I spent a whole week dedicated to exploring the outdoors and taking chances to get away from the city! Every chance there was to experience the nature and surroundings that Iceland offers.
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It was a challenge, but I spent the week nights searching for the northern lights. Due to the poor weather I was only able to spot them one night, so I'll definitely keep looking for them in the future. The night I did see them, I was actually in a park right in the downtown area... pretty lucky since light pollution can make it difficult. A little fact about these lights is that the color is based upon the composition of the molecules that are reacting with the radiating sun. If the colors are green or orange, the molecules are high in oxygen. If the colors are blue or purple, the molecules are high in nitrogen. At this point, I've seen green lights on a clear night, and some blue ones a on a night walking home through the clouds.
During the weekend, I took a trip to some geothermal springs. The springs always boil at 100 degrees Celsius. There's not much too them, but they're beautiful to watch.
I also visited a waterfall, one that was named after a couple of children who were said to die there when they went exploring by themselves. Legend has it that there used to be a stone bridge that crossed it. but the mother had it torn down so no incident like it may occur ever again.
Finally, I went caving! It was really beautiful, and an experience that my camera could not capture. It was really interesting to the ice covered walls and ceilings under the mountain, and turning off the lights and just listening to the ice melt and drop was very peaceful. To get there, I had to hike across lava fields covered by moss to get there and passed a giant glacier, which was covered with even more snow when we came back.
Many more adventures to come! It was really nice to get out and enjoy the fresh air!
x Emma
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