Categotry Archives: Travel
Greenland
The names Greenland and Iceland are both all about deception. When the Vikings named Iceland, they wanted to keep people away from their fertile new lands. On the other hand, when Eric the Red got kicked out of Iceland, he wanted to take as many people along with him as he could. So he called the next big island over “Greenland” to lure people. So it should be no surprise that Iceland is a lush, green, beautiful place with an […]
Tasiilaq in Greenland
We arrived by helicopter to Ammkassalik, which turned out to be a little bigger than Kulusuk, if harder to reach. It’s Greenland’s largest city with a population of 1,900.
Last Full Day in Iceland
In the morning we visited The Blue Lagoon, which is a huge hot spring favored by tourists. Local developers had built up various features, including a two story building housing restaurants, bars, meeting rooms, and office facilities as well as changing/shower rooms. In the lagoon itself there was a built in water fall, snaking “river” with bridges and a “beauty bar” where you could buy mud masks. The swim up beer bar was still under construction. I swam/walked the whole […]
National Museum of Iceland
When I think back on it, I’m surprised to realize that I walked through two or three times as many traditional museums in Mongolia than I did in Iceland. This was the only modern building called a museum that we went through in Iceland.
Iceland Day 10
We started the day with the florist’s greenhouses. From there we went river rafting on the Hvita glacial river. It was mayhem as we all suited up in wet suits and life jackets that they provided. They bused us in from their headquarters to their choice of get-ins, a choice determined primarily by which way the winds were blowing. They were blowing strong enough to lift a raft when we arrived, but not so much as to push us up […]
Power Plant in Iceland
We visited a power plant run by the city of Reykjavik. They are open to visitors every day. Many tour groups wander through. Their public areas are full of informational displays, including many interesting wall designs, and museum like display cases.
A Greenhouse in Iceland
Iceland doesn’t exactly have a fantastic growing season. Much of their produce is grown in greenhouses. Primarily, they grow tomatoes, bell peppers, and cucumber – three items that appeared at nearly every meal we ate. The greenhouse we toured grew flowers. They told us the name, but my recording is so garbled I couldn’t tell you what it is. They specialize in bouquets. This means they grow a wide variety of flowers which are delivered to many outlets in Selfos […]
Iceland Day 9
It was a day of ice and water, with a little lava tossed in here and there. First up was a waterfall you could walk behind.
Ice Cave
We took a Super Truck tour out of Vik, which is the sothernmost village in Iceland, to a spot in the lava flows several miles to the east. There’s a glacier in the area. If you are lucky, conditions will be right for walking through the tunnels formed by glacier melt runoff. We were lucky.
Iceland Day 8
This day was all about fame and popularity. From the place where Of Men and Monsters practiced, to the worlds oldest parliament, then on to the geyser named Geysir, and the Golden Waterfall, We managed to cover a lot of ground. Stitched in among all the walking and wool gathering was an airplane ride from Akureyri to Reykjavik, then bus ride from Reykjavik to Selfoss. Think flight from the North to the South corners of the island, then bus from […]
Thingvellir National Park
Thingvellir is known for two things. First, and foremost to me, is that this is where a major rift between the Eurasian tectonic plate and the North American tectonic plate is opening up. In other words, the world is tearing itself apart here. Each continent is determined to go it’s own way. Between them, the Earth’s Mantle is dangerously close to the crust. Iceland in general is covered in lava. In this particular spot, it is welling up, then splitting […]
Icelandic Bands
. We stopped in a town where Of Monsters and Men, among other bands, were known to practice. It got me thinking about Icelandic music. So I looked up some popular bands.
