Scandinavia Trip-Iceland
We began this journey in Portland, Oregon USA. My son and I. Our flight with Icelandair took off at 3:40 pm PDT. We traveled North and East. At one point the only sunlight was on the North Pole.
As we progressed, without sleep. We landed in Reykjavik around 6:05 their time. Rental car in hand, we were off. We headed Southwest from the airport, a less traveled route. We were greeted to an incredible series of sites. Sunrise in Iceland!
Our first destination was the Bridge of the Continents. This is where the North American plate and the European Plate separate with one going East and the other going West. I will let you figure out which goes where. The images show the two plates separated by volcanic ash. One looks Northwest the other Southeast.
The ancient lava formations were a wonderful counterpoint to the stark black.
The only growing thing were the grasses
From here we ventured out into the geyser fields.
Not having been to Yellowstone, I imagine this would be similar or better? There was no one around just my son and I. This last image shows the destructive force of this geyser. You can just make out the remains of an earlier observation platform the ramp out to it.
Next we headed to the rugged coast to the West.
Blaine and his favorite Auk. He also had to climb to the top of the highest cliff.
On we ventured to a Tourist mecca, the Blue Lagoon. There are therapeutic benefits to submersing your body in this sulfur calderon. Mud is also good for those who wish to partake placing on your face in a ritualistic mask effect.
This place was crowded so there must be something to the health benefits.
Next morning stop was Viking World just outside Keflavik. This Viking ship was built to prove the fact that Columbus was second! The crew sailed this ship to North America in one journey and South American in a second. Still an amazing feat.
There is a tradition or obsession with stacking rocks on top of one another in Iceland. You find these formations everywhere. I know we have them on several of our rivers in Oregon too.
This ends our first morning. Will continue the adventure in tomorrow's post.
As we progressed, without sleep. We landed in Reykjavik around 6:05 their time. Rental car in hand, we were off. We headed Southwest from the airport, a less traveled route. We were greeted to an incredible series of sites. Sunrise in Iceland!
Our first destination was the Bridge of the Continents. This is where the North American plate and the European Plate separate with one going East and the other going West. I will let you figure out which goes where. The images show the two plates separated by volcanic ash. One looks Northwest the other Southeast.
The ancient lava formations were a wonderful counterpoint to the stark black.
The only growing thing were the grasses
From here we ventured out into the geyser fields.
Not having been to Yellowstone, I imagine this would be similar or better? There was no one around just my son and I. This last image shows the destructive force of this geyser. You can just make out the remains of an earlier observation platform the ramp out to it.
Next we headed to the rugged coast to the West.
Blaine and his favorite Auk. He also had to climb to the top of the highest cliff.
On we ventured to a Tourist mecca, the Blue Lagoon. There are therapeutic benefits to submersing your body in this sulfur calderon. Mud is also good for those who wish to partake placing on your face in a ritualistic mask effect.
Next morning stop was Viking World just outside Keflavik. This Viking ship was built to prove the fact that Columbus was second! The crew sailed this ship to North America in one journey and South American in a second. Still an amazing feat.
There is a tradition or obsession with stacking rocks on top of one another in Iceland. You find these formations everywhere. I know we have them on several of our rivers in Oregon too.
This ends our first morning. Will continue the adventure in tomorrow's post.
Fantastic start to this photo-blog - amazing photos! Since it sounds like you were not on a tour, curious what your planning tools were? Looking forward to seeing the continued posts!
ReplyDeleteGretta, most of the planning was happenstance. Icelandair added Reykjavik when I discovered their policy of not charging more for a continuing flight if you stayed over in Iceland. Our original flight was PDX to Bergen, Norway. Instead we added 2 days in Iceland with only room and boarded added to the trip expense. What a deal!!!
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