Fall Shots of Norway
Trick or Treating at the Embassy
Monday, October 28, 2013
Thursday, October 17, 2013
My journey to see the Northern Lights
I have always wanted to see the Northern Lights. On Tuesday when I was in a meeting here in Iceland, the Ambassador asked if anyone had seen the Northern Lights the night before in Reykjavik. Apparently they had been showing up in the city. I was disappointed to have missed them.
On Wednesday I signed up for a Northern Lights tour. At 7:30pm a shuttle picked me up and took me to a bus. In three buses we drove over an hour to get out of the city. Along the way, a Icelandic tour guide gave us the history and science behind the Aurora Borealis. It has something to do with magnetic fields, the earth's axis and radiation coming off the sun. As we were heading to somewhere dark, she also shared some folk history and told some Icelandic jokes about the Northern Lights. Apparently Icelandic kids born under the Northern Lights are cross-eyed.
When we got to our viewing destination there was nothing to see. It was a perfectly clear night with a full moon. I thought the full moon ruined the lights. After a while I ventured over to a cool river and took some pictures. After taking my pictures I went inside the lodge to warm up.
Inside the lodge I got a cookie and hot chocolate. As I finished my hot chocolate, everyone started running outside. The first glimpse of the Northern Lights appeared; it was underwhelming.
After that passed we waited another half hour. With little to show we climbed back on the bus. Before we were all on the bus, we saw this forming in the distance. We all got off the bus and took as many pictures as we could.
When it passed and we were back on the bus, our tour guide informed us that the lights were not "legal" which meant we could reuse our ticket for another night. Shortly after starting our return trip, the tour guide started yelling at the driver to stop the bus. Once the bus stopped 80 people rushed out to witness this amazing show. The tour guide told us this was arguably in the top 30% of quality. It had turned into a "legal" night.
On Wednesday I signed up for a Northern Lights tour. At 7:30pm a shuttle picked me up and took me to a bus. In three buses we drove over an hour to get out of the city. Along the way, a Icelandic tour guide gave us the history and science behind the Aurora Borealis. It has something to do with magnetic fields, the earth's axis and radiation coming off the sun. As we were heading to somewhere dark, she also shared some folk history and told some Icelandic jokes about the Northern Lights. Apparently Icelandic kids born under the Northern Lights are cross-eyed.
When we got to our viewing destination there was nothing to see. It was a perfectly clear night with a full moon. I thought the full moon ruined the lights. After a while I ventured over to a cool river and took some pictures. After taking my pictures I went inside the lodge to warm up.
Inside the lodge I got a cookie and hot chocolate. As I finished my hot chocolate, everyone started running outside. The first glimpse of the Northern Lights appeared; it was underwhelming.
After that passed we waited another half hour. With little to show we climbed back on the bus. Before we were all on the bus, we saw this forming in the distance. We all got off the bus and took as many pictures as we could.
When it passed and we were back on the bus, our tour guide informed us that the lights were not "legal" which meant we could reuse our ticket for another night. Shortly after starting our return trip, the tour guide started yelling at the driver to stop the bus. Once the bus stopped 80 people rushed out to witness this amazing show. The tour guide told us this was arguably in the top 30% of quality. It had turned into a "legal" night.
It was a really neat experience. One interesting thing about the lights is the colors you see in person are more muted than what you see through a camera. A camera has the ability to take in more of the light than the human eye does. The greens and purples you see in the pictures were less pronounced. I would love to do the tour again and take a tripod with me and know how to adjust the settings on my camera to get great pictures.
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