Reykjavik, Iceland - Sail Away

Reykjavik as we depart the port and start the transatlantic crossing part of our journey.

Reykjavik, Iceland - Perlan "The Pearl"

The Perlan is a landmark building that is built on water storage tanks.  The building is very futuristic.

This is the entranceway.

Inside the space was open with a staircase in the center.

There was an art space in the lower level.  The fountain shot up periodically.

The upper level has a revolving restaurant.  There is also a small cafe for quick drinks.

There is a gift shop in the bottom level with Iceland items.  The fifth level has a gift shop and a Christmas shop.

The upper level is light and airy.  There is an inner walkway and several exits to the viewing deck.

This is the view of the skyline with the tall steeple of the church Hallgrímskirkja.  I didn't get to see this Lutheran Church any closer than this photo but my mother said that the architecture was incredible.  She drove past it. There wasn't enough space for a bus to park.  You can learn more about the church and see photos at this wikipedia site:  Lutheran Church

The photos of the exterior and interior are from the wikipedia page.

This view is from a google search using the church name:

Another skyline view.

Reykjavik, Iceland - Hellisheidl Geothermal Plant

The bottom of this post has several links to Geothermal information for Iceland. Generally about 26% of the energy is produced this way.  Geothermal heating meets about 86% of the hot water and heating needs of Iceland.  This plant is the largest geothermal plant in the world.  It produces 303MW of power and 400MW of hot water.  It is a very futuristic building.  The visitors center and exhibits are really nice and there is a viewing platform to see inside of the plant.

The front of the plant

Sign

 The main entrance.

An introduction and description of the layout of the facility and all that there was to see.

A few Nordic helmets.

The inside of the plant.

The glass windows allow you to see all of the activity outside.

Viewing deck. There is an artist at the end of the area, near the glass, painting.

Links:
Geothermal power in Iceland
Hellisheidl Power plant

Reykjavik, Iceland - Country Colors (part 2 of 2)

Another meandering river.  I also took this so that you could see the ladders that were often placed over fences.

Chunks of lava covered with moss.

A farm with a greenhouse.

Pretty valley.

Cool  little waterfall.

We started going through an area that had a lot of moss covered lava.

A little bit of road construction.

The moss covered lava continues.

And then all of a sudden the lava flow stops.  There are steam vents.

This is a pipe line for the steam.  More discussion on this when we visit the geothermal plant.

Moss and lava again.

The guide pointed out the little and big stands of trees. School classes plant them and are responsible for them forever.  Pride in the land.