Iceland: October 2016

Below are some picrtures from my trip to Iceland in October of 2016. I was there for about a week and a half. This was not my first time in Iceland. It wasn’t my last as I have been back and plan to visit regularly. It is a remarkable place with a wide variety of things to see. As much as I enjoy the land, I find the people to be fantastic. I am always comfortable when I’m in Iceland!

I’ll arrange the pictures into some loose categories and add a blurb about the group or adventure or something or the kind.

Waterfalls 

There are many noteworthy waterfalls and the like around Iceland. These pictures are either from Gullfoss  or Skogafoss. They are easy to tell apart as Gullfoss is a multi tier fall that decends 105 meters; where Skogafoss is a single 60 meter drop.

Glacial Lagoon 

As part of one tour we went to a glacial lagoon on the southeast side of the island. It wasn’t known whether we would be able to go out in to the lagoon because of the recent weather and time of year. As luck would have it, the boats were operating and we were able to go out in to the lagoon. This lagoon is where a glacier ends on one side of the lagoon and the other side has a narrow opening to the Atlantic Ocean.

A couple of notes: As the icebergs melt, this changes their weight balance and they roll over. This makes the lagoon a bit treacherous as some of these icebergs are bigger than the boat. It’s not likely to capsize the boat and the crew is ever watchful for icebergs that are starting to roll, it can bump a boat with a remote chance of knocking a passenger off and into the water…which is at the freezing point because of the ice. All boats are followed closely by a chase boat for this reason. It can quickly grab a person and get them back to land as quickly as possible. One of the pictures shows a crew member on our boat and the ice he is holding is glacial ice. That’s a piece of it melting in my hand.

The Northern Lights

This was one of the main reason I started looking at Iceland. Seeing the aurora borealis was a “bucket list” item for me. As I researched Iceland, I find dozens of other things I wanted to do and see!

There are no guarantees that you will see the lights on a given night. Often weather (clouds) make it impossible to to see the lights if they are in the sky that particular night. Indeed, the day of the trip along the south coast, which include the lagoon and Skogafoss, some passengers were anxious to get back to Reykjavik as they were booked ou tours to go out in search of the lights…and we were running a little late. It didn’t matter. As you can see from pictures at both places, it was total overcast all day and into the night so all northern light sightseeing tours were canceled for that night.

My adventure to see the lights was a bit different. I booked to go out on a boat to try and see them from the water. The first night we went out it was clear and windy and cold! The crew told tales and even sang a few Icelandic folk songs over the PA for us. But the lights never appeared that night. The tour I took had a guarantee: If they went out and there weren’t any lights, you could come back and go again for free. Whether it was 6 days later or 6 years later. They keep you in a database and you just remind them at the time of booking.

The first night, no lights, and I had plans for my remaining nights in Iceland. I figured I have to wait until the next trip, but at least I’d get to go for free. Plans change, and two nights later I found myself free. The clouds had been coming and going, so they weren’t sure they were going to sail and told me to check back. I did at the appointed time and they had decided to give it go. There were still clouds, but it wasn’t overcast and there were big openings where we might get to see the lights. We didn’t make it out of the harbor before the lights were visible!

The pictures below are of two “waves” of lights. The first disapted before a second emerged 30 minutes later in a different part of the sky (little further north). The pictures were taken with my iPhone (all of the pictures are) and a $0.99 app I took a chance on for taking pictures of the aurora borealis. Money well spent, LOL.

Thingviller

 This is a place of both beauty and historic significance. The valley is created by the split between the North American and Eurasain continental plates. Occasionally, it is refered to as the Icelandic plate. On the east side is the Eurasain tetonic plate and on the west side is the North American tectonic plate. The pictures are from the west side, though our tour entered from the east and crossed the valley. The picture with me is me pointing at the edge of the North American tectonic plate.

There is a lake which is very clear and you can go diving as at the bottom you can touch both tectonic plates. Likewise, there is a stream that runs along which allows the water to escape where you can snorkel and in various spots touch both tectonic plates. The only other places you can touch both plates are on the floor of the Atlantic Ocean.

Thingviller is also a UNESCO recognized historic location. Begining in 930, the Icelanders held the annual Althing for two weeks. What is an Althing? Think Parliment or the House of Representatives. Rome/Greece had the Senate. Many who moved to Iceland were from Norway and were leaving as it was being unified under a single king. They didn’t wish to live under a single king, preferring the old ways. They moved to Iceland. When enough people were living there, it became necessary for them to have an Icelandic Althing (there would have been local Things already). The chosen or elected individuals from the local Things would meet for the Althing. Today the Icelandic parliament is the Althing. Here they made laws for the island and settled disputes that couldn’t be settled by local Things.

Around Reykjavik

I didn’t take as many pictures while I was in the city on this trip, which is unfortunate. The statute is Leif Eriksson and stands in front of Hallgrimskirkja in the center of the city…on a hill too. I couldn’t resist getting a picture of the Chuck Norris Grill on Laugavegur. Sadly, when I returned in 2022, the grill had not survived Covid and had closed. Down the street is another place called the Lebowski Bar which is still open. The bottom is the Harpa Concert Hall and Conference Center. It is located right next to the harbor.

Geyser or Geysir

Finally, a couple of pictures from the geyser we visited on the way to Thingviller. Geysers are uncommon in that it takes specific conditions to create them.

The reason for the title is that the English word Geyser comes from the Icelandic word Geysir. Why? There are no geysers in Europe so there was no word for them in Europe.