Reykjavik, again

As you saw in one of my earlier posts, sunrise is at about 10 a.m. now. Sunset, which was at about 5 p.m. when we arrived a week ago, is now at about 4:30. By Dec. 21, there's only about 4 hours of sun a day. Of course in the summer, it's daylight for about 24 hours. I think that would be much easier to deal with!

 I love this statue near the Reykjavik harbor.

Since this was displayed on a ship that was advertising whale watching trips, I'm assuming it's a whale skeleton. Maybe watching isn't the only things they do on these trips! 

The mountains across the bay from Reykjavik, at sunset -- and yes, it was only 4:30 p.m.! 

The spiral staircase at the Hilton.

Gullfoss and Geysir

By the time we got to Gullfoss and then Geysir, it was extremely windy! Gullfoss is a very nice waterfall, which was almost frozen over. Geysir (pronounced geezer) is the original geyser, and is where the English word comes from. We didn't see Geysir erupt, since it only does it about once an hour and we weren't about to stand out in the wind that long, but we did see some of the smaller geysers go off. And then we went to have lunch, hot chocolate and some schnapps inside!

 As you can tell, Gullfoss is already almost frozen over -- and it was only Nov 11!

This is one of the smaller geysers. Notice all the ice on the ground around it. Although the water comes out boiling, it freezes fast.

This is a shot of the geyser field. Iceland is the largest producer of geothermal power in the world, and we frequently saw plumes of steam while driving around this part of Iceland.

I just like this photo because it gives an idea of the wide open spaces that make up Iceland. With only 320,000 people in the country -- about 200,000 of whom live in or near Reykjavik -- there's lots of open land. But it can also be very desolate.  

As you can see, we were rather cold!

Iceland's Pingvellir National Park

November 11 was a US holiday, as well as being a beautiful day, so almost all of us took a bus tour called the Golden Circle. We went to Pingvellir (or Thingvellir) National Park, and then to Gullfoss waterfall and Geysir. Pingvellir is where Iceland held what they say is the world's first parliament. We got there just in time for sunrise -- at about 10 a.m. Although the day started out great, it soon became very windy!

Sunrise at Pingvellir National Park. And yes, it really was almost 10 a.m.!

Another shot of the sunrise, this time over lake in the park.

Pingvellir National Park is also the site of the mid-Atlantic rift. This is the North American side of the rift, which is splitting Iceland at a rate of about 3 centimeters a year.

There are a few buildings inside the park, including this church and house or hotel -- I'm not sure which.

I love this photo, because it looks just as cold as it really was! And of course, since this is our third country, none of us had the proper clothes to stay warm.  

Reykjavik, Iceland

I'm now in Reykjavik, Iceland, where winter, and wind, have arrived. It's not that cold, really -- generally somewhere between the mid-20s and mid-30s, but the wind is amazing! On some days we've estimated that it's about 45 mph, with gusts up to 50-55 mph. I literally have almost been swept off my feet several times! But despite that, I've gone out touring in Reykjavik.

This is a shot from the plane coming in. You can see the large glacier, which I think is called Vatnajokull. 

This is a pond a few blocks from the embassy. Most of it has already frozen over -- even though it's not even mid-November yet! -- but there's still a little area for the geese and ducks.  
Today was windy and cold with a few light snow showers. Most of the boats were in the harbor, rather than braving the rough waters.

The mountains, which are on a peninsula across the bay from Reykjavik, can be seen from much of the city.

This is the Reykjavik Lutheran cathedral, the largest church in the country. It's beautiful, but very spare, inside, with very little decoration.

Vianden, Luxembourg

On Saturday, Oct. 30, one of my co-workers and I went to Vianden, which is in the Ardennes region of Luxebourg. It's a little town -- maybe 1,500 people or so -- but it has a beautiful medieval castle that has been very nicely restored. And some wonderful restaurants! Although it's only about 40 kilometers from Luxembourg city, it took us about an hour to get there -- first on the train, then on a bus, and then another bus. But we saw some beautiful countryside. It rained a little, but mainly while we were in the castle or eating a wonderful restaurant on the banks of the L'Our river.

