Kids having fun in Akureyri

Mid-summer festival where folks who have been under snow for 7 months of the year and in almost permanent darkness get to go out and have fun! With short summer nights lasting only three hours, the party goes on until the next day! These kids are sealed in to clear plastic balloons and try to move around in a pool with hilarious results. I'm not sure what the oxygen supply timeline is but they get pulled back in after 5 minutes and a new occupant is loaded along with a long blast of air from the inflator pump.

One of the best fish soups!

Still searching for the ultimate fish soup at Strikid in Akureyri! Fruity and light with mussels and langoustines!

Elevator selfie

Could not resist the elevator mirror and two stools for the ladies to perch on! Margaret and Houston look delighted after a splendid dinner while Frank and Ben are doubtful ! Splendid dining at the Strikid restaurant in Akureyri - it boasts a wonderful outside dining terrace, but I can't imagine any suitable weather conditions enabling that option unless you are going for soup in your furs.

Godafoss waterfall

We went to Godafoss three times because it was on the way to wherever we were going and we could not resist stopping every time we went by that road! Also a good stop for an espresso coffee one hour out from Akureyri! Named because the Icelandic chieftain converted to Christianity and threw all the pagan Norse idols into the foaming waters! Multiple falls as the waters part and have their own separate thunderous displays!

Trolls abound...

Check out the Wilding area in Game of Thrones and you will find some strange characters who come out in mid winter and hide out in the rocks! An amazing landscape of rock piles which looks like giants have been digging everywhere searching for buried treasure...

Steamed

High pressure and very hot live steam directly from the geo thermal area under Lake Myvaten in northern Iceland! You are no longer on earth - that's the first impression after you alight from your vehicle and wander through the strange landscape of boiling mud craters, steaming fumaroles, wafting H2S and sulphur laden clouds, high pressure steam vents and blue water lakes uneasily shifting with water modulation from deep below the surface! Erie! Smelly! Totally strange and fascinating to see the manifestation of the earth's geo thermal strength in a pacified and approachable environment! This area was used in the Game of Thrones season 3 to simulate a snow blizzard!

Icelandic Hot House!

High tech houses in the Arctic Circle are heated by underground low cost geo-thermal hot water utilities just like any other water, electricity or internet cable utility. Once inside the house the 90 degree Celsius water flows through a heat exchanger and distributes heat throughout radiators or under floor heating loops. Looks complex, but it's quiet, controllable, low operating costs and creates a comfortable living space in a harsh environment.

Extinct volcano

Flying east over central Iceland, we pass over an ancient crater that has a rocky ridge in the caldera along with several turquoise pools of warmer water in the ice captured in the old volcano crater which still has some geothermal activity.

Welcome to Hrimland

Our house in Akureyri almost on the Arctic Circle is very cozy and scenic! Overlooking the fiord and green fields, it is a haven of peace and serenity!

Skip the dessert!

Highly enjoyable dessert course on the hoof provides an alternative to the restaurant option and allows us to explore Reykjavik well into the night! I recommend the pistachio from Paradis on Frakkastigur Street as we amble up to the Hallgrimskirkja "spaceship style" church at the top of the hill overlooking downtown!

Lunch time choir interlude

Dash up the hill to the Hallgrimskirkja church high above downtown Reykjavik and catch the weekly noon performance of the local choir group...

Midnight sun

The best day of the summer in Reykjavik with a high of 64 degrees ended with a magnificent sunset around 11:20 pm and it stayed light well past midnight! And it was light again around 3:00 am, basically never got dark! Folks hung out around the Solar Voyager ship sculpture on the harbor and most visitors were kind enough to move off the sculpture when eager photographers wanted a clean scene!

Center forward for Iceland soccer!

Could not resist my star role as center forward on the victorious Icelandic team that beat England in the recent Euro cup! Ooops this is not for publication in Great Britain....!

Lobster soup

Icelandic version of soupe de poisson is lighter and much more fruity than the Brittany version with several langoustines floating in the broth. Definitely a delicacy rather than the spicy rouille French recipe I grew up with. This was at the Fishmarket restaurant - another highlight of the Reykjavik culinary scene. Dining out in Reykjavik can be an expensive proposition, but we have no regrets tasting the best in town as we prepare to leave for Akureyri up North on the arctic circle!

Beautiful Harpa

The local theatre and opera house on the Reykjavik waterfront. The architect had fun with shape and light! We went there for a show called the Icelandic Sagas - a condensed form of Icelandic history from around 1000 ad till present. A man and woman in Nordic attire entertained us with stories of killings, more killings and even more killings - a very brutal and ferocious history!

The Reykjavik Pearl

Had a treat today with Stephan our guide who picked us up bright and early and took us around town in his bus while explaining the life of Icelanders and how the season only lasts for three months... the Pearl is a water tower with a glass dome which serves as cafe and restaurant, with an art gallery below. Here we are sitting on several million gallons of very hot water being fed throughout Reykjavik and keeping homes warm and toasty all year around - they need to - summer temperature highs are around high 40's to high 50's.

Local lamb

First evening in Reykjavik - what a delight! Resto - that's the name of the restaurant - serves up fresh local Icelandic products to delight any palate, rare lamb in a wine reduction and roast veggies... just what's needed to restore the soul after two long days and one very short night in the air getting here! Sun sets after 11 pm, but it never really gets dark!

Welcome to Iceland

After several thousand miles over the North Atlantic ocean, as we approach Keflavik airport, we fly over some artistic agricultural workings! This needs more research to understand the meaning! .... after much consultation we decided it was a whale, mouth and eye in the lower section and tail in the upper section with the middle being underwater...