We started our day in Reykjavik with breakfast at Cafe Laundromat, after which Gina and i took a walk to see the water view west, including stops at a bookstore, an outerwear store, and Iceland's #1 flea market
Emily, David, and Tom leaving Hotel Oðinsve |
wall art in Reykjavik |
a street corner in Reykjavik (check out the classy metal gambrel roof) |
a building in Reykjavik |
Emily and Joe in front of maps at the Laundromat Cafe |
Bill and Tom at the Laundromat Cafe |
Gina disapproves of the bookshelf at the Laundromat Cafe, which is sorted by color |
hot chocolate |
cappuccino |
a bike rack disguised as a car, badly |
speculative fiction in translation at a bookstore |
speculative fiction not in translation |
after breakfast, Gina and i went for a walk towards the Reykjavik harbor area |
Harpa Concert Hall |
an area by the water where people have made rock towers |
clouds over Engey Island across the water |
more view across the water |
closer view of the concert hall |
sailboats in the harbor |
buildings across the harbor |
description of the 1913 construction of the harbor |
...with accompanying train cab |
an outdoor display about Icelandic fish |
more Icelandic fish: Bean's bigscale |
more Icelandic fish: Sloan's viperfish |
more Icelandic fish: Atlantic footballfish |
Iceland's #1 flea market is open! |
i did in fact buy a jar of souvenir coins |
we did not buy any books for 300 kroner, but we could have |
'lokað' means 'closed', but also i like the low clouds over the mountains behind these coast guard boats |
skate park in the harbor area |
street in the harbor area |
a graffiti wall |
more decorative bike racks |
mural wall of a girl with a goose |
looking north from the west edge of the harbor |
looking west from the west edge of the harbor |
Grótta Island Lighthouse across the water |
running along the Rainbow Road back to Hallgrímskirkja to meet our van |
In the afternoon, we took a van tour to Fagradsfjall, the volcano which erupted in early spring 2021. It was the rainiest day of our trip, so we didn't get a lot of long-distance photographs. On the other hand, lava is very cool. See below for many many photos of lava. When we got back from the volcano tour, we went to Apotek in Reykjavik for Emily's birthday dinner.
Bill and Scott in the van to Fagradsfjall |
concert hall and port seen from the van |
off to Fagradsfjall in the rain |
a bike path in Reykjavik |
in case of emergency, deploy this tiny red hammer |
the town of Kópavogur, seen from the van |
volcanic landscape, seen from the van |
volcanic landscape, seen from the van |
it was very rainy |
wall art at our rest stop |
our van to Fagradsfjall |
mountains and fog en route to Fagradsfjall |
landscape near Fagradsfjall |
We're here! Milling around outside the van |
foggy volcano parking lot |
off we go up the hill |
We're not actually climbing Fagradsfjall, but rather the nearby peak where the monitoring station is |
Joe, Emily, and Sarah, climbing |
Dana and Scott, climbing |
Gina and Bill, climbing |
Bill, looking back from the climb |
first view down to the lava field, in the fog |
many people climbing in the fog |
also it's windy; Gina and Bill demonstrate |
Gina climbs off into the mist |
an impressive view of the drop to the valley below, which you can't see at all |
Gina, Scott, and Bill, in the rain |
craggy rocks, plus more nothing |
more cool rocks |
Gina, heading towards the mist again |
a hilltop conversation |
Gina, surveying the mist |
the group, surveying the mist |
Emily, observing large rocks on the climb |
a meeting in the mist |
more large rocks |
we reach the observation station |
lots of people put stickers on the observation station |
we continue to see nothing from our vantage point at the observation station |
Emily and Joe, in front of the abyss |
Scott, in front of the observation station |
if you watched the livestream of Fagradsfjall erupting, this is the gadget that was capturing that stream |
these solar panels have had more effective days |
the group climbs down into the abyss |
our first sight, such as it is, of lava |
Gina, in her element, picking up lava |
lava field |
a pointy piece of lava |
lava field with lots of swirly bits |
Gina and Chaos in front of the lava field |
a small round piece of lava |
a compact piece of lava |
multilayered section of lava field |
lava field closeup: not a bone |
lava field closeup: not a sponge |
lava field closeup: not a broken table |
Gina, about to investigate the lava field |
Gina, about to jump into the lava field |
Emily shows off a piece of lava |
this is definitely a piece of lava that we found |
a salt-crust-looking lava formation |
lava field |
walking on a path between the lava field and some green scrubby plants |
close-up of wave-like lava formation |
cracks in the lava field |
patterns and color gradations in the lava field |
lava blobs at the edge of the field |
another wide lava field view |
Scott on the path |
Gina in the fog |
Gina and Scott at the edge of a tall lava field |
swirly lava |
rectangular lava piece |
green hillside next to the lava |
Scott on the path |
dark lava field with hills behind it |
sponge-looking piece of lava |
objects viewed through lava are closer than they appear |
there's just so much lava |
the group standing behind a lava field |
edge of the lava field |
Gina at the edge of the lava field |
the group assembling |
Scott and Gina, distracted by a lava field |
the group walks off into the mist |
do not stand on lava, though |
multicolored lava and rocks |
a rock in the lava field |
Gina carrying lava again |
more fog... but wait! |
another giant lava field appears in the fog |
Scott, on the hilltop overlooking more lava |
the group starts off down a somewhat harrowing path |
edge of lava field |
Scott and Gina face the climb down |
the group, mid-climb |
it's foggy and steamy and lava-y down there |
the group, on a vast rocky hillside |
more rocky hillside |
lava in the valley |
view down the valley |
Scott, on the climb down to the valley |
Sarah, on the climb down to the valley |
lava valley, with mountains visible in the fog |
more lava valley floor |
yet more lava formations |
more view across the valley |
Scott at the edge of another lava field |
the group heads out down the valley |
close-up across the valley |
hillside |
Gina in front of another lava field |
the road out |
one last rock surrounded by lava |
the road behind us |
back to the parking lot! |
a smoky drink at Apotek |
trio of vegetarian dips, and some not-vegetarian fish, at Apotek |
duck at Apotek |
dish at Apotek |
fish dish at Apotek |
dessert wine flight at Apotek |
d20 mousse at Apotek |