Alafoss and Museum

The yarn shop of choice, or so it would seem.  It is the closest to Istex and therefore considered a factory outlet.  In retrospect, it was nice, but best for its setting...a little village.  All of the products are available throughout all of Iceland.  I saw, but didn't buy until my final few minutes in Reykjavik, returning to the very first shop we visited.  I'm always so strong until I'm feeling loss...like getting on an airplane.

Here's the little village of Alafoss.

Then back to the city museum.

And an amusing display of artifacts from the previous century grouped by decades.  

Tectonic plates

Yes, a big claim to fame is Iceland's geothermal/volcanic activity caused by bridging the North American plate and the EuroAsian plate.  Seen on a scale as a narrow crack (wth fellow visitors) I was impressed, and buffeted by strong winds, yet again.

And water, moving...

Half a day outside for us knitters, was a stamp of approval for all our knitwear!

Wool factory #1

What a place!  And spotless! ( As I write this 3 weeks/many miles/several wool producers later, I can say those Icelanders are pretty meticulous!)

We heard an introduction and history in the lunchroom with color palette decor....

And marveled at the enormity of being the only wool producer for a nation full of sheep.

This is Istex (Icelandic Textiles).

Photos minus the noise!

Geocache and Harpa

Met a fellow Iceland Knit Tour geocache mate.  Above that's her (unintentionally) rolling rocks down the incline.  Took the five minutes before departure from the museum next door to search and log.  Hmmm. Were we the last to return to the bus?

And across from the hotel, the place where the first Iceland cache was placed.  Bright sun, still needed to bundle up.

Lovely tour of the inside of Harpa.  Below, our tour guide went out on stage and sang a beautiful Iceland folk song for us!  What a surprise!  She is a semi retired opera singer.

Growing tomatoes

Bet you didn't think Iceland, Icelandic tomatoes!  Neither did I, but hot houses are a necessity and it didn't take too many days of no fresh veggies for everyone to marvel at the feat of tomato production.

Lunch served...tomato soup!  The yummiest.  The secret ingredient?  I'll let Pattie leave it in a comment...

Don't you wish you had 9 foot tall tomato plants?

And a Shetland Wool Week tam?  That's Pattie.  

Harpa and Falls

Harpa: This is the impressive concert and convention center (multi-purpose) building within view of our hotel room window.  Yes, it looks wet... Every day it was wet, and WINDY.  Did I mention the wind yet?  It was, and I wore all my layers for the first 4 days of the trip.  Normal clothing with tights, vest, Icelandic bulky sweater*, wool scarf, hat, mitts, wool socks, and real shoes*.  (*=things from closet I didn't know I had until I started to pack.)

Looking at these pictures, I see only blah grays, but below, this was taken in early evening, and you might detect that some of the glass façade is lit.  In fact, it was a colorful light show, which entertained us every night--all night as our personal Northern Lights.  It was beautiful!

Then our days seeing the country were dynamic...rushing water, giant rocky rifts,

And did I mention the wind?

Oh, yeah...the layers, plus raincoat...and my friend from FLORIDA!!! (And we smiled!)

Wool shop (1)

Our bleary first day in Iceland found us wandering the main street in Reykjavik and into a cooperative wool shop... A tiny "meet yourself coming and going/stacked high wares" wool shop!

It was mostly finished products with a good selection of locally produced yarns, and buttons.  I went back on our last day and picked up some yarn that was twisted with a ply of Thai silk... (I always panic on the last day of anything...)

Below the hotel lobby, and an evening meal with a harbor view.

Women's cooperative.

First morning

A new season... Fall/Winter rain.

A bleary group of sleep deprived tourists stumble out of the bus...

Reykjavik!

Breakfaat.

Sunday morning...

Breakfast.