The third week of my trip saw me in Iceland.  I hadn't initially planned on going to Iceland, but when I found out airfare with a stopover in Iceland would be the same as a direct flight to Frankfurt I decided to stay for a few days on the way back.  It was fairly expensive, but well worth it; I have never seen, and may never see, any place like it in the world.  It is a place of exquisite beauty, and I hope that my photos do it some small measure of justice.

          Place names in Iceland are enough to break the jaw of untrained tourists.  However, most of the place names have rather uncomplicated meanings (when the country is this beautiful, you don't need complex nomenclature).  Foss means waterfall, vellir means plains, Reykjavík is the smoky bay.  Where possible, I have tried to provide English translations.

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Iceland.

Glacial river	Sunset at Seljalandsfoss	Skógafoss ("forest falls")
Traditional turf-walled houses	Foss í Siðu ..

Seljalandsfoss

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.	Gljúfurárfoss ("canyon river falls")

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. Fjaðrárgljúfur.("mountain river canyon")

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Kirkjubæjarklaustur  ("church farm cloister")

Systrafoss ("sisters' waterfall")	Kirkjugólf ("church floor")	Stjórnarfoss

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Skaftafell ("mountain pass hill") National Park

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. ..Magnúsarfoss .	Skeiðarársandur, sandy wasteland caused by a 1996 jökulhlaup (flood caused by volcanic eruption under a glacier)	.
		Hundafoss ("dog falls")
	The glacier Öræfajökull atop Hvannadalshnúkur,  Iceland's highest peak	Skaftafellsjökull ("mountain pass hill glacier")

Svartifoss ("black falls"), in Skaftafell N.P.

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Þingvellir ("assembly plains") National Park, old meeting place of Europe's first parliament, the Alþing

Arctic cotton in a small rift	Peningagjá.  Throw in a coin, make a wish, and if you can see it hit the bottom it will come true.	Þingvallavatn ("assembly plains lake") and arctic cotton.. .
Öxarárfoss ("axe river falls")	..	Drekkingarhylur ("drowning pool"), where woman lawbreakers were drowned.

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