Stockholm 4 - Storkyrkan and Fika

The Silver Altar, Storkyrkan

Our last day in Stockholm, I had to leave at noon for the airport so we wanted to make the most of the morning. After breakfast we walked the short distance to Storkyrkan (Great Church) which is the city's cathedral. A church is reputed to have been built on this site in the mid 1200s by the founder of Stockholm, Birger Jarl. The oldest part of the present building dates from 1306. One side lies beside the Royal Palace and many royal ceremonies have been held there.

I was surprised when I entered to find that it was, unlike Riddarholm, very ornate and Germanic in style, but apparently the church was Catholic until 1527 when it became Protestant Lutheran. Unlike us in England they did not have a Henry VIII to destroy much of the Catholic ornamentation and so it survived.

The altar was very beautiful, it was made mainly of silver, so different to anything I'd seen before, it was donated by a Stockholm councillor in the 1650s To it's left was a massive (fourteen feet high) wooden sculpture of St George and the Dragon by Berndt Lotke of Lubeck in Germany dated 1489. There was also the largest Torolf Engstrom and has been in the church since 1972, it was a very beautiful creation and we both bought a candle and added it to the globe.

The Candle Globe, Storkyrkan

St George and the Dragon, Storkrykan

One of Gamla Stan's Quiet Alleys

After looking around Storkyrkan we separated for a while and I went for a general exploration of Gamla Stan. The main roads - well that's the wrong word really as most of the Old Town is made up of narrow cobbled alleys and there is no way cars can enter which is rather nice! So, the main alleys are quite touristy, but it is so easy to find quiet alleys and lanes off the tourist track. I wandered through a few of them and was intrigued to see people working on their computers inside these ancient buildings, old and new living side by side. I thought that was wonderful, these old places are still very much part of Stockholm's day to day living.

I went back to the hotel and met up with Yvonne and we checked out and left our cases at reception. We headed out in search of fika. Fika is a Swedish institution, basically it is a break where you have coffee and cake which sounded good to us and we were keen to follow the tradition!

We found a nice looking cafe called Schweizer Konditori just down the road in Västerlånggatan. Yes it sounds more Swiss than Swedish but inside it was full of Swedish delights. The fayre on offer at the counter was amazing and beautifully presented, but we went for fika, coffee and cakes, I had a raspberry tart and Yvonne had what they called a princess cake. Both were delicious and it felt a very fitting way to end our short stay in Stockholm.

Part of the Counter at the Schweitzer Konditori

Our Fika Cakes

  All too soon we had to leave. We went back to the hotel, reception ordered a taxi for me, I said my goodbyes to Yvonne (she was leaving later in the day) and walked down the road a little to get the taxi. The cab got stuck behind the changing of the guard for a while and the relatively short trip to the railway station ended up being the most expensive taxi journey I've ever had, but hey I was on holiday!

Soon I was on the Arlanda Express once more hurtling at 200kph through the Swedish countryside towards the airport. I had really enjoyed the few days in Stockholm, it is a gorgeous city and its people are welcoming. I could have done with a week there though as there were things I didn't have time to see and I would have loved a trip outside of the city. It was a kind of life journey for me too, that wish to visit Stockholm was planted in my mind as a fifteen year old girl and it took a long time, but I've finally been there, so this felt like the end of two journeys for me.

Stockholm 3 - Under the Bridges and Saying Hello and Goodbye to a Queen

Again we were up bright and early, had breakfast and out into a overcast Stockholm, mind you, even in that weather it looked beautiful. We were heading to nearby Stromkajen where we were joining the Under the Bridges of Stockholm boat tour. This tour passes under fifteen of the bridges that link some of the islands that make up Stockholm.

Gamla Stan from the Water

The boat was barge-like and chugged along at a leisurely pace. We passed by the gorgeous Grand Hotel . and then Djurgarden and had a good view of the Vasa Museum and the Grona Lund amusement park.  We passed Gamla Stan and then passed through a lock that separates Lake Malaren and the Baltic Sea. We then skirted the north shore of the island of Södermalm. There were some gorgeous turreted buildings built up on a hill facing Gamla Stan, they were very Germanic in style which is something I noticed with many of Stockholm's old buildings. We passed many residential areas, the apartments all had large balconies brimming with colourful flowers and there was lots of greenery. There were also many houseboats lining the shore.

