‘Battered’
courtesy of ‘Samer Farha’

With Icelandair starting service out of Dulles tomorrow night, and having just returned from Iceland, I thought it would be a good excuse to show off some of my photos and convince you that you should book a nice long weekend in Reykjavik.

It’s really not the hard to convince people, especially after telling them it isn’t that cold. It is beautiful though, and has kept me entertained and coming back for over ten years now. It doesn’t hurt that because of their economic problems, Iceland has become much more affordable than a few years ago.

The lighthouse above is over a hundred years old, and disused, but oh, so photogenic.

‘Footsteps in the Valley of the Gods’
courtesy of ‘Samer Farha’

This is one of the spots where the earth is splitting apart. The North American and Eurasian plates are growing apart, and these walls are the edges. At any moment, the earth could have rumbled and swallowed us up, despite my friendly geologist insisting the odds were “slim.”

‘More Steam and Clouds’
courtesy of ‘Samer Farha’

Iceland gets much of its power from geothermal. They drill into the crust of the earth until they hit super heated water, and use that to drive steam turbines and generate electricity. This site is part of the Iceland Deep Drilling Project.

‘Rocky Blue’
courtesy of ‘Samer Farha’

The darkest sands and cliffs to the bluest skies and the most intense crashing waves of the North Atlantic.

‘Steam Rising’
courtesy of ‘Samer Farha’

The Blue Lagoon started off life as a waste water pool for a geothermal power plant. They dumped the still hot but not hot enough water into this pool hoping it would eventually filter through the lava rocks and back into the water table. But the silica and other minerals clogged up the holes in the rocks and created a hot pool like no other. There’s just about nothing more relaxing than spending five hours soaking in it while it snows.

‘Hallgrímskirkja’
courtesy of ‘Samer Farha’

Hallgrímskirkja is the largest cathedral on the island, and another example of the great architecture here.

‘Looking Out the Front’
courtesy of ‘Samer Farha’

And this is the view from the clock tower.

‘Path to History’
courtesy of ‘Samer Farha’

This is the site of Iceland’s original parliament, started here in the year 930. People came from across the country for two weeks in the summer and would meet here to listen to the lawspeaker.

‘Strokkur Geysering IV’
courtesy of ‘Samer Farha’

Iceland’s Geysir gave us the word “geyser”, and while it still goes off about once a day, it’s neighbor Strokkur goes off every few minutes. It is spectacular.

‘Might As Well’
courtesy of ‘Samer Farha’

Gullfoss is a spectacular waterfall, and you can get right up to the edge of it.

‘Over View’
courtesy of ‘Samer Farha’

Gullfoss, from above.

‘Mount Esja’
courtesy of ‘Samer Farha’

Mount Esja, looking a bit threatening.

‘Light Play’
courtesy of ‘Samer Farha’

And less threatening here.

‘Snow Storm’
courtesy of ‘Samer Farha’

A pop-up snow storm in the middle of Reykjavik’s harbor.

‘Strut’
courtesy of ‘Samer Farha’

There’s a pond in Reykjavik that’s kept warm by a small stream of hot water. Birds from all over the world stop off here to rest on their migration.

‘Walking Away’
courtesy of ‘Samer Farha’

And this is how I feel every time I leave Iceland.