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.
***
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"
***
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"
Hi Everybody! Sorry I could neither visit your blogs nor answer your comments during the last week and I won’t be able to make the tour next week. Hope to be able to do it by the weekend of July 25th! Meanwhile, not to let you down empty hands, I have a «typical» Iceland post for you: “Land of Ice and Fire”! Hope you enjoy it as much as I did when I was there! Have a great week and a marvellous vacation, in case you manage to get some... ;)) See you!
ReplyDeleteThe scenery is simply breathtaking! I have a friend going to Iceland soon because airfare is so cheap. I really like your post title, "Land of Ice and Fire." Very catchy and it really reflects the polar effects of the nature's elements in Iceland.
ReplyDeleteI like the colour blue in the Blesi Hot Spring. It is amazing! Still not sure if I'd visit somewhere so cold!
ReplyDeletep.s. I just wanted to let you know that French pastries are not my only faves. I agree, Portuguese bakeries are fantastic! I love those pasteis de nata!! We have a huge Portuguese population in Toronto (as well, my former landlady was Portuguese), so we love Portuguese pastries here!
ReplyDeleteWow this is a fantastic sight. You are so well travelled.
ReplyDeleteAmazing landforms. The Glacier is so dark.
ReplyDeleteThe glaciers in Switzerland are shrinking as well, just in one lifetime. People in their 50s and 60s already see a different place than what they grew up in. Sad, and worrying.
ReplyDeleteMy son has been there last year too and also brought back hundreds of wonderful pictures. It must be very beautiful there.
ReplyDeletethe icy terrain, the sprouting of the geyser, just stuff that fairy tale dreams are made of...
ReplyDeleteA magical place!
ReplyDeleteC'est vraiment magnifique et on s'arrête de penser ici aux constructions mains d'hommes...
ReplyDeleteLa nature parle par elle-même.
Très belle dernière photo.
Analogy with http://du-four-au-jardin-et-mes-dix-doigts.blogspot.com/2009/07/yellowstone-national-park-5.html
le Old Faithfull Geyser of Yellowstone.
Cela bouillonne de partout, la terre n'est pas aussi tranquille qu'on le pense dans nos contrées.
ReplyDeletefantastique !
Nothing typical at all Gil, absolutely marvelous and what a view there :D
ReplyDeleteMust be very very cool huh?
I have a feeling that some nice hot water was welcome! Nordic summers can be cool! (Soon on my way.)
ReplyDeleteHi Gil
ReplyDeleteHere to make up for my long absence. Visited all your earlier posts. Enjoyed it. Fireworks -spectacular, green iceland -breathtaking and this one -wow! Iceland... I can only dream of going.
wow really interesting place and fascinating photos!
ReplyDeletewow, this is amazing! nature's pure force!
ReplyDeleteIce and fire in one place !!
ReplyDeleteFrom photos looks like it must have been a wonderful place.
Bravo good work dear friend. Thanks for sharing.
ReplyDeleteThat blue colour in that hot spring picture is just gorgeous.
ReplyDeleteAnd yes, I haven't been by your site in ages, and I'm sorry! I have been terribly busy.
Btw, I gave you an award :) Check out my site!
Addy
You lucky you! I wish I could travel as much as you do!
ReplyDeleteLovely pics :)
Hi Blogtrotter: Wow, being able to see the "BLESI HOT SPRING", the boiling water, and its "ERUPTION" at a maximum height is definitely a blessing that few people are so well-endowed. Wow! I agree with Dana, you are very lucky!
ReplyDeleteI think it would be nice to visit. Looks cold and rainy.
ReplyDeleteLooks very cold!! I love the first photo with the clouds :-)
ReplyDeleteWow... Nice to see a globetrotter via blogger...
ReplyDeleteI wish I could see this place someday with myself...
Nice blog u have...
Do drop into my blog too sometime - My Travelogue
Gil, thank you for a very lovely post. Very interesting pictures!
ReplyDeleteIndeed, it IS the land of ice and fire! Your documentation is wonderful, Gil! Scrolling down your posts, I have enjoyed every single picture!
