Volcanic mud pits, Iceland

The connection here at the airport is very fast, so here's one of my videos. This is a short clip that I took at the volcanic mud pit near Myvatn, Iceland. The name of this area is Námafjall. The whole area smelled sulfurous, and the ground is cracked all over, with some places venting sulfurous steam, and others actually fissures filled with boiling mud. It's an amazing place.

Farewell, England!

Well, I'm blogging this from the Heathrow airport. Today we disembarked the ship and took a quick tour to see Stonehenge (picture below), before heading to the airport. The tour was fast, but very nice - we passed through some lovely little towns full of quaint buildings, and saw some very nice countryside, as well as the imposing monument of Stonehenge itself.

This will be my last post while we're actually away, but if you're curious, keep checking this space, because in the next couple of days I'll upload a couple of videos that were too large to do on the ship's slow connection, including a video of bubbling mud pits, and another of an erupting geyser.

Belfast, the Giant's Causeway and the Antrim Coast

Yesterday the weather gods decided they'd given us enough good weather. We arrived in Belfast to a cold rain and wind. Our tour took us to the Giant's Causeway, about an hour's bus ride away. The causeway is a structure of thousands of basalt columns stretching out from the shore. There's a scientific explanation for its existence, but we prefer the Irish legend. As the story goes the giant Finn McCool lived in this place with his wife Oonagh and child Ossian. He heard of a giant named Bennandonner in Scotland that he decided he wanted to meet. Finn built the causeway from stone so that he could cross the sea to meet his rival without getting his feet wet and because there were no boats large enough for a giant. Without going into the whole story, Finn later destroyed the Scottish end of the causeway so that his rival couldn't come over to Ireland to attack him.

When we arrived at the place, the rain did stop for a few minutes and we were able to go down to the shore to see the columns and they were quite amazing. After a nice lunch, we rode through torrents of rain along the coast and had a view of the ruins of Dunluce Castle and the limestone and flint cliffs. The countryside looked beautiful despite the rain and we could certainly see why Ireland is called the Emerald Isle.

Today we're cruising down the Irish Sea and eventually around Land's End enroute to Southampton and the end of our journey. We've opted to take the trip to Stonehenge on our way to Heathrow so we do have one more place of interest to see.

Gullfoss - the Golden Waterfall

One of our stops on our tour from Reykjavik took us to the Golden Waterfall. It was impressive, both visually and audibly. The waterfall is fed by a glacier in the nearby mountains that is part of the largest ice shield in Europe.

The ride around the southwestern part of Iceland was very interesting. As we traveled across a mountain ridge we alternated between lush grass and farmlands and desert-like scenery. Iceland's territory is nearly 40% desert as a result of deforestation by the early settlers. Once the trees were removed for timber, charcoal, and by the livestock eating new growth, the land has eroded and become very barren. A major effort is now being made to reforest the country.

As we drove along we passed through several major lava fields, one of which dated to 1000AD so it was relatively new. In those areas we saw many steam vents, evidence of the volcanic activity close to the surface.

Our trip ended with a quick drive through Reykjavik. The city is impressive for one with only 300,000 population. The old part of the city is quite charming with a lovely park and lots of flowers and statues. There is a lot of new construction going on and there were signs proclaiming the offices of many multinational businesses.

As we sailed away we passed through a little rain squall and once we'd gone through it we saw another rainbow. It wasn't as dramatic as the one we saw the other day but perhaps a good omen for weather for the remainder of our cruise.

Southwest Iceland

Yesterday was a lovely day in Reykjavik, Iceland. There's too much to describe here in a quick post, but here are pictures of two highlights. The top picture is Strokkur geyser. It's in the same geyser field as Geysir, after which all other geysers take their names. Geysir doesn't erupt anymore, but Strokkur erupts every 5 minutes or so. Even after standing there and watching a couple eruptions, even when you expect that it's going to happen, the sudden rush of water is startling.

The bottom picture is from Þingvellir national park. There's a striking rock wall, alongside of which the medieval Icelandic political assembly met. Þingvellir is situated in one of the places where the American and Eurasian plates meet, which accounts for its interesting geography. As our guide demonstrated, the rocky cliffs made for excellent acoustics, which made this a great choice for an assembly location.

Along the way to the boiling mud pits ofNamaskaro, we passed one of Iceland's other unique geological features. This is the only place where the European and North American plates rise above the sea floor. The picture above shows the North American plate on the left and the European on the right. Unlike other plate convergences where the plates are pushing against each other, here in Iceland the plates are actually moving apart so the country is growing. Geologists have evidently figured this out by dating rocks. The oldest have been found at the extreme east and west shores of the island. The land around the cleft and near the mudpits is some of the newest to be found.

