Icelandic winter is so warm :)

Yesterday it was -7°C, today it's +5°C, weather is never so severe here for a longer time. Geothermal heat, Gulf-stream are working together to make our Icelandic winters more pleasant. I hope the snow will stay longer for the next months although it's not that obvious.  Huge amounts of snow are cumulated on the pavements in Vesturbaer and less centric areas. Downtown it's clean mostly, because of the geothermal water in the pipes laid under many sidewalks. My wonderful house has this luxury invention too, but on the backstairs that leads to my place there are mountains of snow, it is piling also in the cosy backyard. Changing into ice and compressing. Sometimes you need a pair of skates to go for a walk. Enjoyable winter time :)))))



Also aurora borealis, famous northern lights, is warming our dark nights, in sense that it's such a marvellous phenomena! I can stand outside for a long time even when it's really cold only to capture it on the photograph! :)

And above all, wonderful geothermal outdoor swimming pools with jacuzzi and hot pots, available in many places in Reykjavik. I am already addicted to this awesome activity, can swim even when it's -7°C outside! Water can be around 28-30°C and in the hot pots 38-44°C. A lot of steam in the air, nice sunset or a sunrise, blue sky... the life cannot be more beautiful!

In the picture you see my favourite Vesturbaer pool at sunset. Absolutely love to walk on ice bare foot between hot pots when it's -7°C :))))

Yesterday it was such a wonderful light in town. It started late in night: amazingly intense green ribbon of aurora dancing in the sky was visible almost everywhere in the city. Then, in the morning, the sunrise was so intensively orange that I couldn't believe my eyes. It seemed to be completely different planet, maybe Solaris? :) And then the sunset was so colourful with golden and red light that many people went for a walk with their cameras. I took mine too and went to Vesturbaer west coast. Even it was quite cold but the view was recompensing everything! Wonderfully beautiful day, all in one! :)

And I should highlight the fact, as my Icelandic-English friend explained me, that Icelandic day in wintertime is only sunrise and sunset, each of them last more then for 2 hours, so the sky is always colourful if it is not too much cloudy. And that's absolutely admirable to think about the day in this way! :))))

Today the day is cloudy and gloomy for a change, still some nice colours are visible in the sky. That's a magic of Iceland! :)))))

One more important thing. Winter Solstice was celebrated on 21th December in Reykjavik. Astronomically it had place exactly at 23:03. It means that the daylight is slightly increasing since this moment.
In Reykjavik we had 4h and 7 minutes of sunlight on that day. But 'On Iceland’s northernmost inhabited island Grímsey, which lies on the Arctic Circle, the sun doesn’t rise at all at this time of year. However, although islanders can’t see the sun, they do enjoy two hours and 15 minutes of daylight' 

I was eating ice-creams in that moment with my friends after coming back from the Laugardalslaug pool. Ice-creams are very popular in Iceland all the year round! I am still surprised seeing kids on the sleighs eating ice-creams. But I shouldn't be, as winters in Iceland are so warm :)))))