Nature
We had an unusually mild and warm start to Spring in late March with summer-like temperatures. The weather has returned to typical dull and gloomy though, with almost freezing temperatures (and snow in parts of the UK) last week. We visited beautiful Bodnant Garden in North Wales during the warm spell to view the magnolias and daffodils in magnificent bloom.
Icelandic horses are a special breed of small horses well known for their spirited temperaments. According to Wikipedia, they have few diseases in their native country and were developed from ponies taken to Iceland by Scandinavian settlers in the 9th and 10th centuries. The ones that we saw (when our driver stopped by the roadside for us to take a look at them) were certainly tame, even in the half-blizzard that was brewing!
A friend in London recently suggested that we make a trip to Iceland to view the Northern Lights (aurora borealis). Iceland is only less than three hours by air from London and would make an interesting holiday destination before we finally return home to Singapore in the middle of this year. CY did all the homework planning for the trip, including searching for the best tours to join on the internet. The Northern Lights can be a very elusive target for many travellers to Iceland. How lucky we were to travel to Iceland just in the midst of a solar storm. Even then, it took us two nights to see the display because of snowy and extremely windy conditions in Iceland. Credit to our tour guide for bringing us to the right spot at the right time!
Some interesting points about how this shot was taken — Find out more on my gallery’s Facebook page!
17 August 2012 – Voted “Noteworthy” in Photo Friday‘s Challenge on the theme “Luminous”.