Berserkjahraun
The “Beserker’s Lava field” is vast and surprising and weirder than most lava fields — varying from soft moss-covered rocks to sharp jagged pillars of lava.
Read MoreAuthor: phouka
Iceland: Day 5
Western fjords and north
Read MoreIceland: Day 6
North coast to Akureyri
Read MorePenitential Food
Every country has some food, some ‘national dish’ that defies all good taste. Haggis, balut, lutefisk, casu marzu…it’s a point of pride to eat it, and great fun dare to visiting tourists to try
Read MoreReindeer
There are wild reindeer in the eastern fjords (although I missed my one chance to take a picture of the ‘caribou next 2 miles’ sign). This prompted a conversation in the car about the differences between caribou and reindeer (a difference in semantics really only used by North Americans, I discovered — apparently everyone else […]
Read MoreIceland: Day 7
Akureyri and sick
Read MoreTypes of Volcanoes
There are hundreds of volcanic cones dotting the landscape of Iceland. Most are extinct, of course — although there are eruptions every few years that remind everyone that Iceland isn’t quite docile yet. The stark and rocky sides of volcanic craters are a huge tourist attraction in Iceland — climbing to the rims of extinct […]
Read MoreIceland: Day 8
Northeast
Read MoreTypes of Lava
There are two general types of basaltic lava flows, pāhoehoe and ʻaʻā. In Iceland, they are called helluhraun and apalhraun. Pāhoehoe Pāhoehoe is smooth thick lava, that flows like molasses and cools in wavy arcs. When lava flows slowly, a crust can form on top that inhibits the lava from bursting through. It can form into huge […]
Read MoreThat volcano that erupted….
Eyafjallajokull. Apparently Icelanders all over laughed themselves silly over everyone’s failed attempts to actually pronounce this. I think most local newscasters gave up and simply said, “the icelandic volcano”
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