We passed the island of Langholmen and then looped around Lilla Essingen and south of the small island of Reimersholme. There we passed a huge wooden barrel on the shore, this marks the site of the original Absolut vodka factory founded by Lars Olsson Smith. We continued on and followed Sodermalm's southern shore. We passed a huge hospital that had dozens of allotments on the slope below it all with brightly coloured sheds.

The Grand Hotel

On our way back to the berth we passed the spot where the Vasa sank all those years ago, it was very close to the museum where it resides now. And that was it, I really enjoyed the boat tour and we saw more of the city than we would have any other way. Being built on many islands you often get the best views from the water.

Before I go on with the next part of my trip as promised I'll let you know what drew me to Stockholm in the first place. When I was around fifteen I read a book called Desiree by Annemarie Selinko. It was a novel based on fact about a silk merchant's daughter called Desiree Clary from Marseilles in France. She was engaged to Napoleon at one time and married a French general called Jean Baptisite Bernadotte. In 1810 Jean-Baptiste was asked by the elderly, childless Charles XIII of Sweden to be his heir. Eventually in 1818

he was crowned King Charles XIV John  of Sweden and Desiree became Queen Desideria and to this day the Bernadotte dynasty is still Sweden's royal family. Since I read the book I have been fascinated by Napoleonic times in France and how a silk merchant's daughter from Marseilles ended up as Queen of Sweden and I wanted to see Stockholm for myself one day. I waited a very long time but now I was there.

We then went to The Royal Palace (and saw another changing of the guard up close) which is the royal family's official residence and place of work. It also houses royal departments and state apartments where visiting world dignitaries stay. We went in and climbed marble steps with diagonal lines across them into the palace proper. We wandered through the rooms that ranged from very opulent to oppressive, beautiful and homely. It varied a lot, there was even one very modern room which was the present king's homage to Swedish design (no it wasn't furnished by IKEA!) Apparently there are over 600

Me Outside the Royal Palace

rooms in this humongous place!

There were a few portraits of Desiree and her family, mostly from before she actually lived in Sweden - she moved there permanently in 1823. She had been very unhappy in Sweden, she hated the cold, never learnt the language and always longed for France and she became increasingly eccentric as she grew older. Unfortunately no photos were allowed in the palace which was a shame, but I suppose flash can damage old paintings and tapestries.

There were several museum's within the palace but we didn't have time to see them all so we decided go to The Royal Armoury. It is the oldest museum in Stockholm and was founded by King Gustav II Adolph in 1628 and is now situated in the vaulted cellars of the palace. Upstairs was an exhibition called Power Games which housed costumes from TV and film such as Elizabeth the First and Game of Thrones. To be honest I wasn't at all interested in that so I went further down to another lower floor to see the real historical things.

It housed royal belongings going back to the 1500's, there was a beautiful blue velvet cape with golden crowns on it from very early times. Gustav II Adolph's horse, Streiff, which he rode at the battle of Lutzen in 1632 was stuffed and put on display here. Clothing of various kings and queens, swords, crowns, even

Riddarholm Church

ornate carriages and amazing sleighs. The latter reminding me that  this is a Nordic country with lots of snow and the waters around Stockholm's islands are frozen in winter. It was very interesting and I enjoyed looking

round the museum.

We had a snack of cakes and coffee and then again went our separate ways. Yvonne wanted to go to the Photographic Museum and I wanted to go to Riddarholm Church. which was only a short walk from the cafe. It is one of the oldest buildings in Stockholm with parts of it dating back to the thirteenth century. It has not been a functioning church since 1807 but was reserved as the burial place for Sweden's monarchs until 1950. It's distinctive cast iron spire replaced the original spire that was destroyed by lightening in 1835.
Nowadays the church is primarily the resting place of royalty and also a museum and in summer it is the venue for classical music concerts.

The church is a typical Protestant type with little ornamentation. It has various chapels along each side where the various royal families tombs lay. The floor is stone with some ancient patterned slabs. I was especially

Tombs of Karl XIV Johan and Desideria

interested in the Bernadotte chapel which was dominated by the huge marble tomb of Karl XIV Johan. In front of it was Desiree's tomb, with her royal name, Desideria, along the front. I was surprised that I found it quite moving to view her tomb. This was the last resting place of a

woman from history who had an amazing journey from a French silk merchant's daughter to a reluctant Queen of Sweden and who had captured the imagination of a schoolgirl in the north of England many, many years before. It felt like the end of a journey for me and I said hello and then goodbye to her, it felt like it was something I had to do.

