Back to London. Iceland: Aurora Borealis.

First thing back from Reykjavik and how does London greet me? By having the Bakerloo line break down. well done London.

In any case, night one of four in Reykjavik Iceland starts here. :)

The 830pm bus took us to this desolate field with a make shift parking lot. Far away from the city, no artificial lights to clog up the brilliantly clear night sky. We waited in the freezing cold for ages, stargazing, trying to spot constellations or something. We were told to look east, some physics related reason that I don't remember, but east it was. Questioning that would be pointless. For the better part of 2 hours we couldn't see squat. Or at least, we thought we couldn't. With a 30 sec exposure on a camera, you could see that yes, indeed, there was a small green band above our heads. Hiding behind clouds, right above the atmosphere. We were just hoping that it'd come out of the closet. 1130pm, we all got on the bus, ready to leave disappointed. 10 minutes after the engines started, a large green band appeared right above the horizon, stretching all the way across our heads. A large band that increased in diameter as it pass above us. Elated, we got out. What was one band became two, then became a blanket. Intensifying really really quickly. It twirled and spun, danced around like a wave. Imagine a flame, but going round and about instead of up. Even with a bright full moon, the lights were clear as day. For a brief moment, we saw white and quick flashes of pink as it went on. It almost seemed like the colours within the blanket were teleporting around. Just about the most amazing things I've seen in my life. And then, like a dream, it was over, and it reverted to plain old green bands. We hung about for about maybe 30 minutes more, admiring one of mother nature's most stunning display of beauty. It flared up here and there across the night sky, but it never reached that level of ferocity that lasted mere minutes. For those few minutes though, we gasped and cheered and screamed. I speak for all of us there when I say that we won't be forgetting that. Ever.

Photos really don't do it justice. Nor do words, I'm aware. But still. I can't possibly live without at least writing this up. SO here it is, future self. For mostly your eyes only.