and quesadilla
for Jane
and me
before boarding an IcelandAir flight where this was the napkin.
Graduation was over and both Jane and I had to be in Europe after a few days, so what better way to transition than to go to JFK and have a burger
and quesadilla
for Jane
and me
before boarding an IcelandAir flight where this was the napkin.
On the other side, we got to the airport
and drove to a lava field where we climbed the hill
in this moonscape
and except for a few signs of human habitation might have been on the surface of the moon.
But the indentations
the interesting rocks
and the scenic views
and flora
made us happy that we had this car and would be exploring for a few days.
Next we came upon the hot springs where the signs warned
and we saw a spring off to the side
before checking the map of trails in front of us
which made it clear we wanted to stay on the path
as we looked down upon bubbling pools
with smoke rising
and dented pieces
as we looked across the landscape of the various thermal pots here
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
and made our way to a path
that brought us close to the pots
so that smoke was rising
and ricks were hot
as we made our way past this interesting piece of nature
and finally bid farewell
so that we could head towards the Hotel Bjork in Reykjavik and check into this room for a much needed nap.
When we woke up, we realized that Ruby Tuesday was across the street
but walking further past the houses of many colors
we found our way to sandwiches
and this pastry
which amused Jane
and me
as we completed our lunch at the Sandholt
and walked on through the town until we reached this statue of Skuli Magnusson (fogeti)
by the city hall
and watched the ducks in the pond
|
|
|
|
|
which watching ducks
this swan
and this fountain
and statue of Dianur Thors (Forsaeusradnerra)
and this atomic bombed stone from Hiroshima
as we looked at the city hall
and the mountains in the distance
recorded the label Ur Alogum Eifter Einar Jonsson
in front of this sculpture
bade farewell to this one
and headed up the hill to this sculpture that told us the distance to Berlin (the German consulate being nearby)
and this red rock
as we made our way to Hallgrimur's Church (Hallgrimskirkja) where these were the views from the outside
with the construction entrance
the view up the side of the church
and the information sign
before we went inside
and then went to the top to see wonderful views of the city of Reykjavik
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
||
Outside, we paid homage to Leif Ericson
and I posed with him
and his context
before heading back past the many colored houses (near the intown swimming pool).
After our first daily swim, we were ready for dinner and so walked into town to A naestu grosum, the vegetarian restaurant,
where these were our meals
and our drinks
and the business card of the restaurant
along with the dessert
favored by Jane
and the beer
that I chose.
On the way back to the hotel, we saw these 3 T shirts
in the Dogma shop which was closed
and after recording this memorial
we noted the neckties and went home to bed.
The next day began with breakfast
which prepared Jane
and me for the new day
so that we could drive off until we reached the Snaefellsness Peninsula
and stopped at the Vegamont Restaurant
where we looked out at snow covered peaks
and loaded our drinks into the car
before driving on to Budir
where the old church (still in use) told us we were at the trail head
and as we looked beyond the cemetery to the sea and Reykjavik in the distance
we could see the path we would follow
with interesting indentations
that we could look into
and fault lines
with the mountains still in the background
as we came to a dividing line of stone
before getting further direction of the way to Frambudir
which led to our first beach scene
but as we walked on the beaches became more interesting
|
|
|
|
|
as we admired the fragility of the rocks
and looked off in the distance to see birds circling
as we tried to sort out the many mountain views
before making our way back to the church
which was now open for a Scotish tour group so that we could record what the inside looked like.
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|||
Next we drove on to Snaefellsojokull
where the road was going to take us to the remarkable views
and we choose to ignore signs like this one (which was ok to ignore) and the one that told us the road was impassable (which we might have considered more seriously)
but we pressed on and came to this place where my tire marks give a sense of the challenge of reversing back down the hill after it was clear we could go no further.
we did enjoy the view
and were able to walk to the nearest snow fields
but the glacier was out of reach
even though the views we had were quite nice in all directions
as Jane headed towards the nearby hill
and we thanked the car for getting to a safe place
from which we could learn about Bardur and the Singing Cave
which we then walked to
and were able to identify
though the entry was small
and though I went inside, I did not meet dwarfs and did not hear singing.
But the scenery was quite good
as Jane made her way in
and we recorded views
and ourselves
as Jane pointed out the glacier which was becoming slightly more visible.
Next it was time for lunch, so we found this spot
and while we were waiting, we noticed that we could get to the center of the earth from here
and so recorded locations
and then descended for photo ops
|
|
|
|
|
|
as was the restaurant with turf covered roof
as Jane recorded a few special distances
and we headed to the dining place
for our lunches
which amused Jane
but my self portrait first missed
and then was in darkness.