I went back over the bridge to Gamla Stan and looked round some shops and ended up in the beautiful square of Stortorget.  The Nobel Museum was bustling and my Stockholm Card gave me free entry so I went in. It was busy but also fascinating, it was a very interactive museum. By now though I was getting tired and though I would have liked to have spent longer there I didn't stay that long.

Nobel Museum

I went back to the hotel and freshened up and by time I was ready Yvonne was back from the Photographic Museum which she has enjoyed very much. Before going out to eat we went to the library in the hotel and finished our bottle of wine watching the action on Västerlånggatan

When we left the hotel we soon noticed a restaurant called Gasgrand 4 (Goose Alley) in an alley of the same name close by. It looked nice so we went in, we had the choice of a table upstairs or one downstairs in the cellar, we went for the latter. It was small and very atmospheric, reached by curving stone steps, it was quite dark and had stone walls, I liked it.

Gasgrand

My Elk Burger

I decided to go Swedish and had the elk burger which was lovely, surprisingly more like beef than venison. It came with saute potatoes, pickled cucumber (which they seem to love here), lingonberry jam and salad.
And seeing it was our last night and we had money left, we splashed out and had a bottle of wine and a delicious dessert too. We took our time and had a lovely, relaxing last evening meal in Stockholm.

I felt sad that it was our last night, I loved Stockholm and there was so much to see and not enough time.

Stockholm 2 - Island Hopping and a Doomed Warship

We were up early and went down for breakfast. It was lovely, a good choice of typical Continental breakfast fayre along with more Swedish things like herrings in a creamy sauce, caviar, crispbread and pickled cucumber. They even had a choice of 3 minute and 6 minute boiled eggs wrapped in linen cloth to keep them warm. A member of staff was constantly checking and keeping everything topped up.

After breakfast we walked through the

arches of the government buildings and over the bridge. It was a beautiful morning and old Stockholm looked so lovely with its spires and gorgeous historical buildings. We walked on into the modern city centre.

We saw a lovely chocolate shop on Drottningsgatan (Queen Street) and just had to go in. We saw an interesting shop full of chocolate and other delights so we just had to go in! There were some chocolate things

called skumtopp which made us smile, they are marshmallow covered in chocolate and much more delicious than they sound. They also sold Swedish crispbread which was circular with a hole in the middle and dozens hung on a pole above the counter.

We walked on to the Tourist Information to pick up my Stockholm Card that gave discounts on trips and museums. We also booked the Under the Bridges boat tour for the next day.

Then we caught the hop on hop off bus. We had decided to do a circuit first and then get off at places we wanted to see more of. We toured the centre of the city, passed the City Hall its three golden crowns on the tower gleaming in the sunlight. 

The Opera House which was beautiful, and, like a lot of the buildings, it had a Germanic look about it. We skirted

The Royal Palace

Gamla Stan with its narrow roads it was impossible for the bus to enter properly. 

We passed the huge Royal Palace and saw the changing of the guard. We then crossed a bridge onto the green island of Djurgården   which is Stockholm's leisure place with amusements and parks and also where many of the city's museums are. 

On the second circuit we got off the bus at the Vasa Museum which houses the Vasa warship. The building itself was spectacular with the "masts" soaring out of the roof of the building. The Vasa was built in 1627 and sank on its maiden voyage 1300 metres from where it set sail. It lay on the seabed until it was recovered in 1961. It was in an extremely well preserved state and put on public display. 

We got our tickets and went in and immediately are in a huge room dominated

The prow of the Vasa

by the Vasa, it was stunning, so much bigger than I expected. There were galleries at different levels to the side of the ship so you could see all levels. To the other side were exhibits of articles found in the wreck and videos about its history. 

The ship had a huge, curving prow and highly decorated stern, the masts were massive. Looking at it I wondered how this huge ship floated at all! 

The highly decorated stern of the Vasa

We had a snack in the museum's restaurant before leaving. I had wanted to go to the Nodiska Museum close by but it was closing. I pondered on going to the Abba Museum further down the road which only opened the previous month, but decided against it as it was extremely expensive and we got no discount with our Stockholm Card. 

