This weekend we went to Iceland, the land of no trees. Well there were trees but not very many where we were. We arrived late on Thursday night, rented a car and went to the nearest hotel for the night. It was cold. We were up and going by 9:30 am, yes it was dark. The sunrise was a little after 10:00 am
Our first stop was the Blue Lagoon,
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Blue_Lagoon_(geothermal_spa)
The walk it takes you thru a lava field,
Just outside the entrance we saw our first glimpse on why it is called the blue lagoon.
The water comes from the geothermal power plant and is a between 99 and 102 degrees. Its rich in silica and sulfur and is supposed to be good for the skin. A shower is required before you enter, there big on keeping the water clean so lots of soap. Leanne said its like being in school again but she is more developed this time.
We floated over to what I thought was a bar and everyone was putting this white stuff on there face.
This was a silica mask and it's supposed to cleanse the skin.
Yes i did it, and yes I looked silly. But so did everyone else, and there's more. After we wash off the white stuff we put on some green algae stuff on our face. I felt 10 years younger, well maybe my face did. The rest of the body is still old.
Leanne was able to get a water massage, she said it was great and even fell asleep during it.
While she was getting the massage I floated over to the bar and had a drink.
Time for lunch, In our suits and robes,
Champagne? why yes, thank you.
Leanne when with the langoustine soup and cod.
and I had the duck. We also had dessert but it was gone before I could get a picture of it.
It was hard to leave but we had places to go. On the road to Reykjavik to check out a church. Or maybe to find the pot of gold at the end of this rainbow.
The Hallgrímskirkja is a Luthern church, started in 1945 and compleated in 1986
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hallgr%C3%ADmskirkja
In front of the church is a statue of Leif Ericsson, the first European to discover north America.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Leif_Erikson
The front of the church with looking at the statue. While in Iceland i didn't see a lot of big Catholic churches like we usually see on our trips. I thought that maybe it was just to cold for them. I did find out that there was a tall catholic church in Reykjavik. The Lutheran's decided they would build there church taller than the Catholic, that is why this one is so tall. Take that you silly catholic's.
The organ in the back of the church has 5275 pipes and weighs 25 tons. They were doing an organ concert when we were there and we stayed and listen to a few of them. The seat backs in this church can move, so you can sit looking at the back of the church like this view for organ concerts. Or they can be moved so you face the front for church services.
On to our hotel in the town of Hveragerdi. Don't ask i don't know how so say it.
We would be here for two nights, the place is heated from the hot water coming out of the grown.
The sun has still not come up and it's 9:30.
Another view of the sunrise.
Now this is something i haven't done in years, clean the frost off the window. Good thing the car has heated seats.
Leanne in front of the Kerio Crater.
The crater is about 3,000 years old.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Keri%C3%B0
As you can see from the top of the crater there is a lot of nothing.
It was a beautiful winter view---if you like the winter.
Back on the road again, heat on high.
It had a look of Montana, views forever and lots of snow. This was a main road and as you can see it was snow covered for most of our trip. Every once in a while a car would come up behind us and pass. Its been a while since driving on snow, so we took our time.
Finally some trees. These were planted along the road as a snow fence.
As we got to the town of Geysir, it had a few hotels, restaurants and gift shops. Its claim to fame is the hot springs area and the geyser that would go off every five or six minutes. And when there is something to see you get the tour busses, tour bus's with big tires.
They like the big tires.
The area had water bubbling up everywhere,
https://www.extremeiceland.is/en/information/about-iceland/geysir-geothermal-field
The Geysir that gave its name to the english language does not spout anymore. Past earthquakes have all but stopped it. Near it is the Strokkur geyser that goes off at regular intervals of five to six minutes.
This is what it looks like
Leanne had asked if i saw the blue bubble before the water spout. Things happen so quick you have to really pay attention.
After the bubble forms it opens up.
and up she goes.
After watching it do this a number of times we walked a farther away.
Another hot pool of water
Don't touch the water, its hot. 80 to 100 degrees Celsius is 178 to 212 degrees Fahrenheit.
Another view from farther off,
or maybe a safer distance.
and a video.
Next stop was the Gullfoss or Golden falls.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gullfoss
Leanne trying her best to look warm.
Cuddle time---it didn't help. The wind was blowing and the only way to get warm was back in the car.
Another view of the falls.
As we were taking these pictures some other tourist were walking by us. The walk ways were starting to be slippery and they don't put anything down for it. One guy slipped and fell hard, his wife walked over to help and she fell, there young son came over and he fell. It looked like a comedy routine.
As you can see by the landscape there is nothing to stop the wind.
except maybe this big guy.
Back in the car and enjoying the view and warmth.
We drove an different way back and were able to see some farming areas. But the only animals we saw were horses.
Next stop was the town of Fluoir and the secret lagoon.
http://secretlagoon.is/
This was another thermal pool heated by ground water. It is smaller than the blue lagoon but also less crowded. it had a gravel bottom and as you got over to where the water came in it would get warmer.
We stayed about an hour and had a few drink.
This is where the water comes from to heat the pool.
The sound of boiling water.
A small geyser that also feed the pool
Like I said its a small geyser.
The tour buses arrived as we were leaving.
We stopped on the way home looking for a place to eat. A glass of wine before dinner and a great view.
Leanne had a langoustine salad,
and I had the reindeer. Not sure if it was Comet or Cupid, it tasted great.
Back at the hotel we were tired from a long day in the car. Leanne had dozed off and I was almost there when i decided to look out the window one more time. As i did i could see the northern lights.
https://www.northernlightscentre.ca/northernlights.html
I told Lee the lights are on and we put on our bathing suits and made our way to the hot tub.
We were able to watch them for about an hour. They were a green color and went back and forth across the sky. At times they would be lighter and we thought they were done, then they would take off again. After that we made a made dash back to the room.
The next day it was time to go home and hopefully warmer weather. Coach and 25 are always happy to see us when we get back. I think Coach must have really missed Leanne, he's trying his best to be a lap dog.
He did not want to leave her side.
A good way to end the trip.
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