Iceland
Iceland, the land of fire and ice. And my favorite country in the world (right after my home country, of course). So far, I have been to Iceland three times, in July 2016, August 2019, and the last time over Christmas and New Year 2021/22. And I have to admit, although it was bitter cold with temperatures close to -20°C at night, it was one of the best Christmas holidays I ever had. Here, I collected the best shots.
28.12.2021 - 04.01. 2022
South-Eastern Iceland - Reykjavík
Sunrise over the thermal baths of the Blue Lagoon.
The Bridge Between Continents in Sandvík spans a rift that separates the Eurasian and North American tectonic plates.
The empty beach of Sandvik. A very peaceful place to just sit and watch the waves.
The Garður Old Lighthouse on the northern most tip of the Reykjanes peninsula.
The old Hólmsteinn fishing boat at the Old Lighthouse in Garður around noon.
Christmas decoration on Skólavörðustígur, downtown Reykjavík. At the end of the street is the famous Hallgrímskirkja.
The Yule Cat, or Jólekötturinn. According to Icelandic folklore, the cat lurks around at Christmas and eats people who haven't received new cloths before Christmas. Luckily, I bought some new gloves...
Beautiful Christmas tree in front of Dómkirkja in Reykjavík.
Nátthagi lavaflow, created from the eruption of Fagradalsfjall mountain, which was active from March to September 2021.
View of the lavaflow from the top of one of the surrounding mountains. There are still gases being vented from underneath.
One of the bigger eruption vents. The rim and sides are colored in yellow from sulfur.
Panoramic view of the lower part of the lavaflow. The lava has not cooled completely yet, and since there can be holes hidden under a thin crust, it is not recommended to walk on the flow (although this is very tempting, I admit).
New Year's Eve in Reykjavík. People here go crazy with fireworks, shooting almost the whole day and continuously since 11pm. Without a watch it was impossible to tell when exactly it was midnight. For me, this was the greatest New Year's firework right after the one in Sydney, Australia.
The graveyard of Selfosskirja. I love Icelandic graveyards, because they are all so colorful. Each grave has a glowing cross in different colors.
Close to the thermal baths of the Secret Lagoon I found some cute elf houses.
Hard to believe, but this is the highest elevation the Sun rises in South Iceland in early January.
Seljalandsfoss surrounded by snow and ice.
Icy Skógafoss.
Skógafoss in the sunset.
Sunset at Skógafoss.
A beautifully decorated house in Selfoss.
Aurora in Þingvellir. The first picture shows Þingvallakirkja. With the old graveyard behind me, standing alone in almost complete darkness, this was a little creepy. But nevertheless, it was amazingly beautiful, even with some red colors showing up.
Grótta lighthouse on the Seltjarnarnes peninsula in Reykjavík during sunrise.
A little house next to the lighthouse. I'm not sure if somebody lives here actually, it would be a lovely place.
Sunrise over Reykjavík. The little Grótta island is only accessible during low tide, so it is important to know the tide tables.
View North across the bay, with the mountains colored by the rising Sun.
Another sunrise over Þingvellir. It's obvious that sunrises are my favorite theme, because of the amazing colors.
Gullfoss in winter is even more stunning than in summer. The crystal blue water flows over rocks covered in ice.
Þórufoss is a little waterfall I found by change next to Route 48. It was really cold when I was there, I had troubles keeping my fingers and toes from freezing. However, I think I got some nice shots.
Hallgrímskirkja in Reykjavík and the statue of Leifur Eiríksson.
The illuminated graveyeard of Lágafellskirkja, close to Mosfellsbær.
22.12. - 28.12. 2021
Northern Iceland - Akureyri
Shortly before the arrival to Keflavík, the moon rises over the snowy landscape of southern Iceland, painted in pink by the sunset.
Actually, the full moon does neither set nor rise around winter solstice. It stays close above the horizon in the North, before rising again high into the zenith.
Icelandic horses brave the bitter cold weather.
View on Akureyri after sunset. I'm staying for one week around Christmas in the largest city of North Iceland.
This pictures says it all, Akureyri is really lovely.
Akureyrarkirkja, the main church in Akureyri.
Sunrise over the thermal bath of the Geosea in Húsavík. There is no better place to be in winter.
Harbor of Húsavík.
Sunrise over the fjord Eyjafjörður in Akureyri.
The backland of Akureyri before sunrise.
Goðafoss in winter. The sun just rose over the horizon and painted the landscape a little pink. That day was especially freezing again, but there were no people at all, which was very nice.
It is Christmas Eve in Akureyri and there has never been a better Christmas present than seeing the Northern Lights for the first time. They are even more fascinating than I imagined. They really do dance across the sky, changing so fast and showing so many beautiful structures that I sometimes didn't know where to point my camera. It's been almost -20°C and I have been outside for over one hour, but it was totally worth it.
Within minutes the shapes changed and formed these bands or curtains. It appeared as if they were raining down on me right above my head. Best Christmas ever.
Dettifoss is one of the biggest waterfalls in Europe. Unfortunately, I didn't see much of it due to the wind and spray. Within minutes my camera and I were covered with a thin layer of ice.
A bit further upstream there is a smaller waterfall named Sellfoss. The path is not easy in winter, very slippery.
I only had little time to stay at Sellfoss, because the road back was not cleaned and it started to get dark and snowing more. The 21 km back to the main road were not easy.
Just a 'little' bit of snow over night. It took me half an hour to uncover my car and I learned how to drive through knee-deep snow to leave the parking lot.
Öxnadalur pass on Route 1. This is why cars need spikes in winter. The visibility dropped to about 2-3 m in the following snow storm. I was lucky to drive behind a snow plow for part of the way.
