Trieste to Reykjavik – Well I got tired of the heat and humidity of the southern latitudes and decided to go somewhere to cool off, like Iceland hahaha. Good connecting flights from Trieste to Reykjavik via Frankfurt and September is off-peak made up my mind. There are busses every 30 minutes from Trieste to the airport cost 4.15 euro and the journey takes an hour.
- Airport Bus
- Montegrisa
- On the way
- Trieste Airport
- Brexit
- Alitalia
- Cafe
- Lufthansa
- Frankfurt Huge, it took 15 min to go from the plane to the Terminal
- Frankfurt Airport Tunnel
- Finally the Departure Gate
Reykjavik – the capital of Iceland, being an island everything has to be imported and therefore it is a very expensive place to live. Iceland is known for its Hot springs and Geysers, Glaciers and Waterfalls and the Northern Lights or Aurora Borealis. The whole island is volcanic with some volcanoes under the glaciers and if one of them erupts, its fun and games for air traffic in Europe as happened in the 2010 eruptions of Eyjafjallajökull.
The best way to get around is by bus, install the Strætó app on your phone, link it to your credit or debit card and you will be free to roam the island. My EE UK sim card continues to work here using my UK Data/SMS/Call allowances at no extra cost. You don’t need cash either as cards are accepted everywhere for even the smallest purchases. This is a useful local map of Iceland, it’s more up to date than Google maps.
There are numerous tours available and they are all well organised. Tourism is the 2nd largest income earner for Iceland after Fishing. Third is the processing of Bauxite into Aluminium which requires prodigious amounts of electricity and Iceland has a surplus of electricity.
My first day in Iceland was the best day, sunshine and blue skies, not bad I thought hahaha. The next 5 days were overcast with the occasional drizzle and the temperature varied between 8 and 10c. Though on the last day it was starting to clear up in the evening.
Another interesting fact is that Iceland is one of few countries that does not have an army, only the Police and a Coast Guard.
- On the bus
- Main street – Laugavegur
- A Lion
- Art
- Hallgrimskirkja
- Leif Eriksson
- Leif Eriksson – Gift from the USA
- Hallgrimskirkja
- Hallgrimskirkja
- Hallgrimskirkja
- Looks sad
- Skólavörðustígur
- Skólavörðustígur
- Art
- Corrugated Steel
- Cute
- Souvenirs
- Interesting
- Cheap US$19
- American Bar
- The drink
- The Food was frozen once upon a time
- Pretty
- Old Parliament
- The Unknown Bureaucrat
- Art
- Ingólfur Arnarson
- Harpa Concert Hall
- Coast Guard
- Harbour Entrance
- Cruise ship
- Sun Voyager
- Rush hour
- Kópavogskirkja
- Trampoline
Natural History Museum of Kópavogur – This is a tiny museum meant for the local school children I think, there are no English translations and its free.
- Museum
- Museum
- Museum
- Museum
- Museum
- Museum
- Museum
- Museum
- Museum
- Museum
- Museum
Golden Circle Tour – This is one of the most popular tours. On the way back into the city we got held up because the Vice-president of the USA was visiting and the roads were closed while he went past. The roads around his hotel were also closed causing busses to be diverted etc, etc.
- 8c nice and cool
- The view
- Hot water
- Electricity
- Small town
- Steaming
- Hay
- Fridheimar Tomatoes
- Bees to pollinate
- Tomato restaurant
- Tomatoes
- The soil comes from Finland
- Sun Flower
- The Tour bus
- For the Birds
- Geysir
- Geysir wrestling
- Steaming
- Bubbling
- The big one, it erupts every 5 min for about a second
- Blue
- Not Good
- Gullfoss Waterfall
- BB
- Steps
- The Falls
- and how they formed
- .
- .
- .
- Big Glacier
- Stream
- Green
- Farm
- Horses, Iceland breed
- Black and White
- Horses, everywhere
- Pingvellir, ancient parliament
- At the Rift
- The Continental plate rift
- Pingvellir
- Ancient Muffin, very good
- Church
- Stop while the VP goes past
- Security
- About 50 of them went past
- Skyr, a favourite in Iceland
South Coast Tour, another mandatory tour.
- What happened to the Trees
- The Bus
- Hay
- Skogafoss waterfall
- Skogafoss waterfall
- Skogafoss waterfall
- Reynisfjara Black Sand Beach
- Black Sand
- Reynisfjara Beach
- Reynisfjara Beach
- In the middle of nowhere
- Rugged
- Lunch stop at Vik
- Fish and Chips
- Restaurant
- Souvenirs
- Solheimajokull Glacier
- Solheimajokull Glacier
- Solheimajokull Glacier
- Solheimajokull Glacier
- Spot the humans
- Solheimajokull Glacier
- Solheimajokull Glacier
- A frozen human
- Solheimajokull Glacier
- Solheimajokull Glacier
- In the middle of nowhere
- Rugged
- King Kong
- from afar
- Rugged
- .
- Waterfalls
- Waterfalls
- Waterfalls
- Seljalandsfoss Waterfall
- Seljalandsfoss Waterfall
- Seljalandsfoss Waterfall
- Volcano
- Pretty
- Concrete does not do well in this climate
Northern Lights Tour – This is one of those tours used to suck in the tourists because it requires clear skies and darkness which in Iceland is an Oxymoron. Clear skies occur in Summer when it never gets dark and in winter it is dark but overcast. I booked this tour and it was cancelled due the weather. They then booked me on the following day free of charge and so on and so forth finally having to refund my money hahaha.
The National Museum and Craft Beer, you can only buy alcohol from Government owned shops called Vinbudin.
- Roundabout Art
- National Museum
- Thor or Jesus
- English coins
- English coins
- Weapons
- Loom
- Jesus
- Mother and Child
- Christianity came to Iceland in 1000 AD
- Church Wealth
- Plagues
- English and Germans
- Art
- Whalebone Art
- Art
- Crime and Punishment
- Mermaid
- Sail boat
- 1912
- Cold
- Corrugated Steel Mansions
- Tjörnin
- Tjörnin
- Crooked Neck
- Crooked Neck
- Crooked Neck
- Straight Neck
- Birds
- in the Lake
- Town Hall
- Town Hall
- Museum
- Old Harbour
- Big
- Old Harbour
- Whale watching
- Old Harbour
- Craft Beer
- Brew Pub
- IPA
- The Restaurant
- The Beer
- Boat
- Eve Online Monument
- Colourful
- Art
- Dressed to Kill
- Fountain
- Steaming
- Colourful
- Liquor Shop
- Iceland Beer
Perlan – Wonders of Iceland, interesting place, they have a Planetarium as well.
- Huge
- Glaciers
- Glaciers
- Glaciers
- Ice Cave
- Ice Cave
- Ice Cave
- Ice Cave
- Ice Throne
- Ice Cave
- Rising Sea Levels
- Restaurant at the top
- Volcanoes
- Lava
- Arctic Fox
- The Discoverer
- First Parliament
- Nesting
- Water Tiger
- Perlan Dome
- Nice Weather
- Chocolate
- Coffee
- The Bus
- Art
Blue Lagoon – I spent a few hours here waiting for my flight. It is close to the airport and you can buy a bus ticket that allows you to stop here and continue on to the airport later.
- The path to the Blue Lagoon
- Walks
- On a Walk
- Lava
- Blue Lagoon
- Blue Lagoon
- Blue Lagoon
- The Bar
- Lifeguard
- On the way to the Airport
- Mysterious
- Airport Art
- Airport Art
- Iceland Air
- Keflavik Airport
- Airport Art
- Airport Art
- Airport Art
- To the Gate