Sue's Travels

Tuesday, July 26, 2011

Reykjavik, Iceland - 17 July 2011

I got up early and got the luggage out and then went to breakfast. We were scheduled to leave at 8:45 and for the most part we were on time. Elizabeth’s departure was 7:00 am. I’m sure that she is probably home by now and hopefully feeling better.

We arrived at the Hotel Borg. I got my room and put my luggage upstairs. I took my bathing suit and a towel and signed up for the trip to the Blue Lagoon. I enjoyed the trip and the blue lagoon. This is the waste water from the power plant. It felt very comfortable. The temperature was just right. After paddling around for about an hour, I got dressed and joined the couple that I had traveled with. We ate something in the cafeteria and scoped out the souvenir shop. Then we headed back to the hotel. I spent the afternoon wandering around Rekjavik and bought a few more things.

I went to dinner with Jay and Suzie and then came up here. I have to make sure my luggage is ready for early morning movement! My big concern is my wet shoes and bathing suit. I’ll see what the morning brings.

Reykjavik at 11:00 PM from cabin on ship

Blue Lagoon Sign

Walking up path to Blue Lagoon

Blue Lagoon

Blue Lagoon from Cafeteria Window

Reykjavik's answer to Central Park's Strawberry Field

Reykjavik, Iceland - 16 July 2011

We got on the bus at about 8:30 to do a tour of interesting sights outside Reykjavik. Our first stop was Thingvellir National Park. This is where the North American plate collides with the Euro-Asian plate. We could see the wall of rocks on one side, but the other side was frequently covered with vegetation making it impossible to see that rock wall. The first parliament met at this location around 930 CE. It was called the ‘Althing’. I was fascinated by the splitting of Iceland and the first parliament meeting at this location. Iceland had no king or nobility

Gullfoss was our next stop. Gullfoss means Golden Waterfall. A few years ago an attempt was made to install a hydro electric plant at this site. It was fought by a woman, whose name I don’t remember, and she won.

The next stop was at Hotel Geysir for lunch. There was a souvenir shop across the street, but I felt that the prices were unusually high, but I did buy a leather wallet. I will have to decide if I want to keep it or give it away. My next activity was to go over to see the geysers in Geysir! It was a short walk from the road.

The next stop was to see the Kerid pseudo crater. It was quite impressive with the blue water inside.

The final stop of the day was at the Hellisheidi Power Station. This station produces electricity and pipes hot water into Reykjavik which is used to heat the homes. They had two videos playing; one described the geology of Iceland and the other described how the power plant works.

The Captain’s farewell reception was held. Champagne and canapés were served in the ships theatre. I asked the captain why we didn’t circumnavigate Iceland and he said that the east coast was rocky with no harbors and the currents on the east side of Iceland created a choppy sea.

After dinner when I entered my cabin, I found my roommate in bed feeling quite sick. I went out and got one of the tour leaders and explained the situation. I said that I would pack Elizabeth’s suitcase, but I wanted someone to watch me to insure if anything was missing I would not be accused of stealing. We managed to get Elizabeth’s bag packed and then I packed my bags. I then videotaped the city of Reykjavik from my patio. At 11:00 pm, the sun had not yet gone down.

Entrance to Thingvellir National Park

View of Rift valley where the two tectonic plates are pulling apart

Valley View

Walking down rift valley

Note rock wall on left

Rock looks like T-Rex

Looking backwards in Rift Valley

Rift Valley view

Signage

Note baby birds or ducks?

Wall of Rift Valley

Rocks Splitting

Glacier on top of mountain

Gullfoss - Golden waterfall

Lady who prevented hydro-electric plant from being built at waterfall site

Me with waterfall behind

Waterfall

Different view of waterfall

Note people on rocks looking at waterfall

Another view of waterfall

Stopping at Geysir Hotel for lunch

Signage

Geysirs

View of Geysir field

View of area where Geysir goes off approximately every 5 minutes

Geyser goes off about every 5 minutes

View of Geysir area

Little Geyser

Hotel Geysir where we had lunch

Signage describing pseudo crater

Signage

View from road

Inside power plant which uses thermal power to produce electricity

Hellisheidi Power Plant

Monday, July 25, 2011

Heimaey - 15 July 2011

We sailed through the night and arrived in Heimaey around noon. Professor Donoghue spoke on Icelandic history and the influence of the Scandinavian languages on English. I also attended a lecture on the German Scientist who proposed the idea of what he called continental drift. The speaker was connected to the other tour group on board.

After lunch we went on the buses that took us on a tour of the island. It was interesting. We stopped at the airport for a bio-break. The big topic was the 1973 volcanic eruption. Since the day before the weather was very bad, the entire fishing fleet was in the harbor. They managed to evacuate all 5,300 residents as well as their livestock. They took action to change the course of the lava so that the main part of the town and the harbor were not destroyed.

About one third of the population of Iceland is descended from Irish slaves brought into the country by the Viking raiders.

My roommate, Elizabeth Bogen, worked for Department of City Planning before I arrived on the scene. She knew George Minicucci.