The sky never looked so glorious!

So some of you definitely have seen my photos or have been to my apartment and know of it's lovely views of the sky, the famous Reykjavik church, Hallgrímskirkja, the mountains across the bay and the sunsets!

Here are just a handful of the sunsets I have seen so far:

9 PM on 27 April

10 PM on 5 May

Midnight on 24 June - Sun sets soo far towards the North

9:30 PM on 30 June

11:15 PM on 7 July

11 PM on 12 July

10:15 PM on 13 August

10:15 PM on 13 August - One can see the mountains of Snæfellsnes Peninsula

9:30 PM on 3 September - Sun setting behind the church

8 PM on 11 October - And now the sun sets more towards the south compared to in June

It is really interesting to see the movement of the sun through the seasons, especially from spring to summer and now soon to autumn! The nice thing is I get the sunrise from my bedroom windows so can wake up to the sun - though the timing is much nicer in April/May and August/September!

To remind those who never lived far up north, daylight hours change rapidly between summer and winter. During the summer solstice the sun sets at 12:04 am and rises at 2:44 am, while in winter it is 11:23 am and 3:30 pm. Quite the difference! (Today the sunrise was at 8:32 am and sunset at 5:54 pm).

Anyways, besides the wonderful light that is in the apartment, I have to say this is the best accommodation I have lived in so far! The kitchen/dining room/living room area (with a balcony) is spacious and open. There is a washing machine and clothes dry super quick on the upper floor (we have the top two floors of this apartment complex). 

 

 

There are 4 bedrooms in all, two on the first floor with the kitchen/living room area, balcony, bathroom with shower and the upper floor has the grand piano, more skylights and couches, the second bathroom and the other 2 bedrooms. I am on the lower floor and have a little balcony in my room (though I really use the door as a giant window). My room is a nice size and perfect for my needs, even can host some guests (which I have done successfully now 3 times)! Yes it is bright yellow and orange, but one quickly is used to and actually makes the room feel welcoming (in my head). The apartment complex also has a basement car park, bike storage room and a playground - swings, seesaw and sandbox!

Oh and we have a grand piano and a couch under these nice skylight windows, perfect for Northern Lights when they decide to show themselves and isn't cloudy :)

 The apartment also has a good locale! It is about 10 minutes walk to the main street in town - Laugarvegur, where you can just walk all the way down towards the town hall, parliament past plenty of shops, restaurants and bars. Going out is easy as you just go right to this street and can hop from place to place. To get to the university, I don't have to drive (yay), but can walk in 30 minutes or bike in 15 minutes. I do like the fact that there is some distance away from university as then I don't feel so much like a student but somewhere in between student and research scientist. :)

BONUS: I did put this already up in Facebook, but here was a photo I had taken of the Northern Lights a month ago. Keep in mind I did have to photoshop the exposure time a bit since my camera isn't advanced enough to set the exposure time for long lengths of time.

11:30 PM on September 10

Hotpots & Iceland

Icelanders have a love of hotpots...and well all things hot! 

For a bit of background, geothermal energy is thermal energy generated and stored in the Earth and usually limited to areas near tectonic plate boundaries. As Iceland is not only an oceanic hotspot but also on a mid-oceanic ridge, it's geothermal power plants can produce up to 30% of the country's energy and geothermal heating provides around 87% of its buildings with heating and hot water. 

With all that hot water, no wonder Icelanders have a history of building hot pots (natural and man-made) and swimming pools (outdoor and indoor). There are about 125 swimming pool centers through Iceland for a population of 320,000 and in the Reykjavik/Capital area there are 17. One of my favorites is called Vesturbæjarlaug (pictured above), which added a nice new large hot pot (includes sections with or without bubbles). If only this pool was right in my neighborhood, then I'd probably go quite often during the week, though the swimming pool nearby, Sundhöll, has a nice deep hot pot plus a diving board in their indoor pool.

Apparently there are around 700 geothermal areas throughout the country that could each contain any number of thermal springs with water temperatures ranging from boiling to body temperature to tepid. Here are a few that I have been too:

Klambragil (aka Hot River, very close to Reykjavik): 

Photo by Gillian Clark.

