The magic of Paris, London and Iceland

[davenn]

For the first couple of weeks of March, my wife and I travelled to the opposite side of the planet for the first time.

2 nights in Paris, 3 nights in London and 7 nights in Iceland ( the major reason for the trip)

Weather in Paris was cloudy, cold but dry. In London varied from sort of dry to rain to snow. In Iceland was sunny, dry but bitterly cold.
Temps there varied from -8 to -12C and windchill added to that taking it down to around-17 to -20C.
The Iceland tourguide said it had been many years since he had seen frozen over waterfalls etc

It was very cool seeing places we had only heard of or seen on TV etc

just a few of several 1000 photos







Some amazing buildings in London



that famous crossing

 

[davenn]

Nelson's Column



Buckingham Palace



Big Ben clock tower
We discovered that Big Ben actually refers to the bells, NOT the clock tower

 

[davenn]

House in Reykjavik, Iceland, where Mikhail Gorbachev and Ronald Regan had a 1986 Summit



Frozen/partly frozen waterfallseverywhere




the signs of volcanism everywhere
Basalt Columns




Stunning aurora at night

 

[kellys_eye]

So you made parole then!

Iceland seems an unusual choice for someone so far removed from this part of the world. It's been 40+ years since I was last there so can't even make a qualified comment on the place any more! I do recall the cold though. It was a February when I was there and stormy - real stormy.

Nice pics - love the aurora which shows your astro photography skills.

 

[mineymoe]

Wow, what an incredible trip! Sounds like you packed so much into just a couple of weeks - Paris, London, and Iceland must have been such a contrast. Those aurora shots are stunning, and the frozen waterfalls must have been surreal to see in person. Also, interesting detail about Big Ben - I had no idea it referred to the bells and not the tower. I had a tour on Paris last month with https://gowithguide.com/france/paris/guides and it was amazing. Eiffel Tower and the Louvre are absolutely magical at night when the lights are on!

 

[davenn]

I had a tour on Paris last month

very cool, nice to see all the fencing taken down around the Eiffel Tower parkland
Stunning photo of the Louvre

 

[davenn]

Iceland seems an unusual choice for someone so far removed from this part of the world.

hey mate, sorry for the very late response
It was on the bucket list for many years. 3 main reasons
The geology - specifically the volcanology
The amazing waterfalls
Last but not least, the aurora. Growing up in southern New Zealand, I had seen/photo'ed many aurora - Aurora Australis, aka Southern Lights.
but only rarely were the auroral storms big enuf to expand far enuf northwards to end up being right under the the auroral curtain and witness
a coronal display.

My first view of the Aurora Borealis, aka the Northern Lights, was over British Colombia, Canada in 2019 from the deck of a cruise ship.

The trip to iceland was planned for the eqinox period 9 around March) to coincide with the best times of the year to see aurora and we
were not disappointed. 5 nights away from the city lights of Reykjavik and we saw aurora 4 out of those 5 nights !!

There's so much to see and do in Iceland, we only covered some of it. i would go there every year for a holiday if I could afford to.
One more pic from Iceland .....

 

[Delta Prime]

The geology - specifically the volcanology

Last year I got my degree in volcanology.
I graduated Magma Cum Lava…