Skip to main content

The Land of Fire and Ice

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 waterfalls and wildflowers. It makes you forget that you are in a big city for a minute when you are walking through it.


Hopefully I will have some more awesome pictures tomorrow. I've really liked Iceland so far, and since today is the longest day of the year, I'm not expecting it to get dark tonight. They have what they call "midnight sun" at this time of year, so I might stay up tomorrow night to see the world completely light at midnight! :) But until then, I'm pretty pooped (I walked 14 miles today during my exploring, haha). For now, I'm sending my love to you from Iceland! Thank you so much for all of your thoughts and prayers; I know they have been helping to keep me safe and keep everything going smoothly during this trip. Heavenly Father truly does answer prayers and is mindful of us-- even little ol' me here in Iceland. :)

Lots of love!

Comments

  1. So many prayers for you!!! And they continue! That is a beautiful place! Amazing architecture! So excited for you to be there and continue your adventure for a little longer! Enjoy tomorrow and the midnight sun! Love ya and see you soon!!

    ReplyDelete

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

A Rocky Weekend Recap

We saw Stonehenge today! But first, a quick recap of the "rocky" weekend... :)  On Friday we visited Jane Austen's home in Crawton, which was awesome!   Here's a view of the house... And Jane's very own writing desk!!!!! I felt much more in the spirit of Austen when I wore this bonnet. Afterwards, we got to explore the ruins of a castle called Old Serum, pictured here. The fields around the ruins were filled with wildflowers. The hostel where we are staying is inside this old house, which is pretty neat!  We hiked 2 miles to church on Sunday, and got this awesome view on our way there. Here's another beautiful sight that we saw on our trek to church. And, last but not least, Stonehenge!!! It was a tad windy. :) Here's a picture of our whole group!  We also got to hike and visit this large Neolithic burial mound, as well as a tomb pictured below.  These rocks mark the entrance to the ...

Punting on the Thames

Today we were in Oxford! We went to a pub called The Three Goat Heads for dinner, and I tried liver. :) But first, a few group pictures that I've missed from past days. This is from last Sunday in Bath. This is our whole group at the Cliffs of Dover. This is our classroom. :) We stopped along the trail in Cornwall to have a class and do some travel writing. A fun view from Stourhead.  And here's Oxford!  A pic of some of our group in the punting boats.  One of the girls learning how to use the punting pole.  An Oxford bridge.  Some of the cool buildings in Oxford. This is the pub where J.R.R. Tolkien and C.S. Lewis would meet and talk about their books together. That's all from Oxford. Love you all!

Chatworth House

Today we toured Chatworth House. It is owned by the Duke and Duchess of Devonshire, who still live in part of the house. It has been passed down in their family since 1549. It is also the house that they used as the set of Pemberley in the Keira Knightly version of Pride and Prejudice.     A few photos from inside the house.  And another of the outside. :)  The gardens, once again, were probably my favorite part. Here is a maze in part of the gardens, as well as a few other pictures.  The estate is so large that they have these stone markers around the gardens that tell you how far away you are from the front door of the house. I thought this was pretty funny.  There were also several fun sculptures and art pieces in the gardens as well, like this umbrella piece.  Get ready for the biggest scandal of the century: The Lion King wasn't actually set in Africa, it was set in the Peaks District in England!...