A view of the town of Vianden and the castle that stands above it. You can see the castle from practically anywhere in town!

Another view of the castle, with time with a woman washing her windows in one of the houses below. 

One of the rooms in the castle. There's a four-poster bed on the left side, outside of the photos. The castle was in ruins for years before the government bagan restoring it. I think they did a great job -- very nice but not overdone. 

This is a serious fireplace, but I'm sure it was needed in the winter cold of Luxembourg!  

One of the many tapestries in the castle. They were from the 16th and 17th centuries.

Luxembourg

So, we've moved on to Reykjavik, but I wanted to post some of my photos from Luxembourg. I was there for 2 weeks, but only managed to get away from work for 2 days. But I made the most of them. The first Sunday, Oct. 24, I walked around the city of Luxembourg. But since it was a Sunday, most things were closed. The Hague was not a busy town on the weekends, but it looked positively cosmopolitan compared to Luxembourg!

Here's an overview of the city of Luxembourg, from the old city walls. The walls remind me of the Phoenician walls in Nicosia, Cyprus, although the rest of the city is much prettier. You can see what beautiful weather we had!

These are the old walls, with a park down below.

 

There are lots of wonderful statues in Luxembourg! This one was a lot of fun!

 

This is another view looking across from the city walls. Notice the little church built into the walls!

Here's a close-up of the church in the rocks.

The beach

On the next to last day we were in The Hague, I went to the beach. It was only about a 10 minute tram ride from my hotel. The beach itself was beautiful, but it was really built up, with lots of tourist shops and tacky food stands. Not that much was open -- it was very windy, which made it cold! But there were still some people out braving the wind!

This is one of the beach casinos. This one is built at the end of a long pier, and has a great view.

Some more people who are braving the elements. I saw a couple of people wading in the water, but they were wearing rain boots.

The grand casino at the beach.

On a good day -- when the wind isn't blowing at 30 mph -- you can go bungy jumping. Apparently, it is very popular!

Escher museum chandeliers

The Escher museum also has a number of amazing chandeliers. I originally thought some of them were made specifically for Halloween -- there was one of a skull and crossbones and another of a mummy -- but they weren't. The chandeliers were made specifically for the museum for its 5th anniversary, about 2-3 years ago, but a Dutch artist.


This spider is one of the chandeliers I thought was designed for Halloween.

I thought this umbrella was one of the most beautiful chandeliers in the whole museum.

This one is an artist's palette hanging between 2 other designs.






















This shark was the 1st chandelier I noticed.

Another spectacular chandelier.

Escher museum

The Hague has a wonderful museum full of drawing by Escher. Although he's most famous for op-art styke, or geometric, drawings, he also did some great portaits and of towns in the Netherlands and Italy.

I thought this was just a beautiful drawing.

This is a drawing of San Gimignano, Italy, which I visited a number of years ago.

This row of houses leads into the main square on Delft. The far row of buildings is city hall. I crossed at this intersection several times while visiting the town.

This is a town in Calabria, Italy, where (I believe) my brother-in-law's family is from.

Delft photos

Here are some photos from my trip to Delft. It is, obviously, a very photogenic town!

This is defintely the biggest shoe I've seen so far!

This very crowded cafe is on a bridge over one of the many canals in Delft.

Bike storage at the Delft train station.


This is definitely one of the most intersting stained glass windows I've ever seen!

One of the many denizens of the canal system in the Netherlands.

Advertising signs

The Dutch also use wonderful signs to advertise their bakeries, bars, and restaurants. Here's just a sampling, from Delft.

This is from a hotel, named after Delft's most famous resident. And one of his most famous paintings.

This was on a shop selling western wear.

A very nice parrot, but I don't remember what it's advertising.

I don't know what this was advertising either, but it was beautiful in the sunlight.

And this looked like a very nice little restaurant.