A day of pure relaxation - 23rd April

Slower paced day today – a 40 min drive to the Blue Lagoon - a geothermal spa and the most visited attraction in Iceland. The spa is located in a lava field in Grindavik in southwestern Iceland. The warm waters are rich in minerals like silica and sulphur and bathing in the Blue Lagoon is reputed to help some people suffering from skin diseases. The water temperature in the bathing and swimming area averages 37 degrees. The lagoon is man-made which is fed by the water output of the nearby geothermal power plant and is renewed every 2 days. Superheated water is vented from the ground near a lava flow and used to run turbines that generate electricity. Then the water is fed into the lagoon for bathing.

Met a couple from Canada in the lagoon. Jim was Canadian and Jennifer originally Irish so we spent a few wonderful hours talking travel with them while soaking in the glorious warmth. The lagoon was like a swimming pool, shallow and then progressively becoming deeper - up to my shoulders. It was wonderful to be so warm after being so cold and left you so relaxed - I think we all nodded off on the trip back to town.

The pathway to the Blue Lagoon cut out from
the lava rock which covers all the ground in Iceland

  

Gary taking the plunge

Doing my aqua class - nice and warm and
plenty of room



The lagoon was massive



Revisited our favourite Reykjavik restaurant and had the tasting menu - sampling the best that Iceland has to offer.

Deep fried soft shelled crab sushi

From left to right - minke whale, shag and puffin
and they were all delicious - minke was our favourite

  

Lamb - have never eaten anything so tender

Another wonderful meal and a quick walk home in the freezing cold. Off to an early start in the morning for our flight up north.

Bless bless

Ann

 

Land of Fire and Ice - 22nd April

Firstly, a quick geology lesson - Over one third of Iceland's 40,000 square miles is volcanically active and loaded with lava fields. Elsewhere, magma too far below the surface to create volcanoes heats the rock above, sending the heated groundwater percolating to the surface in the form of "hot springs." Iceland is far enough north so that it should be entirely covered by ice and snow, like Greenland to the west. The heat generated by the ridge, however, keeps the country in a constant state of thaw, distinguishing it as the Land of Fire and Ice. Truly an amazing place - as we were to discover today.

An early start today for our tour to the Golden Circle (no not the one at Northgate).  First stop was to a tomato hot house – doesn’t sound much but they supply 25% of tomatoes to Iceland – all powered by the geothermal springs – very interesting.

Gary in the tomato hot house

We left in light rain and snow for Gullfoss the largest Icelandic waterfalls which were fabulous – it was so windy, raining and freezing cold we had a quick look and watched them afar in the much warmer surrounds of the restaurant and gift shop. Can’t remember being so cold but we had delicious soup to warm us up.

 

This tiny house looked so cold and isolated



Bitterly cold at the Gullfoss falls



Brave or stupid - not sure - we would have liked to have
walked down closer to the falls but the weather was too
cold and windy for us

The rain stopped for our next site – the Geysir geothermal field where hot springs are in abundance with geysers exploding everywhere. Slightly warmer here with the steam from the geysers – amazing.

A little warmer at the Geysir

Thought we were on our way back to town when we stopped at the Pingvellir National Park a UNESCO World Heritage Site – a truly beautiful part of the world.

Iceland is covered by lava fields over 2000 years old

A desolate place - this church has weekly
services - where do the people live?

A truly wonderful day full of new and amazing experiences - a land of stunning diversity.

Walked up town for dinner – had a hamburger tonight – very nice. Food is expensive here – let me clarify that – everything is expensive here. But we knew that before we came - $30 for a hamburger – but it did come with fillet steak – a very upmarket burger.

Off to the have a swim in the famous Blue Lagoon tomorrow.

Bless bless

Ann



Our first glimpse of snow - 21st April

We arrived on time even with our 1 hr delayed departure – apparently there was a strong tail wind. Reykjavik was 2 degrees and it  had snowed overnight – the airport was covered in light snow – just loved it. Caught the airport bus for our 45 min drive to the city bus station and transfer to our hotel – surprisingly it was not overly cold – there was no wind. Picked up after lunch for our tour of the city. Lovely old city, very picturesque neighbourhoods and harbour.