There are two ways to get to this "hot" river spot, from above the valley or below! I have done both, which are lovely hikes each way, though the way from below is longer. Basically there is this gorge/valley with plenty of steam and mud hot springs along it. At the spot where people go in there are both hot and cold springs, which vary very much in temperature - perfect way to find one's own optimal temperature. Several dams are along this river so the groups of people can each have their own "special" spot. I have now been here 4 times with various groups of people and it's been always a load of fun since it such a short drive around from Reykjavik!

Photo by Christian Grimm.

Reykjanes (in the West Fjords):

Photo by Mona Dragosics.

This concrete thermal pool was built around 1925-27, is 52 x  12.5 m, 0.6 to 2.3 m deep and temperatures from 36 to 40 deg C. The water comes in via borehole and run-off from a hotel's heating system (hotel used to be a boarding school up until 50 years ago). No chemicals or chlorine is added, which is consistent with the other natural thermal pools. 

Hrunalaug (near Gulfoss of the Golden Circle):

Photo by Iris van der Veen.

This pool is a few km beyond Flúðir and really a nice addition to the "Golden Circle" tour if you can drive yourself. There is one long, narrow pool with stone walls above a little old concrete building with a grass roof (yay!). The pool is 4.5 x 1.45 m, 50 cm or so deep where the water flows up through the gravel bottom. This water then continues to flow through the building and then out into a concrete cistern (the owners told us it was once used as a sheep bath), which is 1.64 x 1.5 m and 1 m in depth - can squeeze 4 people in quite cozily. The water temp is again 37-38 deg C. I have been here twice with friends and especially enjoy this one, though one should make sure to time it well when not so many people might be there.

Photo by Ben Anderson.

Laugarvallalaug (in the Eastern Highlands):

 

Probably only in the past 10 years have more people heard of this valley thermal spot, besides the locals, and the track used to be hard to get into and out (being in the highlands). When a nearby hydropower dam was built, it became a lot easier with the paved roads. There is a dilapidated round-up hut with a grass roof (love seeing these huts), and further along is a dammed stream where 70 deg C hot water comes up from the bottom and mixes with the stream to create a nice temperature of 37-38 deg C. Down below the bank is where this stream runs off the cliff, creating a natural warm shower/water fall and pool - this is where my friends and I went and relaxed for a good hour.

 
Landbrotalaug (at the end of the Snæfellsnes Peninsula):

There are two pools at this spot - one is a small pond with a stone wall, 1m2, 1.5 m deep and temperature 33-37 deg C. My friends and I went to the other one, which is a shallow pond with a gravel bed in order to lie down in. Basically the hot water comes out of a borehole and collects here due a small dam that was created. We came here after a weekend trip to the Snæfellsnes Peninsula, so a lovely way to end before heading back into Reykjavik.

Photo by Hannah Reynolds.

Plus many many more to come....

Something special though is... Nauthólsvík, otherwise known as sea swimming!

Reykjavik had built this "warm" beach at the Nauthólsvík inlet, near the downtown airport. Two breakwaters were built out beyond the inlet with a gap to create a lagoon even with the tides. The shore was filled with "yellow" sand (as black sand is found in plenty of abundance here) imported from Morocco. Hot water is pumped into this lagoon during the summer months and has a temperature of 18-20 deg C during low tides and much closer to sea temps during high tide. There is a lovely centre here with showers and changing rooms as well as two hot tubs, one long narrow one at 38 deg C and another at 25 deg C closer to the lagoon. 

 

Now if you go out past the inlets, one can swim in the actual sea. Now I have been a few times and it did come as a bit of the shock the first time with a water temperature of 7 deg C, brr!! And that was when I borrowed wetsuit boots from someone, definitely was really happy to have the hot pot right there. The subsequent times have been warmer than 7 and even up to 12 deg C, but still a shock to me. At least now I can walk up to my shoulders and tread water. And it is getting to the point where I find it really refreshing to go between the cold and hot water temperatures. Some friends of mine can swim in the sea completely around the two breakwaters and out the other side. Maybe by the end of my 3 years here I can do this??? Who knows...

A lot of this information of the thermal pools was taken from "Thermal Pools in Iceland" by Jón G. Snæland and Þóra Sigurbjörnsdóttir, really nice guidebook!