Iceland - Day 1

We worked on Friday and flew over night to Iceland.  It was nice to make a short drive to the Blue Lagoon, relax and get cleaned up after the flight.

Entrance to the Blue Lagoon was through a lava flow.

Iceland 2015

We spent an amazing week in Iceland.  Iceland is unlike any place we have ever been.  Traveling in Iceland reminded us of traveling in Wyoming, Montana, California, Alaska, Hawaii, and Scotland all in one week.  We saw lava fields, lava beaches, geysers, geothermal pools, glaciers, icebergs, and too many waterfalls to count.   We also saw fields of horses, fields of sheep, and fields of  arctic swans.  We also saw whales, seals, and puffins.

We did a self-drive tour of the Ring Road.   This is the map with the numbers marking the places we stayed overnight.  I only wish we had more time.  We made it around but there are places I wish I could have spent more time and places we did not see.  Hopefully, we can return some day.

1969 VW Beetle engine with dual carbs and high flow exhaust

Colmar, France

Colmar is the home of Frederic-August Bartholdi who designed the Statue of Liberty.  We say several of his statues around the town.  It is one of the most picturesque towns I have been to in Europe.  Every street was a feast for the eyes.

Strasbourg, France

When we docked in Strasbourg, France, our boat was surrounded by swans.   At one point, I started to count them but quit at 42 when I saw I wasn't even half way there. The first photo shows just a small subset of the swans surrounding our boat.  From our boat, we actually took a canal cruise into the city.  Some of the photos below are from the cruise.

Strasbourg has a wonderful cathedral with many interesting stories.  My favorite story is about the dog carved in stone below.   This carving is on a pulpit that was carved for a priest who had very engaging sermons.  His dog would come with him and sleep on the stairs.  When the priest died, the dog still came and slept on the stairs waiting for the sermon to finish.  The pulpit is in the photo above.

Heidelberg

Rudesheim, Germany

We had a fabulous evening in Rudesheim.  The second photo is Kevin with our new friends from Kansas.  We enjoyed their antics throughout the trip.  In Rudesheim, we enjoyed Rudesheimer Kaffe with them followed by a fabulous meal "off the boat".