Strokkur, Ice and Horses

30 januari, 201630 januari, 2016 / Leya / 40 kommentarer

Heading for the Geysir area in the cold of the morning. There is not much traffic in Iceland, and they do not sand or salt their roads.

This is post number six on Iceland, and there is one or two more to come. If you have missed out on the other ones, here are the links.

A Taste of Reykjavik, Heading for South Iceland, More South Iceland Magic, Land of Ice and Fire, Landscapes of Iceland, Thingvellir.

As usual- click the pictures to enlarge.

Open sky, and the coldest day so far…my hands were quite stiff from the start. Strong wind and we were told not to open more than one door at a time …

Slowly the sun opened up the landscape. – 12 degrees and no possibility to leave the car because of the icy road, the wind and the cold.

The small farmsteads all awake – the horses too.

All of them a bit far from the road –

– but we waited patiently…

The Geysir area was not crowded with people today, so we gathered around Strokkur – that spouts every 8-10 minutes, 20-30 metres, sometimes with a double puff.

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After warming up our hands and faces inside the restaurant, we talked about Geysir being the first Geysir in the world – and giving name to all existing Geysirs. He is no longer active, even if he came back to life for some months after the last volcano eruption.

Sadly enough it was impossible to walk up to Geysir this time – As you can see in the header, the ice made it nearly impossible without risking your life…

In the heated car, we headed for Gullfoss and the river Hvitá – White, in English. Many glacier rivers are named Hvitá because of their colour.

On the road we finally met Icelandic horses close-up. They were standing quite still with the tough wind coming from behind.

These horses came to Iceland with the Norse Vikings, in the 9th-10th century, and there has been no cross breeding for 1000 years. This means that there is no purer breed anywhere in the world. The Icelandic horses are small, long-lived and hardy. In their native country they have few diseases. In fact, Icelandic law prevents horses from being imported into the country and exported animals are not allowed to return.

I think you agree with me that they are also extremely beautiful!

Landscapes of Iceland – Thingvellir

27 januari, 201628 januari, 2016 / Leya / 34 kommentarer

On our way to Thingvellir this cold and beautiful morning.

Þingvellir is a site of historical, cultural, and geological importance. It lies in a rift valley that marks the crest of the Mid-Atlantic Ridge, at the northern end of Þingvallavatn, the largest natural lake in Iceland.

AlÞingi, the Icelandic Parliament, was established at Þingvellir in 930, and remained there until 1798. The National Park was founded in 1930, marking the 1.000th anniversary of the Althing, and became a UNESCO World Heritage Site in 2004.

The continental drift between the North American and Eurasian Plates can be clearly seen in the cracks faults which traverse the region, the largest one, Almannagjá, being a veritable canyon. This also often causes the earthquakes in the area.

According to the Book of Settlements, the settlement of Iceland began in AD 874 when the Norwegian chieftain Ingólfur Arnarson became the first permanent settler on the island. Over the next centuries, people of Norse and Celtic origin settled in Iceland, and as the population grew there was a need for a general assembly.

The foundation of the Icelandic parliament is said to be the founding of the nation of Iceland, and the first parliamentary proceedings in the summer of 930 laid the ground for a common cultural heritage and national identity. Þingvellir plays a central role in the history of the country.

Þingvellir was the centre of Icelandic culture. Every year during the Commonwealth period, people would flock to Þingvellir from all over the country, sometimes numbering in the thousands. They set up dwellings with walls of turf and rock and temporary roofing and stayed in them for the two weeks of the assembly.

The Drowning Pool for potential witches

Although the duties of the assembly were the main reason for going there, ordinary people gathered at Þingvellir for a wide variety of reasons. There were merchants, sword-sharpeners, tanners and entertainers – and ale-makers brewed ale to them all. News was told from distant parts; games and feasts were held. Itinerant farmhands looked for work and vagrants begged.

A flagpole on Law Rock marks the place where the law was recited from.

Þingvellir was a meeting place for everyone in Iceland, laying the foundation for the language and the famous literature – the Eddas and the Sagas.

A Law Rock of ones own?

In fact, still today, young people can read the old texts from the 12th century – not many languages have lasted that much unchanged. This is possible due to the conservative – and innovative and creative – use of the old words, combined with less borrowed words than any other language. As an example: vegabréf is a combination of veg (road) and bréf (letter) = passport!

The landscape around Thingvellir – magnificAent.

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Short historical facts: Wikipedia.

SL-WEEK 29: Snow

19 januari, 2016 / Leya / 25 kommentarer

The challenge this week at Sylvain Landry, is Snow. Just returned from Iceland, naturally my entry will be some sturdy, Icelandic horses. 15 degrees below zero – they stand close together against the strong wind, awaiting the night fall.

A Taste of Reykjavik

17 januari, 201617 januari, 2016 / Leya / 40 kommentarer

My greatest love in this beautiful city is of course the symbol of Reykjavik, Hallgrimskirkja (1937, 74,5 metres, and named after the Icelandic priest and writer Hallgrímur Pétursson.) by architect Guðjón Samúelsson. The church is spectacular in many ways – not only from the outside, but also the inside is serene and breathtakingly beautiful.

We arrived late in the evening this time, and walked slowly up to her in the freezing cold, Icelandic darkness.

In front of the church stands the Leif Eriksson statue. A gift from the US 1930 when the Icelandic Parliament, AllÞingi, celebrated its 1000 year jubilée. The Viking Leif Eriksson was the son of Erik Röde, who settled in Greenland. Leif himself was the first white man to discover America.

Let us go inside. My greatest love here is the magnificent organ.

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Houses in Reykjavik have to be strongly built for the rough climate. Some old wooden houses are being restored to show the old architecture – on which of course the new one is built. But I doubt any new house here has a wooden structure.

Restored old architecture

Not wood – but still beautiful

New materials – being repainted

The Concert Hall

Parliament and the Cathedral

What is difficult to see in these snowy pictures, is the typical Icelandic colourful houses. In my summer memories, Reykjavik looks like this:

Tjörnin is the lake in the middle of the city. There are always people here, playing, feeding the birds, or just walking and chatting.

The main shopping street ends with Hallgrimskirkja. And that is where we too end our snowy, first walk in Iceland and Reykjavik.

WPC: Alphabet

16 januari, 201616 januari, 2016 / Leya / 7 kommentarer

Alphabet – our communication depends on it. Printing depended on these…no longer in use, but made into beautiful art – of another kind. For more inspirational alphabets, click here.

FIVE YEARS…

13 januari, 201613 januari, 2016 / Leya / 61 kommentarer

I just opened my computer (having returned from Iceland two hours ago ) – and was met by WordPress reminding me I started this blog 5 years ago today. Where did they go, these five years? So much joy and laughter, so much inspiration, good advice… and so many wonderful friends I have found here in the blogosphere. Unbelievable, I could never have guessed…and yet – this is the truth.

I am very grateful to WordPress for hosting this big family of bloggers around the world. Helping us stay in contact, exchanging opinons, and maybe developing our interests and thoughts in directions we did not know possible – however small or big, we keep climbing new mountains!

I want to say Thank You, to all my readers, commenters and followers for walking this path in my company. Without You, I would not be here. Even if I sometimes think about retiring, when I believe I have nothing more to say or post about, I cannot…will not…stop blogging. You, my friends, are all a very important part of my world!