ReplyDeleteI know, it's longtime since I have visited your blog - sorry for that! Traveling is very time consuming for me, but beautiful!
Thanks for your visits to my blog, very much appreciated.
Susanne
Sue's Daily Photography
Great photos! In all my times there, I never saw active "fire." But I did walk on lava that was still hot from erupting 20 years before. (Did you go to the Vestman Islands?) I also never went on the glacier as much as you did. And I have to smile at the attire for August!
ReplyDeleteHello mes amis, l'Icelande est un pays où j'aimerai bien aller aussi mais en hiver, peut être êtes vous en vacances, les nôtres se sont merveilleusement passées, la Dordogne est une magnifique région où l'on mange très bien, puis les châteaux cathares m'ont beaucoup plus aussi, assez fatigant quand même.
ReplyDeleteA bientôt.
i loved the hot springs pics......iceland is mysterious and enchanting...and ur so lucky to have visited it.....
ReplyDeleteStunning photos!
ReplyDeleteThe first photo has a fantastic formation of clouds, and the second one is an eye opener to me. Something different from the ordinary. Cool!
Alexander
Alex's World! - http://www.kakinan.com/alex
What a strange landscape (and weather)!
ReplyDeletelooks like you had fun at the geiser!
This is a fantastic view !! I loved this shot....Great location to visit !! Thanks for sharing the real beauty..Unseen Rajasthan
ReplyDeleteJe suis en train de lire un polar d'un auteur islandais, mais comme je ne l'apprécie pas trop, j'en tairai le nom. Les images sur ce blog sont bien plus intéressantes!
ReplyDeleteWhat beautiful and interesting images, Gil. The weather seems to be cold and the sceneries are simply amazing!
ReplyDeleteHappy holiday!
Hi Gil
ReplyDeleteThe first few photos looks like a moon shot!
The geyser is fascinating...I'm surprised how tall it rises! I'll be seeing Old Faithful in Yellowstone before the end of the year.
Enjoy your holiday!
You seem to have caught the spirit of Iceland very well. The country of ice and fire is very aptly named - I just hope they will be able to make it through the present crisis.
ReplyDeletehi
ReplyDeleteHi
Greetings from Coimbatore,India. This is my first visit.You have an awesome blog on Iceland.The photographs are breathtaking !Really enjoyed this. I am going to follow you henceforth.
Ram
Hi Folks! Here is the first part of the replies to your comments. As Blogger has limited the number of characters on each comment, I've to splilt the answers... Second part will come as soon as I manage to take care of everybody else... ;))
ReplyDeleteThanks for your truly appreciated comments. One of the counters passed sixty thousands visitors last week and the other is approaching seventy five thousand since January 29, 2007. Taking into account the number of comments made, this means that there is an average of roughly a bit more of five percent of the visitors who actually comment. In the last three posts however, the ratio was probably only of 2% or 3%. So, anyway, you’re the two percent always in my heart! ;))
Jen,
Airfares to Iceland in Iceland Air were always a great deal, since the seventies... I remember some friends travelling to Luxemburg and Reykjavik to get to NYC; a low cost «avant la letter»! ;)
I suspected you would love «pasteis de nata»!!! And I remember many years ago, when Augusta Ave. was the centre of a Portuguese community, that there were pasteis de nata to end a nice dry cod fish typical meal... ;))
Emm,
That blue is absolutely amazing; there is a huge lagoon with such a colour: the Blue Lagoon! But that will only come by the end of my Icelandic posts; probably by the end of August... It’s not that cold; just rainy; nothing that a UK resident isn’t used to... ;))
Alice SG,
I wish I had time to visit some places I’ve never been to. Unfortunately things are getting too hard now; and now the flu... ;(
Diane,
There are some incredible forms just around the corner in Iceland! As far as the darkness is concerned, my first experience with a dark glacier was in Alaska and I was actually surprised to see it that way... ;))
Z,
It’s true that almost all glaciers in the world are shrinking in a threatening way... It seems that only the Perito Moreno is keeping its shape...