We caught a tram back to the centre of town and then went our separate ways as we wanted to see different things. I headed back to Gamla Stan and crossed a bridge and onto the small island of Riddarholmen. I wanted to see Riddarholm Church, now a museum and burial place of Swedish royalty until the 1950's.  Unfortunately it was closed, so I headed back to our hotel, popping into some shops along the way. There were some beautiful old buildings in Gamla Stan with ornate carvings around many of the doors. Its so good that it has been preserved for us all to enjoy. 

Before we headed out too eat that evening we had some wine (that I had brought with me knowing how expensive Sweden is for alcohol!) in the lovely little library area of the hotel. It is on the first floor and looks out over Västerlånggatan. It has a comfy leather suite and books to read, very relaxing.

We walked the short distance to Stora Nygatan to an Italian restaurant called Rodolfino's. By coincidence we had both noticed it on our way back to the hotel earlier, it was a bit away from the main tourist area and was therefore a little cheaper than some we'd seen. It was decorated in the red, white and green of the Italian flag, basic, but comfortable and friendly. More importantly, the food was delicious, we shared some wonderful garlic bread then for mains I had a ham and mushroom pizza and Yvonne had seafood pasta and we both ate the lot. 

It was after 11pm when we headed back to

the hotel. It was still light and ahead of us the tower of the cathedral, Storkyrkan, rose above the other buildings and the usually busy main streets were quiet. Already our first full day in Stockholm was over and we were both loving the city. 

Stockholm 1 - A Quirky Hotel and Heavenly Spires

I felt a thrill as the plane descended into Arlanda Airport near Stockholm, I looked down on a landscape full of forests dotted with countless lakes. I always get that feeling when I arrive at a new destination and wonder what experiences lie ahead of me, don't think I'll ever lose that thrill of travelling. And Stockholm is a place I've always wanted to visit, I'll tell you one of the reasons why later.

Before I knew it I was on the Arlanda Express train shooting through the Swedish countryside at 200 kph. It was brilliant, fast - 20 minutes and you were in the centre of the city - clean, roomy, ran every 20 minutes, WiFi. It was also expensive, but there is a bus that takes longer but is much cheaper. However two tips for the Arlanda Express - they have a two for one ticket offer in the summer and pensioners always can get half price tickets.

I stepped out of the Central Railway Station into a strangely quiet Stockholm. We later found out that it was the Midsummer national holiday over the weekend we were there, it didn't affect our trip, just meant the roads were quieter and many general shops were closed.

I decided to walk to the hotel as I knew it was not far away. I savoured my first views of the city, it was beautiful with its islands, water, bridges, historical buildings and tall church spires soaring up into the blue sky. I crossed the Vasabron and to my left saw the Royal Palace, it was huge! I was now in Gamla Stan and soon was struggling with my wheelie case on the cobbles, not a good mix! Eventually I came to Västerlånggatan, a long narrow street on the western side of the island and that used to follow the line of the old city wall. This is where our hotel, the not very Swedish sounding,  Lord

The Lord Nelson Hotel

Nelson Hotel was. It is a hotel like no other, less than six metres wide, full of naval memorabilia much relating to Nelson, the rooms are small, named after shifts and inside like ship's cabins. Its very quirky and absolutely delightful! I will do a separate full review about the hotel soon.

My friend Yvonne was already there and we met up and had a chat. Then we headed out to a nearby restaurant specialising in Swedish food that had been recommended by  the receptionist.  It was called Tradition on Österlånggatan near our hotel and it was a lovely walk through the cobbled streets and lanes of Gamla Stan. 

It was a pleasant place with modern minimal Scandinavian design and served traditional Swedish cuisine with a modern twist. It was expensive so we decided too just go for mains. I had mustard marinated beef with sauté potatoes and pickled cucumber. The meat melted in my mouth and there was lots of it so we didn't have room for another course. We had a glass of wine each, mine was £11.00!! But we both thoroughly enjoyed the meal despite the prices. 

We had a leisurely walk back in the late evening sunshine (love the northern lands long summer days), via Stortorget, the beautiful small square in the middle of Gamla Stan. I was looking forward to exploring the city more in the next couple of days. 

Restaurant Review - The Golden Fleece, Ruleholme, Cumbria

My friend and I wanted to try somewhere we had not been to for our meal out so we chose The Golden

Photo from The Golden Fleece Website

Fleece at Ruleholme near Carlisle in Cumbria.

