Iceland - Part 4

Mossy Landscape

Compared to countries in the temperate zone Iceland has few forests and hardly any big trees. Instead, Iceland has lots of moss and smaller plants clinging to life in this northern volcanic land. I'm no botanist, but I found the unfamiliar mossy landscapes intriguing. The next three pictures were taken by C on an old lava field.

Moss added color during our hike in the "Green Valley" in Landmannalaugar:

More moss softens volcanic terrain seen during C's hike through a rocky-bottomed valley in the Thorsmork Nature Reserve:

Aside from moss, other plants cling tenaciously to the otherwise barren volcanic land, like this grass growing in black volcanic soil near the coastline.

Or this small cluster of star-like sprouts growing in cracks between volcanic rocks.

Or this little green oasis sitting in a wet, sheltered spot among coastal rocks.

Autumn yellow and red were displayed within many fissures in Thingvellir National Park on a dim, rainy day.

Some grass and small berry-bearing plants were present in this sunny scene at Gluggafoss.

There are trees in Iceland, now carefully tended and preserved, even some evergreens seen in the background in Skogar.

There are lovely birch trees, though often stunted and small as in these pictures, also from Skogar.

On our last full day in Iceland we hiked in the Thorsmork Nature Reserve in a valley protected from harsh weather. Although this area is close to volcanoes and glaciers, it harbors a relatively rich collection of vegetation.

Much of Iceland is barren, nearly lifeless volcanic terrain, but there are also many rich pastures with lush grass for grazing sheep and horses.

Stay tuned for more Iceland pictures in my next post.

Iceland - Part 3

Waterfalls!

Falling water is very common in Iceland. We saw a lot of waterfalls! Waterfall fatigue was imminent near trip's end!

The first waterfall we visited was Gullfoss, or Golden Falls. (Foss means falls in Icelandic.) As you can see in the pictures below, Gullfoss is a two-step waterfall dropping a huge volume of roaring water. The total height from top to bottom is 32 meters, not as high as Niagara's 51 meters, but still very impressive! It was cold, rainy, and misty on the day of our visit. The camera lens and my eyeglasses were fogged and spotted with water drops. 

The next day, as we traveled through a rugged highland wilderness on the way to the Landmannalaugar Volcanic Zone, we saw this lovely blue waterfall.

The following day we stopped at a beautiful double waterfall called Hjalparfoss.

Interesting basalt columns were visible in varying orientations to the left and right of the falls.

After visiting Hjalparfoss we stopped at a restored 12-century Viking farmhouse which happened to have this unnamed waterfall in its back yard.

Shortly after touring the restored farm house, our guide took us to one of her favorite spots: a small waterfall passing over green, moss-covered rocks. In contrast to the harsh, cold, dim, rainy weather we had experienced earlier on the trip, the weather at these green falls was mild and sunny. There was no wind. The sunlight glinting on the green moss made it glisten like emeralds. It would have been easy to lie in the warm grass and fall asleep to the sound of the gurgling water.

Another day, another waterfall. Adjacent to the folk museum in the village of Skogar we saw Skogafoss, a giant 55-meter high drop higher than Niagara Falls. We were lucky to have about 25 minutes of sunlight with the Sun low enough to make a nice rainbow in the mist. Sadly, the magical rainbow disappeared after some pesty persistent clouds covered the Sun.

We had not yet exhausted the number of available waterfalls. On the following day we visited Gluggafoss, or the "Window" Falls. In the picture below you can see the falls emerging near the top from a window-like opening in the rock.

The final waterfall was Seljalandsfoss, a 65 meter-high monster. It was possible to walk behind this thundering curtain, and C was up to the challenge. She got soaked, but captured two views from behind the falls.

More pictures from surprising Iceland in my next post.

Iceland - Part 2

Roaming in Reykjavik

Viewing the aurora borealis was the primary reason for our Iceland trip, but we also spent every day touring southern Iceland where there were many interesting things to see. Upon arrival we had a free night and day in Reykjavik. Our hotel was located next to the harbor, and we had this view from our room.

Outside, it was cloudy, wet, and chilly. Inside, the hotel lobby was warm and inviting.

We walked away from our hotel on the first evening to find a place for dinner.

Streets near the hotel looked like this.

My pre-trip food anxiety was unjustified. Aside from an early error mistaking thick sour cream for milk during the first breakfast buffet, all meals in Iceland were great. We had grilled lamb skewers for our first dinner at the restaurant below.

Lamb was frequently on the menu. I ate more lamb in Iceland than I've eaten in the past 20 years, but I had no complaints. I skipped the more adventurous choices available on this sign.

We began our free day in Reykjavik with a visit to the 871 + 2 Museum. (The date of the first settlement of Iceland is determined to be 871 with an uncertainty of 2 years. I absolutely LOVE the statement of numerical uncertainty here! I wish this was more commonly done whenever numbers appear, particularly in news articles.) This museum houses remains of a tenth century hall dwelling, about 20 meters long, inhabited between approximately 930 and 1000 AD. The stone foundation remains in its original location, about 2 meters below street level in 2013. It was excavated in 2001, and is now displayed in an exhibit illustrating how early inhabitants of Iceland lived.

The long hall had a front porch partly paved with stones seen below.

After reading the informative displays in the museum I had a better appreciation of the hard life lead by early Viking settlers - like this giant guy with his handy axe.

We spent a good portion of our rainy free day strolling the length of a street called Laugavegur, looking in many shops along the way. Here are some scenes from along Laugavegur.

So many syllables!!

We stopped and browsed in many nice shops. Prices were high, often outrageously high. One U.S. dollar equaled 117 Icelandic krona. I continually divided krona prices by 117 to judge costs. Cheap refrigerator magnets were selling for $8 with 22 percent tax added! I saw children's books for $30. Small, mass produced pewter Viking ships were $25. Rounded volcanic stones the size of a nickel, found by the billions on Icelandic beaches, were sold for $25 as "Icelandic Meditation Stones". Eventually, the high prices disgusted me and I refused to buy anything.

After a warm lunch of soup in bread bowls we continued walking down to the waterfront where the Opera House is located. It was a colorful modern building as you can see below.

From the Opera House we walked a short way in the gloomy, rainy afternoon along the waterfront bike path to the beautiful Viking ship sculpture.

The scene in front of the Viking ship looked like this. Click on the image for a larger view.

The next day, before heading out to rural Iceland, we stopped at an iconic Reykjavik landmark, the Hallgrimskirkja Church, seen in the distance in the following picture.

A dramatic statue of Leif Ericson stands in front of the church.

Not everyone in Iceland is stern and hard like Leif Ericson. These children had fun walking along inlaid stone lines in the plaza behind the Ericson statue.

Reykjavik was interesting, but we spent most of our time outside the city. I'll describe our adventures in the countryside in future posts.