German embassy
.
Arguably, the best time to be had
in Reykjavik is at night - or at least during night time hours.
This
next picture was taken at 4:30 am
. At the
end of each night, Elle and I were usually drunk so it made for some very funny
videos. In this first video, I adamantly deny that
I have hiccups. Then we unknowingly took turns doing our late night Reykjavik
documentaries. I did the first docu-video, though it is not as funny as Ellen's
drunken 4 part mini series. Here's my video.
Ellen's is a lot funnier - Part 1 -
Part 2 - Part 3 -
Part 4
When we weren't out visiting the
town, we took some excursions outside of town. First we went to the
Blue Lagoon in Keflavik.
Geothermal activity is common in Iceland, and thus it is used by the electric
companies to create energy. The Blue Lagoon
was
created as a by product to one of these geo-thermal power plants (check out the
power plant in the background)
, the run
off created a hot springs filled with
silica
which is
supposed to have healing powers when applied to the skin
. The
Blue Lagoon is very commercialized
though
it is in the middle of nowhere
. Here's
a panoramic shot of the entire lagoon.
Probably, the most fun we had in
Iceland was on the
Golden Circle Excursion . We hired a
Super Jeep
which
are rigged to go over any type of terrain. As we began our day long trek
we came
to a location
that was
on the major North Atlantic fault (notice the big crack)
. Also on
this site was one of the oldest churches in Iceland, which doubled as the first
Icelandic parliament.
The
water around the church was so clear, this money is about 60 feet below the
surface.
Next on
our travels
around
the island
was a
stop at Geysir
where we
witnessed 1 of the 2 geysers spray
whereas
the other one remained dormant
. After
the fire, it was time for ice - we headed to one of their major glaciers
. Now it
was time to see what this Super Jeep could really do - ever heard of a glacier
dune buggy?
. Notice
all the jeep tracks in this picture.
Finally
it was time to leave the glacier
and head
to one of the larger waterfalls on the island,
Gullfoss
(video).
While we were there
they let
you walk right up to the water
(video).
Right next to the water were some
Icelandic horses
. Our
next stop was Kerio volcanic crater
. The
last stop on the excursion was special since no other groups really go there.
It was an experimental power plant site. When were we standing next to this pipe
, I could
feel the ground vibrate. It shook the super jeep. (video)
Overall, Elle and I LOVED Iceland. We would visit there again in a heartbeat (as long as it was summer!).