It is a traditional country inn, with natural stone walls and wood beams. It has a nice outside area with tables and benches which would be lovely to sit at in good weather. Inside there is a bar, a small lounge where you are seated prior to your meal to peruse the menu and nibble on warm party sausages, toasted bread with a lovely pate and crisps. it was different and a nice touch.  I was pleased to see that this was a restaurant where you could get those small bottles of Prosecco, ideal if you are driving.

The eating area consisted of a few small rooms, with large tables (with old maps of Cumbria on them) and plenty of space between them ensuring lots of privacy. It felt cosy and comfortable. There was some bread and butter and a bottle of water on the table when we were seated.

I chose the Fleece burger, made from rump steak, topped with goat's cheese and red onion marmalade, onion rings, thick cut chips and garlic mayo. The meal was presented on a wooden platter. The onion rings were the biggest I've ever seen and lovely and crispy. The burger was tasty and juicy as were the chips and the portions generous..

My friend chose the gammon with pineapple, fried egg, and chunky chips. The pineapple was fresh and the slice of gammon huge and it was served on a granite slab. Like me she was very happy with her meal.

We were quite full as the portions were generous and could only manage ice cream for dessert. I had a scoop each of raspberry pavlova, chocolate and vanilla.  It came in a large cone sitting in a cone-shaped glass with a little container in which there was a small amount of sprinkles, chocolate pieces, hundreds and thousands and fizzing angel dust. The ice cream was very creamy and went down easily.

Our bill came in a little wooden chest accompanied by two decadently delicious chocolates. The service was friendly and efficient, and the food was served quickly. It cost us just over £40 for two alcoholic drinks, two mains and two desserts. Not cheap, but not over expensive either for what we had. We'll definitely be going back and if you want a pleasant atmosphere with good food try it, you won't be disappointed.

Fin Dac, Street Artist

On Facebook today I came across this mural created by the Irish artist Fin Dac in the Gibson Hotel in Dublin. It is pretty amazing, full of energy and movement and what a scale. This photo shows the artist beside the painting and shows how huge it is.

Fin was self taught and originally hails from Cork but is mainly based in London and has created works all over the world. You can view more of his art here and there is a short article about him here. It looks like a visit to the Gibson Hotel is definitely on the cards on my next Dublin visit!

Review - The Plough Inn, Wreay, Cumbria

The Plough Inn is a place I have been going to for years, it is a country pub, with a warm ambiance and excellent food. Recently I heard that the pub had been taken over by new owners and tonight my cousin Glen and I went there for a meal - this was their first night serving meals. I must admit we were both a bit worried that it would not be as good as it had been previously.

The pub itself looks exactly the same, traditional with a modern twist and a pleasant atmosphere. The menu was much more extensive, but that's not always a good thing, it's easy to over-extend in this business. The menu told us that the chef was from the Seychelles and had 22 years experience.

We shared a pate starter, the pate was homemade and lovely. For our main courses Glen chose a chicken curry and I went for the duck marinated in cinnamon, honey and lime with mash, veg and red wine and red currant gravy.  My duck was tender with little fat and the subtle flavours were delicious and were like none I'd experienced with duck before. Glen loved her curry, in fact she said it was the one of the best curries she had ever had. Neither of us had room for a dessert!

The chef, Winston, came out to speak to everyone, he was very pleasant and seemed happy that we had enjoyed his food so much. Later one of the owners, Jane, came across to speak to us. She said that the pub would serve food  Wednesday-Sunday. Monday they would be open for drinks and homemade burgers and a quiz night. Tuesdays again it would be drinks with a live music night. So it sounds like there will be a good variety of events at the pub in the future.  I thought it was really nice personal touch that the chef and owner came out to talk with the clients like that. There are also going to be special nights with a Seychelles buffet which sounds like it will be brilliant.

Judging by the fare tonight I know that we will be continuing to visit The Plough regularly and I have  no hesitation in recommending it.

Puppies, Theatre and Birthdays

Dear me I've been a bit neglectful of my blog this month, so thought I'd make another April entry so I have at least two this month!

Seamus is thriving, he's grown so much! He and Pepsi are great friend now and enjoy tiring each other out racing about the living room and play fighting. Ellie is still a bit wary and I have to watch she doesn't stand on the little fellow as she is such a klutz lol.

