First stop - Iceland

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We’re doing it!! We left Seattle with four suitcases, each just under the 50-pound limit, plus our carry-ons. We’re down to 68 pounds, but I need to clean out some more.

We got a one-way ticket to Switzerland, with a stop in Reykjavik. Brrr!!!!! It was about 28 degrees fahrenheit, in the day time. Coming from Seattle, where it was about 70 and t-shirt weather, was a quick reminder of what winter is like in other places. Luckily we still had our fleece jackets among our 200 pounds of luggage, and I bought a nice pair of hand-woven wool gloves; perfect souvenir.

We took a tour to see the Northern Lights. It’s all about timing, though. For the lights to be active, the sun has to do what it does to set them off (not the right scientific terminology, but that’s what it comes down to). We had a clear sky, but also a full moon, which brightened up the sky and made it harder to see any Lights, and the sun wasn’t doing what it needed to do. On a scale of 0-9, our two nights standing in the bitter cold for about three hours each night, it was a 0 or 1 (quiet). We saw what looked light a green cloud; that was it. We got some nice hot chocolate, though. A few days after we left, the scale reached 7 - Active. We need to go back and try again.

We also took a day trip to see some of Iceland’s highlights. Iceland is supposed to be a great area for hiking, but not in November. We saw where the North American and European plates come together, then went to a partially-frozen waterfall. COLD!!! 28 degrees again, before the wind chill factor. I, who take tons of pictures, could only take a few. Pete took these photos. The final stop of the day was the Secret Lagoon. HEAVEN!!! You walk from the changing rooms into natural hot springs, and just soak in the mineral water (about 100 degrees), with steam rising up, all around you. What a way to end the day!

And then on to Switzerland ...

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Comments

[D MJ Binkley]

Just discovered your blogs
We love Iceland and Switzerland so we will read along.