Reykjavik Day One, Explore the city and Northern Lights Tour

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Hello Reykjavik, Iceland! I got in this morning about 6:50 am. It was still dark after I had come through customs and met up with my driver Dennis. Dennis gave me a few insightful tidbits on the way to Hotel Fron. (Like throne but with an F.) I first noticed the lack of trees he told me that we were on a young lava field, some 800 years old. They do have trees, it’s just that not much grows in this particular part but moss. He then related a joke, “Do you know what to do if you get lost in an Icelandic forest?” “Nope” I replied. “Stand up.” Evidently there are few trees, but many bushes and grasses. So some good advice to start my trip. We also passed one of Iceland’s five aluminum melting plants. Turns out when you have super heated water in the ground that you can dig holes and turn that water into electricity very cheaply. Just put turbines over the steam to spin them to create electricity and pump the water to town. The water comes out of the ground at 192 degrees Fahrenheit and when it hit’s the tanks in the towns it is 190 degrees. Crazy huh?!

So a little bit of history on Iceland. If you cared enough to read this you probably know me well enough to know that I probably over research every place I go, so I’ll keep this brief. Iceland is a baby in geological terms. The Eurasian and North American tectonic plates are separating about an inch every year. The Earth’s surface in Iceland is about 1/3 of what is normal. Magma rises up from the center of the Earth; there are twenty some active volcanoes. Some are rumbling as I have been here, they are expecting a few of them to blow, Hofsjokull is swollen and has recorded tremors, dozens of these, to between 2.5-2.9 on the Richter scale. This is enough for now. I will be doing tours surrounding this stuff, so good back info to know.

I arrived at Hotel Fron about 8:30, the airport is some 50km or 30 miles from the city. I unpacked, had myself a proper shower, and took a nap. I woke up around 11:00 refreshed and ready to go check out the city. I chose Hotel Fron because of the proximity to everything in Reykjavik, I am in walking distance of everything. I started off by walking the streets making my way to Tjornin. Tjornin is a pond in the center of the city with walking/bike paths around it. I could hear the echoes of swans and geese walking to it. There were ducks, huge geese, swans and a few other birds in the water, a few people were feeding them. I walked around the entire path checking out the sculptures on the southern shore. Actually the whole of Reykjavik is dotted with sculptures and statues.

I then made my way up to the cathedral, Hallgrimskirkja. One can spot this thing from nearly anywhere in the city. The thing is enormous and beautiful, a statue of Leif Eiriksson is outside as if to protect it. I took the 75 meter elevator trip to the top for a great view of the city. Well worth the $8 or so that it cost. After taking a few pictures I headed down the street to see Solfar, the Sun Voyager, sculpture. Solfar is supposed to be the skeleton of a Viking ship. If you appreciate your art a lot on the literal side, you will really enjoy this. By this time I had basically walked around much of the downtown area. I had read that Café Paris is a great place to people watch and grab something small to eat. So that is exactly what I did. I sat for a while and had a pretty basic sandwich and a soda, pretty eclectic group that hung out there. When I was finished I grabbed my back pack and decided to do some shopping, I really hate shopping so I decided to get it out of the way.

So every freaking souvenir shop has this effing puffin bird in it. They are all over the place. On t-shirts, on post cards, key chains, stuffed puffins, everything… even on the menu. Sorry, just had to get that off my chest. There is cool lore about trolls and goblins, and how every one in Iceland still believes in these things, so there are some neat trinkets revolving around that. The have a deep respect for their Viking heritage as well, and you can see it in every shop. Iceland is also famous for her wool, and there are tons of knitted wear one could bring home. After I had finished shopping I went back to the room to drop of my bags, shower and get dressed.

I got ready and went to a small place close for a slice of pizza and a soda. Across the street I saw a full size horse wearing a lampshade on its head. I had to have a photo so went inside, had a beer and got my photo. I then hurried up the street to take a night time photo of the cathedral, because it is dark so often here the Icelanders light their buildings brilliantly. Next I was going on the Northern Lights tour.

I hopped on our little van with a few others from my hotel. A couple from New York, Mark and Tina, as well as their classmate Barb from “Jersey.” We picked up two more couples and headed out to see if we could catch a glimpse at this “Dance of the Spirits.” Our guide, Bob, gave a brief lesson on the lights and our likelihood to see them. The activity on this day were classified as quiet. Most of the sky was cloudy so we headed some 65km or 40 miles to a remote location free of any light pollution that would dim this already weak phenomenon. These lights are caused by solar winds that are continuously emitted from the sun. They are drawn to Earth’s magnetic poles, hence Northern lights. (There is also a southern version.) These ions crash into Earth’s atmospheric molecules and releases energy.

There was low cloud cover for much of the night, about 11:30 a line finally formed and we were able to see a small display of a quiet little arc that was relatively short lived. None the less, I was excited, it was exactly what I had come for. On the way back to town another instance appeared. This one possessed a nice flare that I was able to capture on camera. The way these lights move in the sky and shift and change is just amazing. I didn’t make it home until 2:00 am but it was well worth it. When I arrived back at the hotel it was straight to bed for me I have to get up for my “Extreme” tour of the Golden Circle.

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Photos

Another Statue
South side of Tjornin

Hallgrimskirkja
Cathedral Downtown

Wall
I liked it.

Pussies Beware!
I saw this photo and thought it was suite enough to take a picture of it. (Yes, I use suite instead of sweet. Try it sometime.)

Solfar
The Sun Voyager Sculpture

Viking
When in Rome...

Horse Lamp
Only two of these ever made. Hard to believe. Seems like it would be a pretty strong market. I mean, who doesn't have room for a full size horse lamp?

Hallgrimskirkja
Same Cathedral at night

Northern Lights
They were not real strong so all we got were greens. No reds.