Hólavallagarður Cemetary

On January 21, I took a walk through the local cemetary. It was so beautiful! There were so many birds that you wouldn't have been able to hold a normal conversation. It was also the largest number of trees I've seen since I arrived - there's not really much soil anywhere else in the country.

Some pretty flowers

The trees were growing right in the plots!

This was a little baby :(

In some places the trees were taking over

Plots at the cemetary

A three-year old child that passed away over 100 years ago still gets decorations around the holidays

A plot with a gate

So beautiful

The vivid moss

The pathways lit up

An old monument

An old stone

A tiny stone

A display telling me about some of the monuments and the stones of which some of them are made

A really old stone

I'm not sure how I would feel if a tree this large were growing in my loved one's grave?

The gate on this plot disappeard a long time ago

Another sign telling me where some of the famous Icelanders are buried

I'm still really bad with Icelandic names, but based on the dates I am guessing that this is a son, his mother, and his grandmother

Reykjavík, January 23

On January 17 there was a snowstorm in Reykjavík. I took a walk down some residential streets to enjoy the view. There are still so many people with their Christmas lights up! I love it :)

The bridge and downtown Reykjavík across a snowy pond

All the houses have pretty fences around them. Some are plain concrete but some are so intricate!

The main shopping street, Laugavegur

Laugavegur in the snow

The ducks and geese in their lovely heated section of the pond

I just love the snow and pretty lights!

On  Wednesday, my friend Simmi gave me a tour of the outskirts of Reykjavík. We ended up at a little beach with a great view of Yoko Ono's peace light.

A huge rock that people jump off of in the summer

At the end of the rocks on the left there is a light that shines straight into the air from October 9, John Lennon's birthday, to December 8, the day he died.

 Handball is an absolutely huge sport here in Iceland. The Men's World Championships run from January 13-30.

The main building on campus, lit up in Iceland's colours (red, blue, and white) for the world cup!

Kris, Sarah, and I at Bjarni Fel to watch the Norway and Iceland game

When I have an errand to run I try to take streets I haven't spent much time on yet, to discover new things!

This bookstore looks like I could get lost in it for hours

A band playing at Sodoma

The main building all lit up in different colours yet again

Hveragerði

On Sunday, January 16, a group of about 40 international students from the University of Iceland (Háskóli Íslands) went to Hveragerði to hike to the hot springs. We took a bus trip for about an hour - during parts of which there was so much fog and snow that it was difficult to see the road!

Looking out the window during our bus ride

The bus dropped us off in a little town called Hveragerði, where we bagan our adventure. We walked along the main road for a few minutes, seeing some cute country houses on the way.

A house along a street in Hveragerði

On the other side of the road was a river. At the top of the river was a little waterfall beside a beautiful house. A little further down the same river was this scene:

Structure of an old house

There were several farms along the road as well. This farm had both horses and sheep.

A farm in Hveragerði

As we continued along the road, we could begin to see steam rising out of the ground as we neared hot springs and warm rivers.

The beginning of the geothermal activity

Sophia and I in front of the steamy river

Behind a hot spring

Bubbling water, with boiling mud in the hole next to it

After tiring of taking pictures of the boiling water and mud, we began to hike up the mountain. As we walked, the weather changed very quickly - from warm to drizzly to snowy. In some part the ground was muddy and soft, in others very slushy, and in still others the ground was frozen or snow-covered.

The view as we began hiking

Part of the group climbing over one hill

Continuing on with the climb, as it gets snowy

You can see one person on the side of the mountain to the right

Such a beautiful view we had!

In front of a little waterfall near the top of the mountain

Sunset - hard to believe that this river is at the top of a mountain!

The geothermal area to the left, and the view of many rivers and streams!