Iceland, Oct. 8, 2018

It was our second day of touring in and around Reykjavik. Boarding our tour bus, the first stop was the Hofoi House. This is the site where Soviet leader Mikhail Gorbachev met with President Ronald Regan on Oct. 11-12, 1986. While neither leader achieved their goals, this initial meeting paved the way for continuing discussions between the two countries. It would eventually lead to the fall of the Soviet Union.

Scenes with the snow covered mountains in the background on the way to the Blue Lagoon.

We traveled to the Reykjanes Peninsula which is full of lava fields.

The Blue Lagoon is a natural geothermal filled pool located in the middle of a rugged lava field. The water is between 98-104 degrees F and is blue and full of minerals. It is one of the most popular tourist attractions in Iceland. I thought it sounded like fun. Frank, not so much. There was a visitors center adjacent to the lagoon with showers, locker rooms, a snack bar and a waiting area. Frank took pictures of the lagoon outside of the swimming area and read on his Kindle while I enjoyed a dip.

This is a geothermal power plant. The water from here is then sent to the lagoon. The lagoon is not a natural one. However the water is not heated. Most of Iceland’s underground water is warm.

Here I am posing with two ladies from our tour group. Madeline, the lady in the middle, and I had bonded yesterday when we had trouble finding our bus in the sea of buses at the national park. You could get one free drink while in the lagoon. I choose a smoothie. After all, this was around 11 am!

This is a picture I took from the swimming area of the Blue Lagoon. It was very steamy.

We passed a uranium processing plant. The building was very, very long!

We returned to Reykjavik by 1 and had to be back again on the bus by 2:15. (That’s when Frank ate his lousy sandwich.) Our first stop was an open air museum of the early houses of Iceland.

In this wooden stave church, you can see the turf on the roof.

The ship model was hung in the church to bless the fishermen..

A better view of the early turf houses and churches of Iceland.

Our guide is explaining how the houses changed in the 1700-1900’s

This is a statue of Leif Erikson that stands in front of the Hallgrimskiek . He was an Icelandic explorer (970-1020) who was the first European to land on continental North America.

Behind the Lief Erickson statue is the Hallgrimskirkja Lutheran Church. It was built in 1986 and its style is expressionist.

Inside the church.

This Lutheran church is huge. It is not only the largest church in Iceland but is also one of the tallest buildings in the country.

Harpa is a concert hall and conference center in Reykjavik. It was opened in 2011. The colored glass were inspired by the basalt landscape of Iceland.

Frank and me in front of the colored glass wall of the concert hall.

After our afternoon tour, we took a break than went to find a restaurant near our hotel. We went to the Icelandic Bar for dinner. I had a bowl of fish chowder. It was packed with shrimp and pieces of fish in a creamy broth with a unfamiliar seasoning I did not care for. Since I was hungry, I ate it all. After all, when you are in Iceland you don’t expect chicken corn noodle soup! It was a bit pricy at 1,800 Icelandic krona which was roughly about $18.00.

All in all, we had a very busy, interesting day checking out the Blue Lagoon and other sites in and around Reykjavik. I did not have any trouble falling asleep!

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