Come for the politics, stay for the snark.
My excursion form Akureyri took us to the GeoSea Thermal Baths. The water in these baths came from a thermal source several miles away. It is too hot for bathing coming out of the ground, but after being piped to the shore of the fjord and mixing with sea water, it was VERY nice
There were multiple pools with different temperatures and a swim-up bar.
On The Road – Elma – Iceland, long delayed, part threePost + Comments (16)
The Smithsonian provided two excellent lecturers for our trip. (Whenever I have traveled with my kids and grandkids, my daughter always bemoans my need to “learn something” from my travels.) Anyway, our teachers did not disappoint. I noticed a woman sitting in the theater on the first night at our Meet the Captain orientation. I kept trying to figure out where I knew her from. When she was introduced as Dr. Michelle Thaller, a NASA scientist, I realized that I had seen her many times on TV explaining some complex astrophysics principle so that a non-scientist could comprehend it.
The second lecturer was Dr. Elizabeth Ward, a Smithsonian curator, expert on Icelandic history and literature. She told us the interesting story of how Iceland regained its independence after being part of Denmark for many centuries. The Icelanders had managed to get a “contract” with the Danes guaranteeing them a measure of home rule. When the contract expired in 1943, the Icelanders sent a letter to the Danish King announcing that they did not wish to renew the contract and were therefore independent. Of course, at that time, Denmark was occupied by the Nazis and there was no Danish government to respond. So the Icelanders picked a date, June 18th, to be their Independence Day. Their case was helped in no small part by the fact that the US immediately recognized their independence and made them one of the first members of NATO.
My experience of learning something on this trip was great. There were lectures, intimate seminars, and dining opportunities with the experts; and they came out on excursions to help us understand what we were seeing.
After Heimay we sailed north calling in at Grundarfjordur. At each port of call, we had a choice of excursions. I chose a trip around the Snaefellsnes Peninsula. Among the interesting factoids about the Snaefellsnes Peninsula was that Jules Verne located the entrance for The Journey to the Center of the Earth in a crater here. Although there was still a lot of snow around, the alpine flowers were in abundance.
On The Road – Elma – Iceland, long delayed, part twoPost + Comments (13)
In June 2023, I was two weeks away from a trip to Iceland with a tour company that had taken me all around the world over the years, when I got the email declaring that the trip was canceled. As it developed, the company had not successfully come out of the pandemic and was bankrupt. At least I was still at home when I got the news, unlike some unlucky travelers that got stranded in foreign parts. After a period of anger and depression, I started to look for a replacement trip and found a similar excursion offered by the Smithsonian Institution. Assuming that it was not likely to go bankrupt, I booked it for June 2024. The tour is actually operated by a French company in partnership with the Smithsonian. “French” made for some interesting cultural experiences.
Some Hawaiians might beg to differ. Not sure it is really a pitch most visitors’ bureaus would choose to make.
On The Road – Elma – Iceland, long delayed, in three partsPost + Comments (22)
There’s an old saying that Greenland is icy and Iceland is green. That’s fairly accurate – especially if you spend your time near the coast, where a branch of the Gulf Stream flows around Iceland to moderate the temperatures. But venture inland a bit and you’ll find Iceland earns its name …
The highlands of Iceland. Home of the glaciers – remote, windswept, brutally cold. No one lives here. But there are visitors.
On The Road – Christopher Mathews – Ice LandsPost + Comments (15)
A few more views of the northern lights from various sites in Iceland.
An unfortunate trick of evolution is that human color vision degrades significantly in the dark. Seeing the green and purple glow of the aurora generally requires either very good night color vision – which not everyone has – or a very dark night. It helps to get out of town and to resist the urge to check your cell phone.
Cameras don’t work the same way and can capture the lights in all their glory even when it’s not totally dark. Thanks for letting me share their magic with you!
Pastel lights on the shores of Iceland´s largest natural lake. This was at the beginning of a particularly powerful geomagnetic storm; unfortunately, the clouds closed in a few minutes later, hiding it from view. Aurora hunting is not for the easily-frustrated.
On The Road – Christopher Mathews – Iceland – The Lights of Darkness, Part ThreePost + Comments (19)
Shortly after submitting my first batch of aurora photos, I got an email asking if there might be a few more to share. As luck would have it, there are!
Aurora season in Iceland begins in August and runs through May, but the lights tend to be especially vivid around the equinoxes in September and March. Unfortunately, terrestrial weather sometimes clouds the skies and hides the lights from view, so you’re not guaranteed a glimpse of the magic.
Unless you emigrate here, of course. That’s how I did it.
Mount Kirkjufell is perhaps the most photographed mountain in all of Iceland. It appeared as “Arrowhead Mountain” in the HBO series “Game of Thrones” … though not quite like this.
On The Road – Christopher Mathews – Iceland – The Lights of Darkness, Part TwoPost + Comments (18)
Summers in Iceland are wonderful, with mild weather, long daylight hours, and a landscape full of history and wonders. I love the days here.
But I live for the nights.
This is my house, about an hour outside the capital. Apparently, I live in a Christmas card.
On The Road – Christopher Mathews – Iceland – The lights of darknessPost + Comments (50)