Familia Sagrada

We knew we had to adjust to a new time zone and so we made a decoision to visit our first attraction on the fay we arrives.  That way we would quickly become accustomed to the new time zone and our reality for the coming 10 days.   We jumped on the subway and made our way to the beautiful Familia Sagrada which was designed by the famous Gaudi.

Whata spectacular church!!  Thanks to stained glass windows and a reliance on natural light the very air seems coloured!

Spain

It all started with an innocent search of the internet!  I stumbled across a transatlantic cruise at a price that was too hard to turn down.  As it was leaving from Barcelona we decided to spend a few days in advance of the sailing date to explore...and so here we go...off to Barcelona after a mere week to make arrangements!

Glaciers

We started out on a beautiful sunny morning heading east with the ultimate destination of Hofn.  This four hour drive was destined to be interrupted by many stops we knew as the scenery promised to be spectacular.

No sooner had we started but we started to see an ice cap on top of the mountains shead of us.

We also came across some friendly horses...

And got close up to some basalt columns in a place called the Dwarf Çaves where we took a short walk.

We travelled ever eastward through changing landscapes.

And we saw another icecap on distant mountains.  As we drew closer we discovered huge tongues of the glaciers flowing down the mountainsides and cliffs.

Just beautiful!

Waterfalls, Black Sand Beach, Northern Lights

We carried on to the east ans stopped at Skogafoss Waterfall.  These are the highest wayerfalls in Icsland and are quite wide.  We were treated to a rainbow in the spray when we were there!

Our next stop was Sólheimajökull glacier.  A short hike over a rough path brought us past the glacial lake filled with bergy bits and to the glacier face.

It was very cold.and extremely windy!  We were getting colder by the minute!  We escaped to the car and rewarmed our cold hands and legs.   Then it was off to the black sand beach.

Finally, we arrived at our final destination near the picturesaue town of Vik.

The church in Vik is in a very pretty spot.

We turned in after a very full day!

At 4am we were treated to a display of the northern lights!  We found a dark spot to watch the for a short time...the perfect end to the day.

Southern Iceland

 Having collected our rental at the airport we made our way into Reykjavik and to our hotel.  We had a magnificent view of the mountains in the distance.

We quickly realized that we had insufficient clothing and so we found an icelandic outdoor clothing store and bought a few things...warm gloves, socks and a long sleeved thermal shirt for Paul.

We called it a night after our supper and slept off the travel weariness.

The next morning was bright and sunny.  We set off for the southern part of the Island with its astonishing sights.  The sky was breathtaking.

Along the way we stopped in at the location of a deep crater to have a quick look.  The wind was stong enough to blow the colour off one's clothes so we beat our frosty retreat!

Keriõ Crater

As we made our way east we noticed small take-out restaurants advertising hot dogs.  Having heard that Iceland is somewhat famous for their hot dogs we decided to give them a try.  

The famous hot dogs are cut in an interesting pattern, deep fried, served on a bed of fries in a toasted bun-all with cheese on top.

It sounds awful but tasted delicious!

We carried on east to see the landscape that awaited.

We passed through flat, pastoral lands  which stretch out to the sea.  From time to time we could see the famous Icelandic horses.  These horses are very hearty, living as they do in such a harsh climate.  They are also the only bread of horse to have five gaits (others have only three).  This makes for a more comfortable ride apparently.

Eventually we came to high cliffs thrusting up into the sky and it wasn't long before we hit our first point of interest, the Seljalandsfoss waterfall.  

In summer one can walk behind the falls but in winter it is a dangerous proposition as ice forms and can fall to the extreme detriment of anyone below.

It is one of numerous waterfalls along the cliff face.

There were some buildings close by, one of which had the thatched roof of days of yore.

Also, there were some ruins of old style buildings, dug into the earth and covered with sod.

After a shortnwalk we decided to carry on to the next point of interest.

... To Be Continued ...

Iceland...the last leg

 We boarded a 3 hour flight to Reykjavik Iceland for the last leg of our journey.  

En route we had a beautiful sunny day and could see much from the plane.

We passed snow covered Faroe islands north of Ireland.

Then we could see Iceland in the distance and the beautiful icy landscape passed beneath the plane as we made our way to Reykjavik airport.

The latitude and longitude of the airport was noted on the floor in the airport