Akureyri, Iceland

On our first day in Iceland, we docked in Akureyri, a fairly big city on the north coast. We just came back from our tour, which took us to several interesting natural sites. Most of the tour was spent around Myvatn, a lake about 1 1/2 hours away from Akureyri. Myvatn had an amazing variety of landscapes and features surrounding it - the lake itself is a habitat for waterfowl, which come there to eat the many, many midges that breed in the still waters. Around it, though, are different types of volcanic formations. Our first stop was at an area with sulphurous mud pits and vents, which you can see in the top picture. It smelled terrible, but was fascinating to watch! I made a small movie of a bubbling mud pit which is too big to upload while on the ship, but I'll put it up when we get home. We then also stopped at some lava tube formations, and an area with a number of "pseudo-craters," which are crater-shaped volcanic formations that do not actually have lava coming out of them.

After Myvatn, we stopped at Goðafuss, an impressive waterfall. The name means "god falls," and supposedly they are so named because it's said that here Thorgeir the Lawspeaker, a chieftain in the year 1000, contemplated his decision to rule that Iceland should convert to Christianity. The falls and river are in a gorge that you can't see too well from the road, so it's pretty impressive to be in a fairly flat valley floor, then suddenly come upon this wide, thundering waterfall.

Ålesund, Norway

Yesterday we were in Ålesund, which is the fourth largest metropolitan area in Norway. Our tour took us to two of the seven islands that comprise the Ålesund area. The first, Giske, had a small but interesting 13th century church, and is the birthplace of Rollo, the Viking who settled in Normandy and became an ancestor of William the Conqueror. The second, Godöy, was a pristine and picturesque little fishing village, where we visted a lighthouse with a great view of the surrounding coast. In a break from the previous days, we had a snack of delicious cake rather than waffles.

The two pictures I'm including here come from both islands. The top is the Godöy lighthouse, and the bottom is a view of a dilapidated shed full of fishing equipment that stuck out to me as interesting looking.

Norwegian Llama

Our internet access has been spotty for the past couple of days, hence the paucity of posts. Two days ago we were in beautiful Geiranger, Norway, a tiny town of 250 that gets over 600,000 visitors every year. My mother took a tour up to a local peak, Mt. Dalsnibba (see the post below), and I took a hike up to a spectacular waterfall high up in the hills surrounding the fjord. The hiking path actually emerged onto an outcropping right on top of the waterfall, and then there was a tiny, rocky path heading down the edge of the outcropping to a ledge directly behind the falls. The hike was difficult, and the climb down behind the waterfall was slippery and a little scary, but it was quite impressive once you were there, in this moist grotto, with tons of water thundering down in front of you and a view of a spectacular gorge below.

The picture to the left is from an old farm that we visited on our hike. Now, like most farms in these fjord ports, they also cater to visitors, but they still do have a bunch of animals, including a herd of goats and some llamas. I like this picture, because you can see the landscape in the background, and a traditional Norwegian turf-roofed hut, juxtaposed with the rather incongruous llama.

Vardts

August 10 - Today we were in beautiful Geiranger, at the head of the fjord that's pictured at the beginning of our blog. We went our separate ways, Katie hiking to a waterfall, and I to Mt. Dalsnippa. The mountain towers above the fjord to a height of about one mile. The ride to the summit is a nail-biter as it travels through nearly twenty 180 degree turns with straight drops down. The views made the trip worthwhile as we saw the surrounding peaks, the Blue Glacier, and, from the summit, the Geiranger Fjord. At the top there were hundreds of these small piles of stone. Our guide, Leonardo from Naples, explained the Norwegian tradition of building vardts as the little cairns are called. Norwegians believe that if you build a vardt in a place, you will return there one day.

- Written by Ann

Fjord Rainbow

About an hour after we left Olden this afternoon, we were sailing through Nordfjord, and a few moments of mist produced an absolutely perfect rainbow. There were two rainbows atop each other, and each stretched all the way from one side of the fjord to the other, like a gateway behind the ship. The inner rainbow glowed brighter than any colors I've seen in nature before. It was a truly magical moment. The picture at right doesn't really do it justice, since it was far too large to capture with my camera, but you can get an idea of how vibrant it was.

Sailing from Olden

This evening as we sailed in the Nordfjord from Olden we sat on our veranda all the way aft and enjoyed the magnificent scenery. It became a little misty and all of a sudden there was a beautiful rainbow directly off our stern. We could see both ends going down to the water - in fact, you could see the reflection in the blue water. Then the rainbow became a double rainbow with the outer one not quite so intense. We took some pictures and hopefully one will come out well enough that Katie may post it here. It was truly a beautiful sight! I hope the rainbows were an omen of continuing wonderful weather as we have had so far.

Today we took a tour out of Olden, Norway, to Kjenndal Glacier and then on a boat ride down the length of Lovatn Lake. To the left is a picture taken at the Lovatn dock outside the little restaurant where we had tea and waffles; you can see the brilliant blue of the water, colored by stone and soil ground up by the glacier. On our hike up to the face of the glacier, the water bubbling through the rocky streambed looked so clean and pure that I couldn't help drinking some of it.