Gattina,
I had not much time there and took some hundreds of pictures; if your son had more than a week there he surely must have thousands of incredible pictures... ;))
Eye,
Fairy tales dreams (or it could be Sagas, as they name the stories...) are something that we may easily create in Iceland!! ;))
Susu,
Magical, indeed!!
Thérèse,
C’est vrai que la main de l’homme n’est pas intervenue ici ; surtout elle n’est pas là pour faire des dommages à ce que la nature a crée…
Il est vrai qu’il y a une ressemblance avec le «Old Faithful». Je me rappelle des photos que j’ai pris au Yellowstone en 1982!
Daniel,
Cela bouillonne, surtout en Islande, mais aussi aux Azores, beaucoup plus proche de nous et beaucoup plus bon marché… ;))
Betty,
I’ve posted some glaciers from my 2002 trip to Alaska. Unfortunately, by that time, I was using a video camera and the pictures were from a disposable camera; junk... ;))
Peter,
It was ok at the glacier; much more comfortable than we would anticipate; actually, more than the cold – we were prepared – the most annoying was the rain.... So, you missed Alberto Contador beating Lance Armstrong; enjoy your holidays!!! ;)
Leo,
Great to read you back here! I’m glad to see that you enjoyed the Icelandic posts; it’s a surprising country, to say the least... ;))
Piika,
Welcome back to the world of blogosphere; long time no read... Glad that you enjoyed the posts!!
Lara,
You’re absolutely right: nature at its full force!!
Cuckoo,
Wow! Welcome back! I’m so glad to read you back here after such a long time!! It’s a wonderful place, indeed, provided that you choose the right time to get there... ;))
Sai,
Thanks for your visit and first time comment here! I’m glad that you enjoyed the post!!
How refreshing to see you and Mrs. Trotter all bundled up, eating ice, especially since it's quite warm and humid in Texas. Thanks for visiting earlier.
ReplyDeleteHope all is well for you both!
Constance
ps
Thanks for taking me along on your journey~
Awesome pics! I've never seen a geyser.
ReplyDeleteSecond part of the replies comes in, due to Blogger restrictions!
ReplyDeleteAddy,
I’m so happy to read you back here; Hope things will cool down in the near future and you’ll have some more time to visit Blogtrotter... ;)
Oh dear, you have to wait for the true blue, which will come in the last post; maybe by the end of next month... ;))
Thanks for the Kreativ Blogger Award! You’re too kind! Truly appreciated!!
Dana,
Don’t know if it’s luck; from my point of view I would love to travel much more than what I actually do; at least for the time being... ;))
Brigida,
I’m not so sure I agree with that luck question; ok, it maybe luck, but when you think of the long list of places you would like to see and have never been to, luck is a troublesome concept... ;))
Barb,
Cold? Fair enough... The rain, at least when you’re supposed to be in summer, is much trickier... ;))
Tinsie,
Somewhere among the clouds, there is a shinning glacier... ;)
As far as cold is concerned, it was pretty cold (+12º centigrade), but only if you can’t forget it was supposed to be summer time... ;))
Mitr,
Thanks for your visit and first time comment here! I’m glad you liked the post and the blog and I look forward to reading you here more often!
I’m sure you’ll manage to see those beautiful things in person one day!!
Celine,
You’re welcome. My pleasure to post it for you also!
Sue,
I’m so happy you found some time to drop by; I’m so jealous of your trip... ;) Many years ago I had a friend who used to travel with a British agency named Trailfinders (?) and they had a six week tour of the United States (NYC-LA-NYC, Trek America) going by North and returning by South. He made it, I never did, but was always envious... ;)) Hope you’re enjoying your tour and I’m glad you liked my Iceland posts. More to come! ;))
Louise,
I’m happy to hear that you never saw actual «fire» there; I had an interesting experience in Hawaii and lost my video camera with the dust and humidity... ;))
Walking in lava, I did it many years ago in the Azores Islands... but didn’t do to the Vestman Islands! If you forget that august is summer in the northern hemisphere, everything is perfect... ;))
Lyliane,
Bonjour Lyliane! C’est magnifique de te savoir de retour. Je suis sûre que la Dordogne et les châteaux cathares sont magnifiques. Je n’ai jamais visité la région à fond, mais deux passages ont donné une bonne idée du site… Malheureusement, pas de vraies vacances : juste beaucoup de travail et quelques jours off pour résister jusqu’à la fin du mois d’août… ;))
Shooting Star,
Wow! Welcome back!! Great that you enjoyed the posts. Iceland is truly an amazing surprise!!
