Iceland: Bits and Pieces

          I wish now to hurry on with this Icelandic saga. So far the journey has been one of largish, discrete chunks of experience from the "Blue Lagoon" to the "Northern Lights," "Horse Riding" and "Water Birds." Although the last big event was the Golden Circle tour (still to be posted by Lucy), the rest of our stay seemed to be more like a series of small, but interesting observations. For example:-
1.       Many of the buildings were covered in corrugated iron, and painted. This often gave the impression of buildings made from Royal Icing, a not unpleasant sight.

2.       The lake which I mentioned in my post, "Iceland: Arrival," was about 150 metres deep, 90% of its water being fed from underground sources, and so clear that scuba divers often suffer from vertigo when swimming in the lake.

3.       On two evenings, we dined at the same very pleasant restaurant, good food and wine, finished off with a glass of Schnapps.

4.       On the way to our eating place, we stopped to watch the children enjoying themselves - and some of them were very good indeed.

5.       Under the floor of a local town, hit by an earthquake in the not too distant past, can be seen (not too clearly) the divide between the Eurasian and North American tectonic plates. The divide can be seen more clearly out in the countryside.

The Eurasian Edge

The North American Edge (on the far side of the lake)

6.       At no time did the sun rise very high above the horizon, our daylight time being approximately from 11am-ish to about 4.30pm-ish. During those hours, the sun slipped along just above the horizon. And there was still a week to go to the winter solstice.

7.       We kept well clear of the Rock Trolls but saw no elves, although one knew where their cities were because the road was obliged to go round, not through, them.

8.       In the far distance we saw the volcano that famously erupted in 2010, and

9.       The geyser, close up, that erupts every four minutes or so.

10.     Everyone seemed to be enjoying themselves.......except that we knew that all good things must come to an end.......but not yet!