Wordless Wednesday and Reykjavik

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We have told mum she can put up her holiday photos now.
They had three days at sea before they got to Iceland, and on the way they sailed through the Scottish Islands. Mum can't remember where these photos were. She should have written down the places as they passed them.

She liked the look of this old castle. It is not very clear because it was a dull and misty morning.

She thought these shapes were unusual so had to take pictures of them.

A close up of one of them.
Just a minute! Why are we doing all the work and telling you about them? Mum can tell you herself.

Our first stop was Reykjavik in Iceland. The weather was not very good, in fact it poured down most of the day, but we had a tour booked and made the most of it. This is the Blue Lagoon. The high temperature geothermal areas in Iceland are found inside the zone of two tectonic plates, the American and the Eurasian plates which Iceland straddles and are closely associated with the active volcano systems. A mixture of cold seawater and groundwater come into contact with the cooling magma and is rapidly heated and rises to the surface. The geothermal water exceeds temperatures of 200C at less than 1 Km depth. Minerals, silica and algae give it it's blue colour. People come here to bathe in it's warm waters and it is now operated as a spa as well as being a source of geothermal energy.

Part of the lava field by the Blue Lagoon.

Perlan. (The Pearl) The tanks contain geothermally heated water with a viewing platform above them which gives good views over Reykjavik. At the top there is a glass dome with a restaurant which I believe revolves, but it was closed when we were there.

This is a view over part of the city from the observation platform.

The Strokkur geyser is in Geysir National Park. This geyser is also called Strokkur but is man made and releases the steam from the Pearl.

Hallgrimskirkja is a Lutheran parish church and at 244feet, is the largest church and sixth highest structure in Iceland.

I don't know what this building is. I took it from the coach as we passed.

This was the Sherriff of Reykjavik's house and is now a hotel.
I hope you have enjoyed these photos and we will visit Akureyri tomorrow.