Tuesday 9 September

Beautiful Prague.... On a sunny afternoon, we just wandered, a little tired but happy to be here.

Monday 8 September

For several weeks now we have been thinking that the volcano in Iceland might disrupt our travel plans, but no, it was a bomb scare. We arrived in Luton London at 2.10 pm only to be told we could not leave the plane as the airport had been evacuated due to a suspicious package having been found by security. This photo is taken from the plane, no movement on the tarmac. Five hours later we left the aircraft having missed our connecting flight to Prague from Stansted. 

We weren't the only ones , the airport was in chaos. We went to the bar, had a beer and wine, Pete took out his phone and we booked tickets on the first available flight  to Prague which was from Gatwick the next morning at 8.50 am. We then caught the bus then train to Gatwick. 

Thank goodness I had an excellent book to read....thanks Jeremy, you always give me a good book x

Sunday 7 September

Hallgrimskirkja, the largest church in Iceland, can be seen from almost anywhere in Reykjavik . It took 40 years to build and resembles a volcanic formation.

Inside the church is just beautiful , very simple and unadorned....very Icelandic.

The view of Reykjavik  from the tower was sensational, even on a rainy day such as today. It really is such a pretty capital.

The view from our hotel room window.

Harpa, the Reykjavik concert hall and conference centre...home of the Iceland Symphony Ochestra and Icelandic Opera ...quite an amazing structure on the waterfront.

I took this photo as we were walking around the lake in the centre of the city.  Despite the rain we did manage to see much of Reykjavik . We are very sad to be leaving tomorrow, we have so enjoyed our time in this extraordinary country.

Saturday 6 September

Today we went walking around Reykjavik. The sky was grey all day so I didn't take too many photos hoping for better weather tomorrow so I can photo all the brightly coloured buildings and lovely lake in the centre of the city. We did however go shopping! There are woollen products for sale everywhere, this photo was taken outside the second hand shop...they looked so pretty.

Look what I bought!  All their jumpers are quite expensive, everything is quite expensive in Iceland, yes even more expensive than Perth. However, knitting wool and patterns are about half the price, so I thought I would knit myself a jumper. 

Our morning stop for coffee....in one of the bookstores in Reykjavik.  Within all their bookstores are coffee shops, and they seem to have many book stores, not surprisingly.  Also, I have enjoyed the coffee here in Iceland, it is just how I like it!

One of the delightful houses in Reykjavik. Whilst staying in the country we noticed that all the farmhouses leave a light on outside all day and night, and here we noticed last night that the houses in the city often had the light or even candles burning outside. After an absolutely fabulous meal at a quirky little restaurant that Pete found on Trip Advisor, we walked home , enjoying peeking into the houses and restaurants.

Friday 5 September

Our view from our window this morning, we are staying in a lodge on a working farm just out of Hvammerstangi in the west of Iceland. We have been so lucky to have wonderful views in every room in which we have stayed. 

I went horse riding today...on a gorgeous Icelandic horse, whose name I couldn't even pronounce let alone spell. I loved it, had such a good time, I even learnt how to trot . 

Here we are at Reykjavik's most popular attraction...the Blue Lagoon...a geothermal pool. It was 10 degrees, windy and rainy but a warm 38 degrees in the pool. The white paste on our face is a mixture of silica and various minerals which come from the water, they say it is good for the skin. 

And as if it isn't fun enough just lolling round in this relaxing warm pool, they also have a bar where you can purchase drinks ! (We are in the queue). You leave feeling very calm and thoroughly relaxed.

Thursday 4 September

What a sensational day we had today....we had to start making our way back to Reykjavik...the weather was just perfect, so sunny and still....we stopped at many places on the way to our overnight stopover at Hvammerstangi...and I took so many photos, everything looked so beautiful. This shot of me, Pete took, behind me is Lake Myvatn, looking so magical, we are sad to leave this truly wonderful place.

Clouds....they are just magnificent in Iceland. The conditions were ideal to capture some delightful reflections.

Svalbaroseyri....a little town on the Eyjafjordur (fiord)... And this is the view up the fiord from it's little lighthouse which Pete and I climbed.

I finally managed to get a photo of the beautiful Icelandic horses , well, one that I am happy with. These are two stallions having a little tussle , they scared the living daylights out if Pete and I.

We travelled round the Vatnsnes Peninsula in the late afternoon, I took this near the town of Osar...it is such a serene, peaceful place, Pete and I loved it.

I just had to post this photo, the sheep have been a constant source of delight. They are often by the road , sometimes lying on the side of the road as they obviously like the warmth of the bitumen. They are however , clever enough to get out of the way, so we often see their wiggling little rear ends running away....they are so cute.

Wednesday 3 September

More amazing sights to see today as we visited the geothermal area around Myvatn. This above is a relatively new crater lake called Viti (hell) which was formed in 1724... We walked around the rim.. See the tiny people on the right hand side....there were no barriers!

Then , close by there is Leirhnjukur, a black compelling lava field which was the result of the eruption of Krafta in the 1700s and then again  in the 9 years between 1975 and 1984. Pete and I found this area really interesting, the fact that it happened so recently. The above photo shows how the lava just flowed like water and the higher areas of ground were not affected, the contrast in colour was astonishing.

Pete took this photo of me in the most recent lava field, it covers 35 sq kilometres ...there was a lot of steam escaping and the ground was often warm to touch. The lava itself is a very porous rock that doesn't weigh much....really incredible experience.

Our next stop was Hverir, a large field of solfataras, evil smelling mud pools. These were pretty interesting but one of the books we had said to climb the adjacent hill, Namafjall, for splendid views over the area. Well, this was not an easy climb, in fact , probably the scariest I have ever tried....it was so steep and the ground so slippery, I ended up almost crawling up as my boots couldn't seem to grip the surface. We made it thought and the views were stunning. We can see why they brought astronauts to this area to prepare them for lunar landings...the whole area is so desolate.

We went right to the top.

We spent a more leisurely afternoon at the Myvatn Naturebath...beautiful pools of geothermal water...all  very natural, there are rocks and stones under foot and views out to Lake Myvatn. 

Before dinner we went for a stroll over to the church and church yard just next door to our hotel. You can't see the new church in the photo but behind Pete are the remains of the old church and over the lovely old wall that is in front of Pete you can see the lava that came right up to the church's door in the 1720s and then stopped!