Iceland

The second day we slept in a bit. After breakfast we went to the penis museum.

Sperm whale penis

In the afternoon we'd booked a helicopter tour. I thought it would be a great way to see more in our limited time.

 

Yanmei forgot her sunglasses so she borrowed a pair.
Hallgrímskirkja church

Geothermal plant. Iceland has such an abundance of cheap energy that they heat their roads in Reykjavik in the winter to keep them free of snow and ice.
Steaming stream
Boiling mud pit
Glacier melt river winding through farmland
Glacier melt river

The weather was good so we got to land on top of Eyjafjallajökull which is the volcano that erupted in 2010.

Another helicopter on the edge of the crater
Caught in the rotor wash of the departing chopper. The pilot in front of me had his hat blown about 50 feet away, and I got a face full of snow particles.

Vestmannaeyjar islands
Crater, no lava now, but there is a bit of steam rising from a few spots
Two hikers climbing the mountain and glacier
Black sand coastline
Large tidal pools along the south coast

Unfortunately Yanmei got a little airsick towards the end of the flight, however she didn't need to use the barfbag. Earlier she took a few nice videos with her phone, which capture the experience better than photos do. Next time we travel we will bring a real video camera. Maybe a GoPro or something like that.

That evening I decided to give the sunset another try. Even as I was driving down to the sea wall I could tell it was going to be good.

I actually left too early. The sky kept changing colors well past this. The sun doesn't go that far down beyond the horizon so basically the whole night is just one long sunset/sunrise. Yanmei was up at 2am and she said the clouds were still red and orange.

-David

 

 

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