The Snaefellsnes Peninsula

Roughly an hour and half's drive north of Reykjavik is the Snaefellsnes peninsula. Jutting westward, this dramatic land is filled with neck-twistingly beautiful mountains. We clearly picked the right time of year to see this. The snow really accentuates the fields and the stone mountains.

We stopped to see a couple waterfalls that were mostly ice this time of year. Along the way we saw from dramatic clouds and lonely landscapes.

It is not a trick of the computer that the clouds are so dark behind this mountain. We were soon to learn that this was a snow storm. As we got closer it began to snow.

But, before the snow really set in, we stopped to see a natural wonder that we only see in Iceland... a carbonated water source. This water tap, in the middle of this field, is set on a slow flow rate, I suppose to prevent freezing. What came out is seltzer water. Seltzer water with lots of iron, judging by the color of the ground around it. it tasted quite good, assuming you like fizzy water.

The nearby farm set by itself at the foot of a mountain. Sure feels lonely to me out here.

If this looks like more snow that you'd be comfortable traveling through, we'll it got much worse. It eventually go so bad that buses and cars were stuck around us and gangs of people were out pushing them out. Fortunately, our driver, being the best, naturally, did not get stuck and we turned around and headed back away from the freshly falling snow.

Along the way, we found places where the water had frozen coming over rocks at the roadside.

Here you can see the village of Grundarfjörður sitting between the mountains and the sea.

And by turning a little to the north/northwest we can see Kirkjufell or "church mountain" as our driver called it.

And closer by, we got to see the frozen waterfall, Kirkjufellsfoss. This waterfall might be better in the summer, but this place was pretty amazing in the winter.

Tomorrow, we'll continue this field trip into this wonderland of sea, snow and mountains.