Seamus has attended puppy class and was very confident and at ease from the start. He is intelligent, walks well on the lead and is getting better with house-training.

I had forgotten how much work a puppy is though, they are a real commitment and you need patience and more patience. But it is all worthwhile, Seamus is a joy and I love him to bits.

Inbetween looking after my puppy I have started a new job within the firm I work for and it is ok. I now have a two week rolling rota so know exactly what I'll be working unlike the previous job. So I think it has been a good move.

I went to see Dancing at Lughnasa by Brian Friel at The Theatre by the Lake in Keswick the other week. It's a play I've wanted to see for a long time. It is set in a kitchen of the home of five very different unmarried sisters, their disgraced priest brother recently returned from Africa and Michael the illegitimate son of Chris, one of the sisters. Michael as a man looking back to 1936 is the narrator. Not a lot happens on the surface and as they go about their repetitive lives, there is much repression and restraint. But beneath this there is passion that occasionally shows itself as it does when the women, even the self righteous matriarch Kate, movingly dance wildly to music coming from Marconi, as they called their radio. Little happens, yet, everything is changing.  It is a touching, deep play that has many themes that intertwine that I feel I would like to see it again to fully appreciate it.

My friend Debbi is 50 this year and like me last year she is having an official and a real birthday. For the official one she has said she wants to go wine tasting in France, what an excellent choice. Really looking forward to celebrating her day in that way, France, good food and wine and great company, perfect!

My New Family Member

As some of you know I lost my 12 year old dachshund Max tragically last October. Recently I felt ready to get another dachshund to keep my wire daxie Pepsi and daxie cross Ellie company. Twice I was very close to adopting a rescue dachshund, but both times, through no fault of my own, they fell through. The last time that happened was on March 16th, then on the 17th I saw dachshund puppies for sale on Facebook and soon my name was down for a gorgeous wire boy!

On March 25th my friend Justyna and I drove through to County Durham to pick up my pup, who was just then ready to go to his new home.  The trip was pleasant, across to Hexham and then onto the A68  through Northumberland and into County Durham, up and down rolling hills with some beautiful big country vistas.

The puppy was gorgeous in real life as he was in the photos and on video I'd seen, I met his lovely mum and dad as well as his human mum!  I had shortlisted three names, (all Irish as I'd bought him on St Patrick's Day), Paddy, Dillon and Seamus and when I saw him I just knew he had to be a Seamus, it was perfect for him. His full title is Seamus O'Sausage, just couldn't resist lol!

I had a first photo taken of Seamus and me before we set off home, unfortunately he is slightly blurred, when he's awake he's never still for long. Seamus was snuggled in a fleecy blanket for the journey home and slept all the way.

Once home I introduced him to Pepsi and Ellie, they were interested in him but I was careful as he was so tiny. He was lively, bright and had a hearty appetite. He also settled remarkably well, with only a little whining in the first 24 hours, pretty amazing since he'd left his siblings and the only home he'd known.

Since then he has been a joy, already in just over a week he has grown and put on weight and is very settled indeed. My other two dogs are getting to know him, though it will take a while for them to get fully used to this crazy little pup tearing around lol! He'll be going to puppy classes soon, there's no doubt he will be the smallest there - however, as with most daxies, he is big on attitude and personality! So, welcome to the family Seamus, you'll get lots of love here and I know you will bring much joy.

A Few Photos of Enchanted Iceland

My friends and I took some lovely photos during our time in Iceland so I thought I'd put a few here for you to see, hope you enjoy them! All photos (c) by Dianne and Danielle Beeaff and myself.

Out and about in Reykjavik

Hallgrimskirkja at dusk

I called Reykjavik the City of Lights, there was light everywhere, this was
Skoladustigur where we stayed

Inside Harpa

A view down a street towards Mount Esja

Tjornin

Carving on a door we passed

Bright and cheerful!

Traditional House

There were some  beautifully decorated windows in the shops, here's number 1

Number 2

Number 3

Solfar (Sun Voyager) sculpture

Out in the countryside

Gulfoss partly frozen 

The Westman Islands

Selfoss 

Wall of dappled ice at Solheimajokull - it shone like glass

Solheimajokull (glacier), the dark areas are ash from the eruption in 2010 of the
nearby Ejafjallajokull volcano

Skogafoss

Black beach at Reynisfjara near Vik  

Vik beach

Sea near Selfoss