We returned to Leu Gardens this evening to catch the final night of the “Dazzling Nights” lights show; it was quite different to last years event but still very enjoyable – especially the laser/lights/music show which I have some video of at the end of this post. Meanwhile, lots of photos of course!
And here as promised, some video from the music synchronized laser/lights that we found – when we got there two performers were singing live, later it was recordings but it was all good!
Last year we visited Sanford Zoo to see their spectacular Asian Lantern Festival; in fact it was so good we went twice last year – and last night we returned, taking friends with us. Amazingly we saw almost no repeat designs from last year, with everything different but just as spectacular as our previous visit – and here of course, are lots of photos …
A number of the “lanterns” are animated (some even interact, responding to banging drums nearby!) so here’s a video compilation of some of the moving displays:
One reason for visiting Iceland in the winter was the hope to see the Aurora Borealis / Northern Lights; Margaret had an app reporting good solar activity so we were hopeful, though we something like 300 cloudy days per year in Iceland, we were gambling a little. We figured maybe we’d have to drive a long ways but with ten days to try, there was a hope at least …
Our first chance was November 26 after driving maybe 15 minutes from our hotel to get to somewhere with no street lights. But then the next night was better, and the night after that was better still – all we had to do that night was step outside from our hotel room!
So here’s a selection of the better aurora photos (all of them just using iPhone 12 handheld!):
I also took a couple videos again with iPhone 12; for this first video I used the timelapse feature over a couple minutes and was amazed just how good it came out for handheld!
On the last night from the hotel patio, the aurora brightness was so good and movement so rapid that I took a realtime video (again handheld iPhone) … while sometimes the aurora seems to be stationary but changes if you check every minute or so, in this moment the movement was changing continuously and obviously!
M&I / GBMINI 