We arrived in Iceland at 7:00am today (Wednesday), was met by our tour guide Oli (for short) and the rest of our full tour group. We had breakfast at the Harpa in Reykjavik
and were then taken on a city tour, visiting Hallgrimskirkja Church. Massive, massive place with a wonderful pipe organ.
You can see it from all of the city. It is the sixth tallest and most impressive man-made structure in Iceland. The clock tower is 244 feet tall and took more than 40 years to complete.
I took the elevator up to the observation deck - spectacular view of the city and snow-capped mountains. Even caught a rainbow. The statue in front is of Leif Erickson and was a gift from the United States.
We then saw the Pearl which also has an observation deck with spectacular views of the city and snow-capped mountains
on to a geothermal plant we went. Quite impressive the way they extract the hot water from deep below the ground. Some of it is as hot as 600 degrees. Therefore, most people in Iceland do not have hot water heaters. They connect to the system and automatically get hot water. Their utility bills run only about $45 per month for water, electricity and sewer. The power plant supplies all of Reykjavik using large pipelines approximately 8 inches thick. We were told that the temperature of the hot water only decreases a couple of degrees because of the pipe insulation. He said the pipes can be covered with snow and the snow will not melt. Can’t beat that. Because the majority of Iceland is lava fields, the constant activity generates movement, which generates the hot water and steam.
We are now in Hella and, unfortunately, due to the rain and cloudy skies, no Northern Lights tonight. however, you can register your hotel room for a call should the hotel cameras etc. detect activity.
Tomorrow is another day - waterfalls and better skies for the pursuit. By the way it’s about 32 degrees
I took the elevator up to the observation deck - spectacular view of the city and snow-capped mountains. Even caught a rainbow. The statue in front is of Leif Erickson and was a gift from the United States.
We then saw the Pearl which also has an observation deck with spectacular views of the city and snow-capped mountains
We are now in Hella and, unfortunately, due to the rain and cloudy skies, no Northern Lights tonight. however, you can register your hotel room for a call should the hotel cameras etc. detect activity.
Tomorrow is another day - waterfalls and better skies for the pursuit. By the way it’s about 32 degrees
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