 

Snow at Reykjavik Airport

Looking down one of the main streets towards
the harbour



Lovely view across the harbour towards the mountains

The centre of town

View over the town - snow capped mountains
all round the town

A short walk in the freezing cold – the wind was dreadful – to the town for dinner – wonderful seafood grill of lobster, fish and king tiger prawns – we will definitely return. A quick walk back – again in the cold - to the hotel for an early night – 48 hours since our heads had seen the pillow – glorious sleep at last!!

Bless bless

Ann

Drying out today - 20th April

Ventured out last night looking for a place to eat and got caught in a torrential thunderstorm - managed to shelter under a recessed building awning. You don't realise it until it rains that in cities that have snow, there are no awnings as they cannot support the weight of the snow. The security guard saw us cowering outside, shivering, and opened the front doors for us to shelter inside. It was all over in about 15-20mins so we continued, drenched, on our way.

We thought we were far too wet and unkempt to go to our planned French restaurant, so we went back to our favourite Irish Pub for yet another tasty and very reasonably priced meal. 

Off to Iceland tomorrow

Ann 


(Blogs ceased for a few days due to erratic and very, very slow internet in Iceland - back on line now so will back date the Iceland blogs)

Museum day today

Today was Smithsonian day, starting with the Air & Space Museum - it holds the largest collection of historic aircraft and spacecraft in the world - massive displays. I had high expectations and it did not disappoint. We left early to avoid the crowds - wise move as it got very busy as the morning passed.



Apollo 11 capsule - so small - yet
3 men were able to fit inside





Sitting in front of Orville and Wilbur's 1903 plane



Lunch at the Smithsonian - McDonalds is the only
restaurant - massive

After lunch we hopped on our red bus and travelled round to the Natural History Museum - the museum's collections total over 126 million specimens of plants, animals, fossils, minerals, rocks, meteorites and cultural artifacts. Needless to say, in our short time there we did not see them all. 



The Hope Diamond - the most famous diamond
in the world - mined in India - 45.5 carats

 

More flowers - I just love them

A tiring day today - wouldn't like to guess how far we walked today - but our feet are saying too far!

Ann

DC by bus

Walked up to Union Station to catch the hop-on hop-off bus – there are 4 loops round the city. Saw all the tourist sites – US Capitol, Washington Monument (under renovation so unable to go to the top), Jefferson Memorial, all the war memorials – Korean, Vietnam, WWI And WWII, Forde’s Theatre (where Lincoln was shot) and of the course the highlight of the day, The White House.

Washington is a very spacious city – wide tree-lined avenues, wide sidewalks, wide open spaces and parks. They have a no high rise policy – no building can be higher than the Washington Monument - 555 feet. It is both the tallest stone structure and obelisk in the world.

   



Union Station 

 

These beautiful cherry blossoms are everywhere



Jefferson Monument



Capitol Hill

Home of The White House

   

This is as close as you can get to The White House

 

More flowers - tulips




Oldest and most luxurious DC hotel



An iced coffee at the Willard  - all we could afford

Looking down Constitution Avenue



Started off in rain this morning - not much fun on the open top deck of the bus in plastic ponchos – but cleared to a beautiful sunny afternoon. Took a 45 min trip down the Potomac River and back –took lunch on board – pleasant trip.

Gary relaxing on the Potomac River

Georgetown from the boat

 We then took a different bus and passed through the lovely parts of town – Dupont Circle and Georgetown – beautiful historic houses in both these areas. Drove past The Pentagon – a massive building – and Arlington Cemetery – hope to get back there tomorrow. Also plan on going to The Smithsonian, starting with the Air & Space Museum.

Lovely Georgetown

 

Lovely B&Bs round Dupont Circle

Ann