Reykjavik, Aurora, and Blue Lagoon, WTRD 8 Aug 16, 2016

Iceland Day 7 - Last day and night in our 1 week layover

We stayed in Reykholt Foss hotel last night on the backside of a property inhabited by and the political seat of the famous saga writer, Snorri Sturlluson.in the 13th century. He was murdered by a rival politician.


 His sagas are kept in a museum in the nearby church.

















This morning we walked around the property, taking a few photos , one of a warm pool used by Snorri - the Snorralaug, before heading toward Reykjavik. It was overcast and, you guessed it, raining again.

We arrived in the city, and found a place to park near the old city center by 12:30. Donning our rain gear we set out to do a bit of sightseeing by foot, walking down the shopping avenue,

visiting the iconic church (Hallgrimskirkja),

and then lunching at a bistro for a French casserole sampler and "Black Death" beer.

Following our downtown excursion, we went to the Northern lights center where we learned about the northern lights. Summer is not usually the time one sees the northern lights, and obviously cloud cover makes it next to impossible. Tourists who come here in the summer to see the auroras are setting themselves up for disappointment. Here are some tips about planning your trip to see the auroras.

I had heard that there were some sun disturbances recently, and that there was an increased likelihood we could see the lights under the right conditions, a window of darkness and a clear night. It doesn't get dark here until almost 11:00 pm, that's doable, but the cloud cover...doesn't look good.

Consequently, this Aurora center provides educational information as well as a wide screen experience for rain or shine, night or day, summer or winter.

Our last stop of the day at 5:30 in the afternoon was the Blue Lagoon on the the way to the airport hotel.

 We had made a choice earlier in the week to do our soak in a lagoon with a more natural setting, was less expensive, and would free up our last day to see sights in Reykjavik without time constraint. One needs to book an appointment time for a 1 hour soak online and in advance. Even if we had wanted to, the bookings for today were full. Never the less, we wanted to see the number one tourist attraction in Iceland, THE Blue Lagoon.

The Blue Lagoon is the runoff water from a large geothermal plant on the hill above the lagoon, not quite as magical as a soak from water venting directly from the ground, but in reality probably exactly the same.

The only thing that looked better here than where we soaked was a swim up bar. We walked around a bit, purchased a few items in the gift shop, and drove 15 minutes down the road to get gas and check into our hotel. Our flight to Munich and Bucharest begin early tomorrow morning.

We have had a great time here.

All is well with the Worrall Travel Rs, our last night in Iceland.

Lava Plugs, Waterfalls, Rain and Sunshine at last WTRD 7, August 15, 2016

Iceland Day 6 - Rain again...on our way to Reykholt Foss Hotel

When preparing for our trip to Iceland which is near the Arctic circle and Morocco on the fringe of the Sahara Desert, our packing of appropriate clothes was a challenge. We knew that Romania and Moldova would be warm and humid. Greece in early September would be beginning to cool, and Morocco would be just plain hot. Our first stop stateside would be Vermont in October, again cool if not cold. Idealistically, I packed more for warm weather than for cool, but did manage to pack in one set of cold weather clothes just in case. Instead of my trusty waterproof hiking boots, I brought light weight walking shoes. My feet got muddy, but not really too wet, but there ere times when I wished I had better tread for slippery muddy trails.

This week, I have worn the "just in case" long pants, turtle neck, and light weight parka, and rain jacket for the entire week here in Iceland. I think I looked at too many brochures of Iceland photographs taken on the only sunny day and bought in to this occasional imagery opposed to the reality of an arctic island with snowcapped mountains, shrouded in clouds, and lush green fields. For those of you contemplating a trip here, you may indeed have beautiful sunny days, but be prepared for soggy, cold weather, too.

Think about appropriate camera protection as well. It's a good idea to carry a small dry bag for your gear. I also have a lightweight plastic sleeve for my camera and lens that I do not need to remove to take photographs. It keeps the camera dry from rain and corrosive volcanic steam, and protected from blowing dust and sand.

This is day 6 of our Icelandic travel, tomorrow we head back to Reykjavik. In 7 days on our self=drive tour, we have driven the entire perimeter road of the island and many selected shortcuts taking us to a few off beat places. We chose 7 days because of the Iceland Air stopover promotion of no extra airfare for a 7 day stop.