On the boat ride, our captain was a retired farmer who had lived his whole life by the lake. He told us a bit about what it was like to live in this fairly remote place, and sang a Norwegian folk song extolling the beauty of this region. He pointed out the various peaks surrounding the lake, and said he had been to the top of every one of them, then he said that he loved being up there because "then you feel that the world is only for you."

Tomorrow we are in Geiranger Fjord, and I am taking a hike up some cliffs to a waterfall, so I look forward to perhaps feeling the farmer-captain's sentiment.

I'll leave you with a photo from the small town of Olden itself, of some prettily-painted mailboxes which give you a sense of the Norwegian decorative aesthetic.

Bergen vista

Here's the view from the top of the funicular we took today in Bergen. Just behind and above the rail station was a bench with a sweeping view of the harbor, and that's where I took this. You can see the gorgeous weather here. If it were bigger - our internet connection is too slow to upload full-size pictures - you could see that the central harbor is full of tall ships, which were all here today for a sailing race.

Bergen, Norway

Today we spent most of the morning sailing into the harbor at Bergen, passing through fjords and a rocky, rugged landscape. Shortly before we arrived, the ship sailed under the bridge in the picture to the right; it was quite a sight to see - with only 7m clearance between the top of the ship and the bridge, the enormous ship just barely squeezed through.

In Bergen itself, the highlight of our tour was a short funicular ride to the top of one of the seven mountains surrounding the city. From the top we saw a panoramic vista of the harbor and surrounding city, which sprawls over quite a large area (this is the second-largest city in Norway, with a population of about 250,000). As you can see from the photograph, today was sunny and beautiful, which is quite unusual since it rains here almost 300 days per year.

Sailing to Bergen

Good Morning from near Bergen Norway. We've had a wonderful cruise so far in terms of sea and weather. This morning it's sunny and mild. I have read that it rains all the time here but maybe we'll be lucky. This should be the day for luck ( 8/8/8). We're taking a tour that includes a funicular ride this afternoon. Perhaps we'll get some photos worth trying to post.

Meanwhile, the food has been great and the ship is very nice. We Americans are in the minority onboard. There are lots of British and many people speaking what sound like slavic languages to me. The choices for breakfast foods are reflective of the different mix of passengers. We have baked beans and grilled tomatoes on the breakfast buffet, as well as congee and fried rice and dumplings. It's fun trying something different!

Well,, more later.

The Trip and London

As you can see Katie and I are posting so you'll get a little of both our impressions. We flew on Sunday, August 3 from Dulles on Virgin Atlantic. We were able to use FF miles and fly Upper Class. It has spoiled me forever. The seats are individual pods which make in to flat beds with mattress covers, duvets and feather pillows. They even give you a "sleep suit" if you want it.

After an uneventful flight we arrived in London where we saw so many interesting things as Katie has already described. One thing she didn't mention was the Tube or Underground. It was a wonderful way to get around. It's fast, convenient to mst of the major sights and reasonable. We paid 5.90 ounds each for a one day ticket.

We boarded the ship in Southampton yesterday afternoon and are now cruising through the North Sea. We've passed literally hundreds of oil and natural gas platforms.

More later.

London

For the past two days we have been sightseeing in London, visiting the British Museum, British Library, the King Tut artifacts exhibit, and Westminster Abbey. The picture on the left is a sculpture in the British Museum. As a book nerd, one of my favorite things we did was a tour of the British Library, which included a bunch of interesting facts. For instance, the library is so large that rather than hand-carrying books to the reading room, librarians in the basement stacks fetch the book you want, then place it on an elaborate system of conveyor belts which delivers it to the patron. We also saw the largest book owned by the B.L., which is an absolutely enormous atlas - it takes three men to pick it up.

Yesterday our time in London ended, and we took a bus to Southampton to board the ship. Currently we are at sea, sailing toward Bergen, Norway. I've spent this morning working on planning my course for next semester, while sitting and watching us sail past numerous platforms in the North Sea.

Greetings!

This year we're going to the North Atlantic, and last year we went about as far south as possible. Here's a picture of my mother and me in Tierra del Fuego National Park, during our cruise around Cape Horn. I'm looking forward to this upcoming trip, and plan to post lots of interesting pictures and reflections here!

2 Weeks to go!

In just 2 weeks we'll be on our way! We are Ann & Katie, mother and daughter, taking our sort of annual trip for just the 2 of us. This year we're sailing on the Grand Princess from Southampton, England, to Norway, Iceland and Northern Ireland. We'll spend a couple of days in London first. We've heard how beautiful the fjords of Norway are and how interesting Iceland is, so we're really looking forward to the voyage. Hopefully the weather will cooperate and we won't be inundated. Regardless, I know we'll have a lovely time!