We continued on to the end of the peninsula
and on to Olafsvikur
where these scenes
led us to walk to the point
|
|
|
|
|
and back at the glacier
before we drove on to Grundarfjordur which was the town where we decided to record the ``Welcome to'' sign.
as we drove on, the cliffs
and glaciers
and lakes were impressive
and eventually we saw a small bridge in the distance which grew as we approached it and crossed it
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
||||
and this picture of the church
and thee of the harbor where we couldn't quite walk to the island afar
but as we left town we did recorded the ``Leaving .. '' signs
before we found our way to Helgafell where legend has it that if you climb the hill in silence and never look back and then look east and make 3 wishes (all for good) then your wishes come true. But you only get to do this once so there was pressure to get it right.
These tour guides assured us that the legend was true and identified East for us
and so we climbed and were greeted with these wonderful views
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
||||
ON the way back to Reykjavik, we stopped for drinks
that made Jane
and me happy
and a vegetable stir fry that did not
at the Mastofan restaurant in Borgarnes.
On our way back to our hotel, we stopped for a swim at this pool
and then went to the Perlan where we posed with sculptures
enjoyed the views
and admired the architecture before calling it a day with a last dose of yogurt.
Our last day began with breakfast, as always
and then we were off to do the Golden Circle. We stopped at Sudurland
to record remarkable views (as the winds were growing)
and then were off to Kerid which was a collapsed volcano that the guide said might just be for volcano enthusiasts.
The views were suitably remarkable
that we greeted the local dog
and then made our way around
stopping to have our pictures taken by some Finnish folks
and then continued
|
|
|
|
|
as we looked down at the crater
and then at the surrounding countryside
and recorded some wildflowers
as Jane bid a final farewell
to the crater and we declared ourselves volcano enthusiasts
as we headed to the car
and made our way to Gullfoss
where we could see the mist rising from a distance
and so followed the trail
until we approached the waterfalls
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
||||
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|||
sometimes with others
but many pictures to be taken in any case since the falls presented themselves in fascinating fashion
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
and more falls photos
|
|
|
|
|
and after some mist
we took this self portrait
and then aimed to get the very best view
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|||
before a friendly person took this picture of us
and we headed away from the falls with a few last pictures
before Jane recorded me with this hero
we took a last look back
and then were on our way to the gift shop where this friendly lady welcomed us
and we took pictures of ourselves in Viking garb
before heading down the road
to the Geysir hot springs area
where the map told the story
and this stone marked the original Geysir (in the world) which unfortunately no longer erupts on any regular schedule
but we did record Strokkur as it got ready
and then erupted as it does every 5-10 minutes
and then we made our way around the geyser basin
capturing the beautiful colors
of Konungshver
and a wide view
and our location
before taking a long view
and capturing this bird
as we made our way down to the cafeteria where Jane
got into the frame
as did I
so that we could capture the menu
and take one last photo to end the roll
before we gassed up
and made our way down roads right and wrong that took us to this lovely
which commemorated Thomas Gudmundsson Skald who I can now identify as an Icelandic poet and here is the text of his poem Fljotid Helga (The Holy River)
but somehow, I don't think this was the picture he was describing in his poetry, rather this was left over from an alien landing.
Next we were on to pINGVELLIR
where we walked up past this cliff (which turned out to be Europe
so that we could walk on a trail between the European (to the left) and North American (to the right) plates
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
||||
before marching on
to a rocky outcropping
where the advice was to go back the way we came
which we did
and we found information about the significance of Pingvellir in Icelandic (and world) history as the home of the first parliament
|
|
|
|
|
we looked down to the river formed from the waterfall to see many coins
but we pressed on to hear about more things that happened on the site for the last 1100 years
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
||
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|||
and went in to see the continental drift over the past 1000 years identified by sign
and by distance.
After a few admiring pictures into the distance
and some photos of further divides as we sought to absorb the majesty of what we were seeing
we recorded one last compass
a few more pictures looking back at the divide
and then were on our way back towards Keflavik where we saw smoke in the distance
and knew that we were approaching the Blue Lagoon where words (and even photos) cannot describe the experience.
After a relaxing soak, we went on to Keflavik where Jane
was happy to see rolls
and I was happy to see beer
as we had one last meal
and then captured the Reykjanesbaer sign in the 11 PM light.
After Iceland, it was back to work and so we headed to Copenhagen and then went out separate ways. It took me some time to adjust and so I didn't record my room in Aarhus
until I could also record the remains of room service from the night before
and then record views
the bathroom
the view down to the lobby
and the do not disturb sign
before dressing and preparing to go present my talk.
After the talks, pictures were taken of the 4 invited speakers -- Kurt Melhourn, Emo Welzl, me and Micha Sharir
|
|
|
|
|
|
who took this picture of me
The next day, I took an obligatory phone booth picture
and then the next day, I recorded a station on the train
before boarding the plane to Iceland where this sign hung in the bathroom
and once in Iceland, I recorded a picture of my favorite yogurt to summarize the journey.
