Graduation was over and both Jane and I had to be in Europe after a few days, so what better way to transition than to go to JFK and have a burger
and quesadilla
for Jane
and me
before boarding an IcelandAir flight where this was the napkin.
On the other side, we got to the airport
and drove to a lava field where we climbed the hill
in this moonscape
and except for a few signs of human habitation might have been on the surface of the moon.
But the indentations
the interesting rocks
and the scenic views
and flora
made us happy that we had this car and would be exploring for a few days.
Next we came upon the hot springs where the signs warned
and we saw a spring off to the side
before checking the map of trails in front of us
which made it clear we wanted to stay on the path
as we looked down upon bubbling pools
with smoke rising
and dented pieces
as we looked across the landscape of the various thermal pots here
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When we woke up, we realized that Ruby Tuesday was across the street
but walking further past the houses of many colors
we found our way to sandwiches
and this pastry
which amused Jane
and me
as we completed our lunch at the Sandholt
and walked on through the town until we reached this statue of Skuli Magnusson (fogeti)
by the city hall
and watched the ducks in the pond
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After our first daily swim, we were ready for dinner and so walked into town to A naestu grosum, the vegetarian restaurant,
where these were our meals
and our drinks
and the business card of the restaurant
along with the dessert
favored by Jane
and the beer
that I chose.
On the way back to the hotel, we saw these 3 T shirts
in the Dogma shop which was closed
and after recording this memorial
we noted the neckties and went home to bed.
The next day began with breakfast
which prepared Jane
and me for the new day
so that we could drive off until we reached the Snaefellsness Peninsula
and stopped at the Vegamont Restaurant
where we looked out at snow covered peaks
and loaded our drinks into the car
before driving on to Budir
where the old church (still in use) told us we were at the trail head
and as we looked beyond the cemetery to the sea and Reykjavik in the distance
we could see the path we would follow
with interesting indentations
that we could look into
and fault lines
with the mountains still in the background
as we came to a dividing line of stone
before getting further direction of the way to Frambudir
which led to our first beach scene
but as we walked on the beaches became more interesting
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Next we drove on to Snaefellsojokull
where the road was going to take us to the remarkable views
and we choose to ignore signs like this one (which was ok to ignore) and the one that told us the road was impassable (which we might have considered more seriously)
but we pressed on and came to this place where my tire marks give a sense of the challenge of reversing back down the hill after it was clear we could go no further.
we did enjoy the view
and were able to walk to the nearest snow fields
but the glacier was out of reach
even though the views we had were quite nice in all directions
as Jane headed towards the nearby hill
and we thanked the car for getting to a safe place
from which we could learn about Bardur and the Singing Cave
which we then walked to
and were able to identify
though the entry was small
and though I went inside, I did not meet dwarfs and did not hear singing.
But the scenery was quite good
as Jane made her way in
and we recorded views
and ourselves
as Jane pointed out the glacier which was becoming slightly more visible.
Next it was time for lunch, so we found this spot
and while we were waiting, we noticed that we could get to the center of the earth from here
and so recorded locations
and then descended for photo ops
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Our last day began with breakfast, as always
and then we were off to do the Golden Circle. We stopped at Sudurland
to record remarkable views (as the winds were growing)
and then were off to Kerid which was a collapsed volcano that the guide said might just be for volcano enthusiasts.
The views were suitably remarkable
that we greeted the local dog
and then made our way around
stopping to have our pictures taken by some Finnish folks
and then continued
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Next we were on to pINGVELLIR
where we walked up past this cliff (which turned out to be Europe
so that we could walk on a trail between the European (to the left) and North American (to the right) plates
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After a relaxing soak, we went on to Keflavik where Jane
was happy to see rolls
and I was happy to see beer
as we had one last meal
and then captured the Reykjanesbaer sign in the 11 PM light.
After Iceland, it was back to work and so we headed to Copenhagen and then went out separate ways. It took me some time to adjust and so I didn't record my room in Aarhus
until I could also record the remains of room service from the night before
and then record views
the bathroom
the view down to the lobby
and the do not disturb sign
before dressing and preparing to go present my talk.
After the talks, pictures were taken of the 4 invited speakers -- Kurt Melhourn, Emo Welzl, me and Micha Sharir
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The next day, I took an obligatory phone booth picture
and then the next day, I recorded a station on the train
before boarding the plane to Iceland where this sign hung in the bathroom
and once in Iceland, I recorded a picture of my favorite yogurt to summarize the journey.