Summer 2004: Iceland, Sweden, Finland, Russia, Germany
Iceland
First stop on the trip was a 24 hour layover in Iceland, courtesy of Iceland Air. Kind of
a crappy airline, but the free day trip to Reykjavik is a nice little bonus. The first
stop on our guided tour (one day isn't enough time to be independent) was The Blue Lagoon,
a geothermal hot springs spa. Kind of touristy, but after the overnight flight it was
really nice to bathe.
The rest of the tour focused on Iceland's interesting geological features:
Geysers (the word geyser comes from the name of a particular geyser in Iceland)
Our guide told us that Bjork once had a concert on a floating stage in this crater lake.
Little fjords
Iceland spans two continental plates that are slowly spreading apart. This is the
continental divide (see how much higher the land to the left is).
It was cold and windy and rainy most of the day, but with some brief sunny moments thrown
in. Bad for my disposition, good for rainbows.
We didn't spend much time in Reykjavik--by the time the tour was over we were so tired we
pretty much crashed right after dinner. It's a really cute town--here's one view.
