Iceland Day 10, September 19

We spent half the day at the Blue Lagoon. This lagoon is adjacent to a geothermal power plant, and began as an effluent pond. The water is 70% sea water and 30% fresh water, and is rich in blue green algae, mineral salts and silica. It is maintained at 100% F.

The parking lot and entry path are all new, since being covered over with lava from a series of volacnic eruptions in the last 3 years.

It was a very relaxing morning. We soaked in the rich mineral water, had a facial mask, and stood under a waterfall for a shoulder massage. Those who did not enter the water took our photos.

We stopped to see a sculpture reminiscent of a Viking ship on the way back to the hotel. It is made of stainless steel and is called Solfari, which translates to "The Sun Voyager". Bill did not get out of the bus; the photo is with Carol.

We had a lovely dinner at the hotel and said our thank yous and farewells. It was a wonderful trip.

Iceland Day 9, September 18

Early this foggy morning we drove to the Hellisheidarvirkjun Geothermal power plant, built on top of the fault between the Eurasian and North American tectonic plates. Our guide showed us the process of harnessing steam from deep underground to run the turbines and produce very clean energy.  In addition to the energy generated here, hot water for heating and personal use is also produced--enough to meet the hot water needs of the entire city of Rejkjavik.

In the diagram below, high temperature geothermal fields are indicated in red. The blue areas indicate areas of low temperature steam.

Our next stop was the Arbaejarsafn open air historical museum. Our group tour was led by Stefnir, who told us all about the early days in Rejkjavik. After the tour we were entertained by singer and pianist Johanna Elisa. She played and sang old Icelandic hymns and the national anthem as well as her own original compositions.

Finally we stopped at Hallgrimskirja church, the tallest building in Rejkjavik. The statue of Leif Ericson in front of the church was a gift from the United States when the church was completed.

When we got back to the hotel, Bill and I walked out with Bill and Kathy N to the famous hot dog stand. Of course we had hot dogs, after waiting in line in the rain.

After the hot dogs, Bill T went back to the hotel and Bill N and Kathy and I walked to the Settlement exhibition. This is an underground exhibit of a Viking longhouse that was discovered when excavatiing for a new building. They left the longhouse in place and opened it to the public as a museum.  It has been carbon dated to prove it was built in the 10th century, making it the oldest settlement building yet discovered in Iceland. There was a timeline of Iceland's history on the walls around the outside of the longhouse.

Iceland Day 8, September 17

We had an early morning--right after breakfast we were driven to Akuereyri airport for our flight to Rejkjavik. Our first stop in Rejkjavik was Perlan, a museum and exhibition hall. We had a wonderful immersive experience that put us inside an erupting volcano! There were many exhibits including geothermal forces, glaciers and fauna. And we attended an IMAX format presentation on the Northern lights.

We ate lunch at a local restaurant, and then had a wlking tour of Rejkjavik. The rest of the day we were on our own.

Iceland Day 7, September 16

Right after breakfast we drove to Dalvik, a commercial fishing port. We were issued survival suits and then boarded a restored fishing boat for our whale watching tour.

We had an able captain and a marine life expert to help us in our endeavor.

We were fortunate enough to come upon a female humpback whale.

We ate lunch at a cafeteria in Dalvik, and then headed back to Akuereyri. Linda led us on a walking tour of the city and then we were on our own.

Iceland Day 6, September 15

We drove through one of the oldest streets in Akuereyri, seeing the oldest existing homes in the city. A local woman knitted covers for the trash receptacles on this street.

Our first stop of the day was Godafoss, in English: Waterfall of the Gods. It was said to have been named this when one of the early parliament leaders threw his statues of Norse gods over the edge of the waterfall in the year 1000 when Christianity became the official religion of Iceland.

We spent some time at Skutustadir, an area of pseudo craters which were formed by steam under the flowing lava. This area is on the shores of Lake Myvatn, and we hiked around this lovely area.

We had a great demonstration of the local breadmaking process at Dimmuborgir. The dough is mixed in vats and then baked for 24 hours in natural steam chambers underground. We had the warm bread with our soup for lunch.

After lunch we walked around the "black castle" lava formations of Dimmulborgir., where a lonely troll is said to have lived. We imagined trolls among the lava formations, and then stopped to sample Icelandic liquor at a stone throne. The couple to our right are Kathy and Bill Nachtrab, the friends who invited us on this tour.

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It was a real treat to stop at another open spot on the tectonic plates. There Linda took our photo with half of us on the Eurasian plate and the other half on the North American plate.

We drove to Namafjall to walk among the bubbling hot mud pools and steaming fumeroles. This is such a diverse and incredible landscape!

We were split into two groups for a home-hosted dinner in the homes of local Icelanders.