Royal National City Park in Stockholm

Royal National City Park is the worlds first national urban park

The park is around 10 km  ( 6 miles)  long

The forests can contain deer, hares, foxes  and birds

The park was established in 1995

There is a 36 km  (22 miles)  cycling route to be used

Some local residents are luck enough to live here year round 

Culture to be found everywhere within the boundaries of the park

Holy Small........maybe the residence for the Mother in Law lol

One of the many museums within the park

Reykjavik and Walking the Streets

Inventive way to advertise ........i like it!

Some great art showing the history of what once was 

Getting Lost......ah no, downtown is very small and the city itself has around 120,000 citizens 

Inside Hallgrimskirkja  (Lutheran Church ) and its walls 

Thought of Ernest Hemingway and his Old Man and the Sea  novel when i took this picture.....thinking of the relationship Iceland has with the ocean 

Business Sign and why you ask........i thought it was cool looking lol

Sun Voyager was sculpted by Jon Gunnar Arnason and is a dreamboat with promises of undiscovered territory, dream of hope, progress and freedom

Inside the Harpa Opera House located  as you see on the water

The history of Iceland began with the Vikings  in the late 9th century

Street Art

After this picture i wondered to myself what they are feeding the animals here.......i was a vegetarian after that for the four days i visited hahahahahaha

That is right........surfing in all conditions 

Harpa Concert Hall was completed in 2011 at a cost of 164 million Euro

Inside the Volcano ( Thrihnukagigur ) in Iceland

The 1.7 km (1 mile) walk to the base camp begins after being dropped off from a 30 minute drive from Reykjavik
Now this adventure is not cheap ($340US) which includes 1 or 2 guides,  but there is no other place where you get to go inside a volcano & experience nature in this manner

Iceland averages  an volcanic eruption every 3 to 4 years because of the Eurasian / North American plates meeting here. 
It is home to over 130 volcanoes & the active ones erupt regularly which often are under glaciers which are called subglacial eruptions.  

Some of the things you learn during our hike; the rocks (because they are porous) act like a filtration system  for the drinking water of the City of Reykjavik 

The lava fields during our trek

Thrihnukagigur translated means Three Peaks Crater & was discovered in 1974 by cave explorer Arni B. Stefansson which then opened itself up to tourism 2012

The Base Camp that was airlifted by helicopter as no motorized vehicles are allowed on the grounds

The last 100m or 350 feet of elevation

An open elevator system that bounces a bit at the cone side to side to be aware (think like a high rise window wash system)  and it takes around 5 minutes to get to the bottom.
 Then we have half hour to explore

It is only 4C (37F) once we got to the floor & we are going down 212 meters (700 feet)
Think of the Statue of Liberty fitting inside easily

The base is huge as i tried to highlight this by including that person in the corner of the photo
In comparison it is three full-sized basketball courts connected together

The magma normally would fill the chamber thus sealing itself but as you can see it scorched the earth on the way out which would of happened 4000 years ago when Thrihnukagigur last erupted

As you can see the floor is unstable so needless to say proper footwear is a must plus depending on outside weather condition is how you dress for the hike to the volcano

In 2015 a band from Iceland called Kaleo & 14 crew went to the magma chamber & recorded a live rendition of their song;
Way Down We Go

When your down here you really feel how insignificant we are as humans & the awesomeness of Nature
I should not have to say this but i will,,,,,,you cannot take any of the rocks in your pockets as you leave

Another group descending our way.....then we return from the Centre of the Earth

As i leave the volcano you can see not a lot of room to get through the cone opening

Back to the meeting point at the ski cabin  where there is complimentary coffee or tea as you wait for your transport