Kaupangskirkja, Iceland
From my spring 2017 trip to Iceland. This was near the end of my penultimate day there as I explored the valley (Eyjafjarðardalur) south of Akureyri. I never stopped to count how many of these little churches I photographed as I toured Iceland, but it was several dozen. They dot the entire countryside--at least, the inhabited countryside (you won't find many in the interior which is mostly absent people). This in spite of the fact that the Icelandic peoples are generally not religious--though obviously that wasn't the case decades ago. The vast majority no longer have services, though some are still used for special events.
This was my last stop on this particular exploration of the valley before exploring Akureyri for a bit and eating my evening meal. Then I embarked on a made dash back to the Keflavik Airport, with only a few very brief stops along the way. My flight back to the States left in the early morning, so I didn't have much time to spare. I'd end up only taking a four hour nap in my car that night. I still had to repack my stuff, which going to be more complicated than when I packed originally for Iceland. It's a complicated story, but suffice it to say that I was told I could check two bags for free, and packed accordingly, but when I arrived at the airport to fly out of Kansas City, I was informed only ONE bag could be so checked. I complained to management, and they decided to compromise: I could check two bags for free on the flight out, but only one on the flight back. So! I had to get creative in my packing for the flight back so that I would only need to check one bag. It took me hours, but I finally accomplished that feat. Looking back, that time would probably have been better spent making another stop on my way back to the airport. It was only 50 bucks, but it was more the principle than the money.
Kaupangskirkja, Iceland
From my spring 2017 trip to Iceland. This was near the end of my penultimate day there as I explored the valley (Eyjafjarðardalur) south of Akureyri. I never stopped to count how many of these little churches I photographed as I toured Iceland, but it was several dozen. They dot the entire countryside--at least, the inhabited countryside (you won't find many in the interior which is mostly absent people). This in spite of the fact that the Icelandic peoples are generally not religious--though obviously that wasn't the case decades ago. The vast majority no longer have services, though some are still used for special events.
This was my last stop on this particular exploration of the valley before exploring Akureyri for a bit and eating my evening meal. Then I embarked on a made dash back to the Keflavik Airport, with only a few very brief stops along the way. My flight back to the States left in the early morning, so I didn't have much time to spare. I'd end up only taking a four hour nap in my car that night. I still had to repack my stuff, which going to be more complicated than when I packed originally for Iceland. It's a complicated story, but suffice it to say that I was told I could check two bags for free, and packed accordingly, but when I arrived at the airport to fly out of Kansas City, I was informed only ONE bag could be so checked. I complained to management, and they decided to compromise: I could check two bags for free on the flight out, but only one on the flight back. So! I had to get creative in my packing for the flight back so that I would only need to check one bag. It took me hours, but I finally accomplished that feat. Looking back, that time would probably have been better spent making another stop on my way back to the airport. It was only 50 bucks, but it was more the principle than the money.