If we were just to come to Iceland, without the stop over, I would choose to stay 10-14 days, so that we could take advantage of some of the extra activities that we did not have time for...more bird watching, whale watching trips where there are nearly a dozen types of whales that swim these waters, a ferry to the Arctic circle, kayaking on the fjords, a visit to a school in Reykjavic, a hydroelectric dam, a few more hikes, opportunity to spend time in some of the cities, just a couple of days in a single location where we could sit and contemplate while gazing at the natural beauty.

By noon today, we had made two stops. First stop was to a place called Brogroirki which is a "volcanic plug". Our tour instructions say it is "at an altitude of 177 meters, it dominates its surroundings and looks like a castle made of basalt rock. Throughout history, the "castle" served as a natural fortress and some changes have been made to adapt it to the protection of humans." A climb to the top provides a 360 degree view for clans looking out for oppositional invaders, and a beautiful view for the rest of us,

Our second stop was to the famous rock Hvitserkur, 15 meters high and to locals it is reminiscent of a frozen troll. The legend is that this is a frozen troll caught in the sun during his mission to attack a nearby monastery. It is most likely the remnant of a volcano that has been eroded by weather, rain, waves, and currents.

The steady rain was a deterrent from getting out of the car for a walk and the low clouds masked some of the sights we might have been able to see from the road. By 3:00 pm, we needed to get out of the car regardless of the rain. I couldn't keep my eyes open, and I wasn't sure Russ was alert as he should be. We took a brisk walk to Glanni falls near Bifrost College. As we reached the falls, only 100 meters from the parking lot, the rain stopped and the clouds started to lift, and then a glimps of a patfh of blue sky....exciting.

The last two stops of the day were bright and sunny, not that the sky was clear, but a hole had opened in the clouds and sun shone down for a couple of hours while visited the largest hot springs by volume (200 liters per second) in Europe.

In 1924 when the Icelanders harnessed the boiling hot water to send to the nearest town. Since then this hot spring has been boiling away 24/7 and probably did so long before it's heat was harnessed. It smelled sulphuric, but not nearly as strong as the geothermal pools we soaked in yesterday and the hot water in our hotel last night.

The last stop of the day was the Hraunfossar "lava falls". The waterfall is located on the River Hvita, where the subterranean water bursts the lava wall fissures along the banks of the river. The water coming out of the falls appears to be sweet and clear, but drops into the gray-brown churn of the glacial Hvita River.

That's it for now. We can only hope that the Internet in tonight's hotel is better than last night and the night before. Hopefully, I can get this blog posted with some followup pictures for the last two days.

All is well with the Worrall Travel Rs at the end of Day 6 in Iceland.

Soaking in Geothermal Blue Water, WTRD 6, August 14, 2016

Iceland Day 5 - Husavik to Varmahlio via Lake Myvatn

Our journey today is about 259 kilometers. It is 5:00 pm and we are just leaving the Lake Myvatn area leaving about 250 kilometers ago. It's a good thing it stays light so long here in Iceland.

Sight seeing began immediately as we left Husavik this morning. Myvatn is a shallow lake located in an area of geothermal activity. It is one of the largest lakes in Iceland. The name of the lake means "lake of midges" gnat lake who inhabit the place several times each summer. We batted a few that tried to fly in our eyes, nose, and ears. Fortunately, they don't bite, but can be a nuisance.

The lake itself was not stunning but is the home for many water birds. Unfortunately, our time was not spent bird watching today. We spent most of the day in the local environs of the lake hiking through Hverarond/ Hverir sulfurous steam vents and bubbling mud caldrons, created by the ground water (Ice-glacial runoff and rain) and the heat from localized subterranean magma (molten fire) pots In the Krafla volcanic caldera.

 This is a multi-dimensional experience of smell (rotten eggs), hearing (pressurized steam venting), sight (cloudy puffs of steam, bubbling pots of mud, colorful minerals crusting on the surface), touch (feet sloshing and slipping through the mud, heat rising from the ground). If you have been to Bumpus Hell in Lassen, Yellowstone park, or Rotorua in New Zealand, you have a good idea of the smell, sights, sounds, and feel of a geothermal zone.

Our next stop was in the middle of the Krafla caldera at a geothermal power plant, where we learned about Iceland's clean and sustainable power. One hundred percent of Iceland's energy is green and sustainable as long as there is fire and ice. Glacial runoff provides hydroelectric power 70% of the energy mix. Geothermal steam turbine electric provides 30% of the energy. The only petroleum imported is for vehicles. It is very impressive that the Icelanders have developed their resources to sustain their energy needs, and are now exploring ways to balance surplus energy as a market commodity and maintain the unspoiled beauty and simplicity of their island.

