Abigail Across the Pond

Wow, today was a whirlwind! So many awesome things to see in one day, including a volcanic crater, a geyser, a waterfall, a rift between two continental tectonic plates, a national park, a glacier, a huge blue lake, and more!   This is a volcanic crater with a lake at the bottom. Yes, the water really is that blue!  This is the "Golden Falls," the 2nd largest waterfall in Iceland. It is not super big, but at its full strength, it has just as much water falling down per second as Niagara Falls. Those aren't just clouds sitting above the mountains... that a glacier! The second-largest glacier in Iceland, to be exact. This is just a small section of it.  This is the "Geysir" area, which reminded me a lot of Yellowstone. This geyser erupts every 5 minutes, and the area around it is filled with steam, more geysers, etc.  I climbed a nearby ridge to see the geyser from a distance. You get a view of the countryside from here, too. ...

Today is a bittersweet day. It is sad because the study abroad program is over and I have officially left the UK, but it is happy because... I'm in ICELAND!  I spent today exploring Reykjavik, the capital of Iceland.  This is the Hallgrimskirkja Church, one of the architectural landmarks of the city (don't ask me how to pronounce the name....) In front of it is a statue of the one and only Leif Erikson.  From this angle, it looks the tiniest bit like a temple. :)  This sculpture is called the Sun Voyager, which looks out at the Esjan Mountains across the way.  View from inside the National Concert Hall, which is also an architectural masterpiece.  This is a geothermal beach! I went wading in it, but I'm glad I didn't jump all the way in because it got really cold once you were in water that was more than 2 inches deep. :)  This is Ellidaardalur, a park in the city limits that is just beautiful! It has lots of trees and waterfa...

 We're in Edinburgh! Here is the Scott monument, honoring Scottish author Walter Scott. It is the largest monument to a writer in the world.  Edinburgh castle!  How Scottish... I love it! :) We went to an adorable little tea shop and had fruit tea, scones, and clotted cream! It was so yummy!  This is the tea shop.  Today we hiked King Arthur's seat, which is a big hill/ridge just outside of the city. A view of the city from the top of King Arthur's Seat. This is the "birthplace" of Harry Potter because it is the cafe where JK Rowling wrote the first Harry Potter book. Look at this awesome Scottish hat!!!!! Love to you all!

We made it to Scotland! We drove into the country on Friday and then walked an 8-mile trail to reach our hostel. Did I mention that our hostel is right on the edge of Loch Lomond!?!?! The views are incredible! Here are just a few pictures of the loch. This is our hostel, which looks like a gingerbread house perched on the edge of this beautiful blue loch. Yesterday we hiked to the summit of Ben Lomond, a peak near to our hostel. We hiked up into the clouds and got rained on again, but it was still a neat hike with some great views. Here's a picture of my professor's cute son at the summit. He was so proud of himself for making it to the top! :) Loch Lomond! It is WAY bigger than I though it would be! It is the largest lake in Great Britain and is 21 miles long. We get to spend the entirety of this beautiful Sunday here at the hostel and on the lake. Here are some of us enjoying this day of rest. What a view from our couch in the hostel! Wish...