Alex,
One of the «clouds» is actually a glacier; at least it looks like a cloud but a bit more white... ;))
Paul,
Geysers and glaciers are a piece of cake... ;)). Actually, it isn’t that easy to walk on the glaciers and getting some hot water from the geysers is far from being interesting... ;))
Unseen Rajasthan,
I must confess that I’m always impressed with your opinions on the places I visit, as for me, the places I wish to see in Rajasthan overpass everything I’ve seen elsewhere... ;))
Hélène,
Le seul bouquin que j’ai apporté de Reykjavik a été «Independent People» de Halldor Laxness, Prix Nobel de Littérature en 1955… ;))
Pietro,
This visit was in 2008... Unfortunately, holidays are at a premium nowadays, and I’ve to wait until early September to get my week of holidays... ;)). If you forget that it is summer time, the weather isn’t that bad. I thought it was winter in Portugal, and though it was just a little bit worse... ;))
Pat,
No holiday actually!! Anyhow, I’ve seen the Old Faithful in 1982; time to get back, definitely!! As far as the moon is concerned, I gave up the trip... ;))
It's incredible, but this time I had to split the replies into three portions!
ReplyDeleteRune,
That they have lots of ice and fire is definitely true... But there is also a lot of water, as I’ll try to show on my next post...
As for the financial crisis, it seems they now understand that it would have been better to be in the European Union; the problem is that it comes only when people find themselves in the middle of the crisis... Afterwards, they think they have «financial products» (or fisheries, or oil...) and believe they are too rich alone to join the Union... Bad choice!!
Ram,
Great to read you here! Thanks for your visit and first time comment on this blog! I’m truly glad you enjoyed the post and liked ted the blog! There are some twenty old posts on sites in India; I would love to have your opinion on some of them...
Constance,
It was great to see your trip to New Orleans! The glacier and geyser trip was amazing; and the climate surely much fresher than in Texas... ;))
Ron,
You’re not that far from Old Faithful, a nice and reliable geyser to see!!!
very, very interesting Gil ......Loved this post
ReplyDeletegeyser, glacier, d'un extrême a l'autre. c'est vraiment un beau et surprenant pays
ReplyDeleteLa vapeur d'eau et la glace, l'eau dans tous ses états, je ne dirai donc rien d'autre que ce qu'a dit Olivier.
ReplyDeleteLe seul endroit où il semble faire bien chaud est la maison basse du bas ; cependant il ne faudrait pas en sortir sous peine de s'embourber et de se perdre dans les brumes...
:)
Lynn,
ReplyDeleteA bit weird though, the combination...
Olivier,
Tu as raison; ça bouillonne partout....
Lucie,
Mis il est vrai que, du point de vue eco, l'energie thermal est un grand atout...
Wow!!! This is incredible! Magnificent place and spectacular photo.
ReplyDeleteNazzareno,
ReplyDeleteGreat to read you here! I'm glad you enjoyed the post!!
The pics of the glaciers are stunning...what pictures..
ReplyDeleteLakshmi,
ReplyDeleteOne day I'll get to the Perito Moreno and I'll show the most magnificent glacier... ;))
I'm arriving late, so I can visit your fire and ice as well as your water images. Great to see you covering, "the elements." I guess I didn't realize that Iceland had so much fire and ice. Silly me! Great post. Thanks.
ReplyDeleteTed,
ReplyDeleteIt's true that the «elements» are really intense in Iceland! Everything is extreme!!
I love the photos that shows the moon rock like surface.
ReplyDeleteMing,
ReplyDeleteThose must be of the glacier!!