LAND OF ICE AND FIRE

ICELAND - AUGUST 2008

Iceland is known as the Land of Ice and Fire due to the Glaciers and the Volcanoes. According to Wikipedia, Iceland «has about 130 volcanic mountains, of which 18 have erupted since the settlement of Iceland. Over the past 500 years, Iceland's volcanoes have erupted a third of the total global lava output». This post is dedicated to the Solheimajokull Glacier and to the Strokkur Geyser.

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GLACIER


"GLACIER"


"SOLHEIMAJOKULL"


"BLUE SKY"


"GLOBAL WARMING"


"EATABLE ICE"


"DIFFICULT WALK"




"SOLHEIMAJOKULL - It seems that the glacier had retreated an average of more than 50m yearly in the last times"

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GEYSER


"WAITING"


"LITTLE GEYSIR"


"100º BOILING WATER"


"BLESI HOT SPRING"


"STROKKUR is a geyser in the geothermic region beside the Hvítá River in the southwest part of Iceland, east of Reykjavik"




"AT MAXIMUM HEIGHT - A bit like the Old Faithful in the Yellowstone Park"


"CENTRAL HEATING"

GREEN ICELAND

ICELAND - AUGUST 2008

Iceland, world's 18th largest island, and Europe's second largest island after Great Britain, is known as the Land of Ice and Fire, due to its glaciers and volcanoes. We'll start however with the green side of it. With all that rain, it's not such a wonder!!


"FROM THE BUS"


"GLACIAL RIVER"


"GLACIAL VALLEYS"


"SOUTH COAST"


"GLACIAR ON THE TOP OT THE HILL"


"PLANTATION"


"TOWARDS THE SEA"


"GREEN TONES"


"LAND HORIZON"


"NEAR SKÓGAR"


"COWS"


"TURF HOUSES - Home to most of Icelanders until late in the 20th century"


"RAINBOW"


"CLIFF"


"LAVA AND MOSS"


"RED HOUSE"


"BLUE CHURCH"


"ALTHING - The Alþingi, the national parliament, was founded in 930 at Þingvellir, (the «assembly fields»), some 45 km east of Reykjavík. That's the place!"


"HOUSES"


"GOLF"


"PAINTING - No, just a picture taken from a running bus. No Photoshop additions..."

FIREWORKS FESTIVAL

REYKJAVIK - AUGUST 2008

After the Marathon, the concerts, the performances and fashion shows and before the traditional runtur - pub crawl -, the Menningarnótt (Reykjavik's Cultural Night) offers a display of fireworks for your delight. I've always loved fireworks, probably because I was born on the site of the best New Year's fireworks in the World - Madeira Island! So, even without a tripod, I couldn't resist making a post of the pictures I caught on August 23, 2008. As there is almost nothing to tell, you'll get roughly only the pictures!!


"RADISSON HOTEL 1919"


"FIREWORK BOATS & MOON"


"LIGHTS"


"WAITING FOR THE DISPLAY"


"STARTED"






"STARS"


"OUT OF ANGLE"



"MID-SHOW"



"FIRE"




"FULL SKY FINALE"


"THAT'S THE END"


"RUNTUR - After the fireworks, restaurants and pubs stay open until late. It's time for the traditional Runtur (pub crawl). Most locals however tend to counter the expensive bar prices either by consuming a lot of alcohol at home before going out or by cruising around in their cars for hours without getting into the bars... These, mainly on Laugavegur Street and on the roads leading to it, tend to have a Jekyll and Hyde character: beer and coffee throughout the day, buzzing drinking and dancing in the evening"