20 June 2016:

We stayed at the amazing Holt Hotel in Reykjavik, and then ate at Cafe Loki.

So I know that I have these photos taken with the Nikon D610 full frame camera that are all high-resolution, or long exposures done with tripod. And I know Iceland has amazing scenery.

But this iPhone photo might be the best photo I took on the trip, this from Cafe Loki of a buxom blonde lady pouring molten hot lava into Rich's head. Yeah. Oh, I know.

Is Kæstur hákarl, or fermented shark, the most vile, disgusting food on the face of the earth?

Here's how Wikipedia describes fermented shark:

"Hákarl is traditionally prepared by gutting and beheading a Greenland or basking shark and placing it in a shallow hole dug in gravelly-sand, with the now-cleaned cavity resting on a slight hill. The shark is then covered with sand and gravel, and stones are then placed on top of the sand in order to press the shark. The fluids from the shark are in this way pressed out of the body. The shark ferments for 6–12 weeks depending on the season in this fashion.

Following this curing period, the shark is then cut into strips and hung to dry for several months. During this drying period, a brown crust will develop, which is removed prior to cutting the shark into small pieces and serving".

Mmmmmm. Yummy.

So Tyler ordered some at Cafe Loki because, well, why not? It smelled horrible, absolutely disgusting. Surprisingly, it didn't taste that bad.

So no, fermented shark is not the most vile, disgusting food on the face of the earth. Things like liver are still in the lead.

iPhone photo.

After the others left, I explored the streets of Reykjavik.

Street art, Reykjavik. iPhone photo. 14:16.

Smekkleysa Bad Taste Record Store. CDs are absurdly expensive, but having an amazing curator at a record store is so valuable. He played a lot of Icelandic music for me, and I left with a fistful of CDs. I know, who buys CDs now? But this was some great music, and the guy spent over an hour playing music and hanging out with me, discussing various sorts of music. He really knew his stuff well. Reykjavik. iPhone photo.

21 June 2016:

The Well Hung Exhibit (2016-05-21 12 pm)
After rising, I felt up for the Icelandic Phallological Museum, which was hard to resist entering. 

Hanging from the wall is the penis of an African elephant. The Icelandic Phallological Museum in Reykjavik, Iceland contains a collection of more than two hundred penises and penile parts belonging to almost all the land and sea mammals that can be found in Iceland. Visitors to the museum will encounter fifty five specimens belonging to sixteen different kinds of whale, one specimen taken from a rogue polar bear, thirty-six specimens belonging to seven different kinds of seal and walrus, and more than one hundred fifteen specimens originating from twenty different kinds of land mammal: all in all, a total of more than two hundred specimens belonging to forty six different kinds of mammal, including that of Homo sapiens.

I did a fair amount of walking, also going to the library to see their photography exhibit, and then heading on over to the amazing concert hall.

Hanging Out At Harpa (2016-06-21 4 pm)
Harpa was designed by the Danish firm Henning Larsen Architects in cooperation with Danish-Icelandic artist Olafur Eliasson, and opened in 2011. The structure consists of a steel framework clad with geometric shaped glass panels of different colors. Originally, it was part of a larger development, but much of that was abandoned during the financial crisis.

The completion of the structure was uncertain until the government decided in 2008 to fully fund the rest of the construction costs for the half-built concert hall. For several years it was the only construction project in existence in Iceland.

Nikon D7000/Tokina 11-16mm f/2.8. 1/250 f/8 ISO 200.

22 June 2016:

I had arranged for a rental car/car tour for the next several days through Iceland Road Tour Travel Agency. I liked this. I was free to go, stop, do whatever, and it felt really great to have this amount of latitude. If I go back to Iceland again, I would seriously consider getting a camper such as Go Camper so I could also sleep wherever I wanted as well. Iceland is rather free about letting you pull over somewhere and go to sleep in a camper.

When I rented the car, I was given a flat plastic thing. This was the key. I looked everywhere where I would expect to insert a key. Nothing. I finally asked the guy. It was somewhere in the middle of the dash. After that, it was a matter of getting used to this really small car with very sensitive breaks. But after about five or ten minutes of driving it, no problem. I was gone, and it was good. I had a long day ahead, full of many many attractions packed into the first day. And I was bent on doing them all, although I wondered how long it would take. Turned out...all day.

Green Hills and Ruin (2016-06-22 05:44)
For the second part of the trip, I rented a Renault Clio and explored the more often-visited south part of Iceland. This is one of the scenes along Road 1, or Ring Road. Nikon D7000/Tokina 11-16mm f/2.8. 1/250 f/8 ISO 200.

This was one of the stops along the way before the glacial walk. This was an amazing waterfall, full of fury and power. But when it was overcast, it had a certain ethereal quality due to the mist, and so I went with that sort of feel for this photo, using a long exposure to accentuate the mist and creating a sort of ghostliness with the people.

Skogafoss In The Mist (2016-06-22 12:43)
Skógafoss is one of the biggest waterfalls in the country with a width of 25 meters (82 feet) and a drop of 60 m (200 ft). Due to the amount of spray the waterfall consistently produces, a single or double rainbow is normally visible on sunny days. This was not one of those sunny days. The mist, however, lends a beautiful mystery to the image, especially in this 2 second long exposure.

According to legend, the first Viking settler in the area, Þrasi Þórólfsson, buried a treasure in a cave behind the waterfall. The story also says that the chest was found years later, but they could not grasp the chest, only getting the ring from the side of the chest. This ring was given to a local church, which in turn gave it to a museum. However, I did find the treasure, and I should be handing in my resignation to work shortly. Nikon D610/Nikkor 28-300mm. 2s f/29 ISO 200.

The glacial walk was the one thing that I had to be on time for, as it left at a specific time. I had never walked on a glacier before, and it sounded like a lot of fun, walking with crampons on this really cold, crunchy sort of thing. And it was. It felt like an adventure.

The Distance: Glacial Walk (2016-06-22 2 pm)
For the second part of the trip, I rented a Renault Clio and explored the more often-visited south part of Iceland. One of the highlights of the jam-packed first day was a glacial walk on Eyjafjallajokull Glacier, also known as Eyjafjalla or Eyjafjallajökull Glacier. We donned crampons and straps for safety. The temperature dropped noticeably as we ascended the glacier.  Nikon D7000/Tokina 11-16mm f/2.8. 1/250 f/8 ISO 200.

A sneak peak behind the making of a long exposure photo along the coast. iPhone panorama photo.

Dyrhólaey, south Iceland. Dyrhólaey is about 170 km from Reykjavík city, and very close to the small town of Vík (the southern most village in Iceland). Dyrhólaey is a small peninsula or promontory but was formerly an island of volcanic origin. Dyrhólaey got its name from the massive arch that the sea has eroded from the headland (the name literally means "door-hole"). iPhone panorama photo.

Ken's photos of Nobel Peace Prize Winner Aung San Suu Kyi, as well as photos of Peru, Burma, India, Morocco, China, Thailand, Ghana, Ecuador, and elsewhere, have appeared in many books, magazines, websites, and galleries.  Visit the Ken Lee Photography Website. Some of Ken's select photos may be purchased through his Imagekind Store.

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