Iceland

You know you're in for a real treat of a weekend, when you arrive late, and wake up to this:

Iceland is a place that I wouldn't typically chose to go. I mean, not a lot going on there, right? But it is a place on Earth like nothing I've ever seen before, and it was all waterfalls and rainbows. Seriously!

First off, there are many lava fields, which kinda makes you imagine that you are on the moon.

The houses, though, couldn't be cuter! They are so brightly colored, and they have corrugated tin on the outside. An odd choice, I think, but the colors really make the countryside pop. And, as a tour guide kept reminding us, they are built to withstand earthquakes with a magnitude greater than 6.5 (or something). Clearly repetition helps you remember things...

The first day, first stop: The Blue Lagoon. It was amazing--the striking electric blue water against the black lava fields. STUNNING!!! The water was a warm 104 degrees, but the air was about 32 degrees. Sounds like perfect weather for a bathing suit!

And, of course, there's silica, or a mud mask, to put on. It was very nice--worked wonders on my skin.

The next day, I took a tour of the south shore, and one of the first things we saw were the lava fields. But not just any lava fields, this particular rift is where the North American and European continental plates are pulling apart. So literally, I was on 2 continents at the same time!

But the beautiful black sand beaches were amazing. Even with the sunshine, it was still too cold to dip a toe in the water.

When you look up to the mountains, you see glaciers. The colors were so striking--the pictures don't do them justice AT ALL.

And then we saw our first waterfall. With a rainbow. This waterfall is named Skogarfoss.

After that, we went to a kitschy south Iceland museum, that was full of items from the old way of living. Interesting.

All around, mountains and glaciers.

Black sand beaches.

On this particular beach, there were vertical lava formations. I think that I might have been able to see something similar at Giant's Causeway in Ireland, if it weren't for the FOOSH!

At one point, we drove right up to a glacier, and walked on the edges just slightly.

To end our perfect day, the Seljalandsfoss waterfall. It was the perfect day for this waterfall, and the perfect time of day. The rainbow was just perfect, and at the picture point, you were actually standing inside the full circle of the rainbow! It was magical! I kept hoping to see a fairy or gnome or unicorn or something.

The next day was not as sunny, and we were at higher altitudes. So, it was much colder. But, we began at the Thingvellir National Park, which is the site of the Great Atlantic Rift and the original site of the world's oldest Parliament.

The most famous waterfalls in Iceland are the Gullfoss falls. It was of course quite cold still, so you can see the ice forming on the rocks.

After the cold, cold Gullfoss falls, we went to the geothermal fields, Geysir. Its the original geyser, from which the English word was taken.

Yes, it was cold, cold, COLD. Sooo cold that I had to buy more layers while out.

The resting geyser...

The exploding geyser...

And, a time lapse video of the whole explosion.

Then, we saw a geothermal power plant that is used both to create electricity and hot water for heating.

Becca, they even have roosters in Iceland!

And finally, a video montage of all the wonderful water features. I really enjoyed my time in Iceland, and would love to return someday!