Сегодня отфотала свои акварельные зарисовки. Начала я их делать купив новый акварельный набор - не тюбики, а именно как в детстве, кюветики с красками. Что значительно увеличило скорость работы. А в зарисовках скорость важна, очень. Мне неинтересно ради точки краски сидеть перемешивать тюбики ( Read more... )

Заговорила тут о нашей исландской поездке, и вспомнила что так и не выложила ролик с исландской песней. Мы с Гогой ходили в бар неподалеку от нашего отеля (а впрочем там всё было неподалеку... очень удачное расположение было у отеля), и там выступала местная группа.

Исладнцы вообще чрезвычайно артистичны - пишут стихи, играют на музыкальных ( Read more... )

The word 'geyser' came from Iceland - that, in fact, is the name of the Iceland's biggest geyser - Geysir.

There is a hot springs valley with pools of simmering or actively boiling water.


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The weather in Iceland is quite crazy. You can experience all 4 seasons in one day. Sun, rain, snow, fog, winds... you name it. You can experience 2 seasons withing FIVE MINUTES. Look at these photos. I actually bothered to give you the exact time each photo was taken to illustrate the frequency and abruptness of the changes.

9:38 am (photo ( Read more... )

Iceland's glaciers are among the biggest in the world. Remember the last year's volcano eruption, the one that disrupted all the flights? Well, a volcano just next to it is well past due with an eruption, too - only that one's crater is hidden under a glacier and will provoke dangerous and unpredictable flooding.

Anyhow, glacier: such a fun ( Read more... )

No Last Name For You in Iceland


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If they had to eat rotten sharks, then it must mean there isn't much of a fauna in Iceland. And it's true.

One of the truly Icelandic animals is the Icelandic horse. There was no interbreeding from any horses from anywhere around the world for a 1000 years since they were brought there. So they are direct descenders of vikings' horses.

Looking ( Read more... )

So what's so hot in Iceland? Well, other than the volcanoes that erupt and disrupt the whole western hemisphere's airline business, it's the hot water. The hot springs.

Iceland has an amazing quantity of geysers and hot springs. So much of it, in fact, that they use it to produce electricity, warm up their houses (it's really, really warm ( Read more... )

About 70% of Iceland's population (which, incidentally, totals 318,000 people) live in the capital, Reykjavik. I am not sure what we expected going to the infamous land of volcanoes, but we were surprised to find the view quite similar to those of Switzerland postcards: colourful houses with snow-capped mountains as the backdrop.


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People and sheep and Icelandic horse aren't the only inhabitants in Iceland. It's densely populated by elves, dwarfs, and trolls. Tolkien spent a lot of time in Iceland when writing his Lord of the Rings. And his elves - as tall as people - are the Icelandic elves.

We sure did feel like hobbits often enough hiking in the foggy mountain paths.

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