The geothermal plant is in the middle of an active volcanic area. In the late 70's early 80's large fissures of volcanic fire opened up on the rim of the caldera and burned for nine years, sending massive amounts of volcanic lava downhill and overland. The geothermal plant has subsequently built a large berm dam behind the plant in the direction of the Krafla fires to protect the plant in the event there are new eruptions. They have yet to test their dam theory, and the power plant is still going strong.

After our educational stop at the power plant, we headed out to the area where Krafla fires burned nearly 30 years ago. Incredibly, the lava is still cooling and there are continuing hot spots in the volcanic rubble and flows. Today was a cool overcast day, but we could warm our hands on the rocks. We climbed to the top rim and could look over the lava field and the flow that stopped before reaching the power plant.

After our hike, we ate the last of the supplies for our picnic lunch, then drove down the hill toward a blue natural bath where we spent the rest of the afternoon soaking in 3 large sulphur pools of varying geothermal temperatures. Seniors get quite a discount, almost half of regular admission.

We rented towels and speedos and took off all of our silver jewelry ( which would have immediately turned black), showered, and stepped into the glorious blue water. The water is milky like Lake Louise and your hands disappear out of sight about 10 inches below the surface. If anyone lost jewelry in the pool....oh well. Not likely it will ever be found. There were natural vents in the pools. Temperature was dynamic based on the random vents. The pool with fewer vents was cooler. The pool with more vents was warmer.

Reluctantly, we left the pools and got back in the car to continue our travel to Varmahlio. The lifting clouds revealed the dark volcanic mountains spotted with snow and was a spectacular background to the fjord and the town of Akureyri. We made two more stops along the way, one to the Godfoss waterfall (another beautiful waterfall)

and a Subway for chopped tuna salads. Hopefully, we will be checked into our hotel by 8:30.

All is well with the Worrall Travel R's in Iceland

Water, water everywhere, WTRD 5, Saturday, August 13, 2016

Iceland, North Coast, Day 4

It is late in the day, and we are bumping along on a 1 lane washboard of a gravel road on the way between Dettifoss Waterfall (the largest in all ofEurope) and Asbyrgi Canyon in the northern fjords. Just as I think I can't stand one more mile of trying to type on the bumpy road, the gravel gives way to a newly surfaced two lane road. Yeah!

We had a little drama this morning when we realized we did not have our  credit card to pay our hotel bill. We thought we may have left it at a gas station chip reader the day before. Great! Our hotel host called the gas station. While she explained over the phone in Icelandic, we held our breath until, she looked up smiled and winked at us. Phew! Since we both had a card, we asked that the gas station owner cut up the card that had been left, which she did while she spoke with us. Thank goodness for human integrity.  All is good.

Our drive today crossed long agricultural valleys,

over undulating miles of rocky lava flows

and a variety of topography with hues of rust, green, and dark grey.

We continued to take photographs of waterfalls falling from higher plateaus, taking a hike to one of them.

There were patches of blue sky and the morning walk was exhilarating. Back in the car we continued on our way to the Detitfoss Waterfall.

Before hiking to the falls we quickly ate our lunch at a picnic table. There are three consecutive falls on the same river. We hiked to the two that looked most impressive, the Dettifoss and Selfoss.


 The Sellfoss is the upper falls where several various streams and rivers lazily flow cross a plateau and tumble downward uniting in a single glacial river Jokulsa a Fjollum in the Jokulsagljufur canyon.

 The upper falls are beautiful because there are many of them fanning around a horseshoe.

Selfoss

The main glacial river travels for about a kilometer before the combined waters drop once again. The rumble, thunder, and mist created by the drop is a powerful experience. All very impressive.

Dettifoss

Well shoot, we are coming in to Husavik as I look up from blogging. I think I should have been navigating better. We missed the turn to Asbyrgi canyon....oh well. We are not going back now. Dusk is coming and we are hungry for a sea food dinner.

Russ and I check into the Husavik Foss Hotel, wander around town. The Fjord port looks a lot like Ushuaia to us, ships in a harbor with the back drop of snow capped mountains.

We find a little restaurant. Russ has charr (pink salmon), and I have shrimp creole that we drink down with a rich dark Icelandic Porter.

Back in the room, we're beat. Time for bed. We'll be dreaming of waterfalls and rainbows tonight.

All is Well with the Worrall Travel Rs in Iceland.