Setting out on a very long day

A sleepless night on the plane ended as Keflavik, Iceland came into view and my plane landed.  I boarded a bus for Reykjavik about 30 miles away to start my day for exploration.  It is the most northerly capital city in the world at 64N only a couple of degrees below the Arctic Circle.  As such, the week before the beginning of summer feature days with just over 21 hours of sunlight.  My typical Eurotrip strategy is to plow through the first day to get on the right sleep schedule . . . So I set out to see how many of those daylight hours I could enjoy.

The drive to Reykjavik is an interesting one.  To one side you have the Atlantic Ocean, to the other you have vast fields of former lava flows.  To the ocean side of the road were these beautiful fields of blue Alaska Lupines, while the other direction you see volcanic rocks often encrusted with thick lichens and moss.  Both beautiful views, but so different.  My first impression was that if Hawaii had been plunked down right next to Scotland . . . this is what it would look like.  In the distance I could see plumes of steam coming from the base of a mountain, these hydrothermal features are so constant that a power plant has been built nearby harvesting their geothermal power.  Interestingly these hydrothermal waters are also circulated through the Blue Lagoons resort are where people go to soak in the waters.  Geothermal water is even circulated under some roads and sidewalks in Reykjavik to keep them ice-free in winter.

Alaska Lupine.  This beautiful plant covers the roadside and plains to the Oceanside of the road. Apparently it is an invasive species that has taken off and wreaked havoc, although it was also very good at its intended purpose, which was to enrich poor soil in low lying areas allowing them to be later farmed.

Pictures from the bus did not work well, but this image shows the hydrothermal clouds rising near the power plant and Blue Lagoon.