Iceland: Epilogue

Iceland was incredible!  I would go back in a heartbeat, and I would definitely go back with my 3 lovely companions.  

There were all sorts of things about Iceland that were surprising.  First, it was very expensive, but since the guidebook said it was expensive, we always seemed to guess that things were more then they actually were - which weirdly somehow made you feel better about it.

The hot water stank.  I guess all of the hot water comes from the ground, and the sulfur smell was overpowering and always made the place smell like farts.  I wondered as we left if we now smelled like farts.

Inside the church keyhole

The food was mostly very good.  For a place that is famous for eating shark that has been buried in the ground for 3 months until it is rotten, it was surprising to have this great food.

The people were friendly, but not REAL friendly. 

They know every family that ever settled on the island, and most of the original farms are still there.

All the building were covered with metal siding, and graffiti is clearly seen as an art form.  I completely agree with this.

What are you three going to do?

The trip home was an adventure as usual.  Reykjavik and Thurso are 721 miles apart.  To return home, I flew to Manchester (1010 miles).  I said goodbye to my good friend, changed terminals and checked in for my flight to Aberdeen.  

During my 4 hour layover, I read magazines, ate a pizza, walked around and watched people.  Shortly before my flight, it was announced that it was going to be late.  It pushed back two more time and finally after an hour and a half we took off for Aberdeen and flew 347 miles.  

We landed 10 minutes before my flight to Wick was supposed to leave.  I went to the check in gate and asked if there was any way, and they said get your bag and we'll see.  Twenty minutes later, my bag came and it wasn't even worth asking because for the first time all year, the last flight to Wick took off on time.

Iceland Beautiful Iceland

So I walked out to the rental car companies and after visiting each counter, I was told that there were either no cars or they wouldn't allow a car to be taken to Wick - like it was a foreign country or something.

So I came back to the airport and considered my options.  I asked if I could take the first flight the following morning.  I was told yes, but I would need to buy a new ticket for £197. So then I wandered over to some random guys standing around and asked how much a taxi would be and they said to where? and I said to Wick. and they said Wick! you know that is way up there? and I said I know, I live in Thurso and they said, Really! hmm, I guess that would be £400. 

So, factoring in the £197 airline ticket, the £150 for a hotel and the new suitcase I would have to buy because the one I had was held shut with tape (remember the broken zipper), I decided the taxi was actually the more economical option.

So I surprised them all by saying, I'll take a taxi.  Fifteen minutes later and a lot of funny chat done, my driver showed up.  

He was a retired detective with 30 years in the Aberdeen police force and had recently retired because they messed with his pension.  We talked into the wee hours until we arrived at Wick Airport at 1am, after driving 210 miles.

Car collected and bleary, 25 mile drive home I arrived to my two wagging tails; they were not at all bothered to be woken at such an uncivilized hour.  We laid on the floor and ate Triscuits and thought, hmm, life is good.

our last day...reykjavik

Sunday morning and after a leisurely start, we went off to breakfast. We had picked a place the night before and it turned out it was not great.  Mom and Dad's food was cold and Gill and 

I didn't get our omelettes until they were nearly done and they were very dry and mine had eggshells - yuck!

It was sunny, but much colder than the other days and the wind was gusting.  While we ate breakfast, we even saw a few snowflakes come down.  After breakfast, we went to Hallgrimskirkja which is the largest church in Iceland at 240 feet.  The book says it is built to resemble a volcano; however, I thought it looked like an organ, which it is also famous for.  There is a statue outside to honor Leif Erikkson.

We went in and took the lift to the top.  It was about 20 minutes before service, and the bells were ringing.  I decided this was too loud for me and I loitered at the bottom of the stairs, which is the area of the clock faces and each face is done with filmed glass, and it seems to represent humanity.

Upstairs, you can look out on all four sides, and it was incredibly windy, but on the north side, it was so windy that my eyelids were flapping, and it made me cry, but I made sure to get my shots.

Down the elevator we went and we stopped for just a moment to listen to the organ and the choir coming through then back out into the cold and the wind.  We headed down to the harbour and walked down to the flee market.  It was so windy, you had to put your head down to cut the wind.  

The flee market was a jumble of mostly junk and things you would find at a garage sale with lots of old clothes and glassware.  There were a couple of booths with homemade crafts and we purchased glass panels and a knit hat for Gill at these places.  

Afterward, we went into the food market.  We stopped first at the coffee shop, which had a bunch of savoury cake like structures where they had used mayonnaise as icing.  The whole display made me feel sick, and we had to move on.

On to the fish and meat section, we got Dad to try some dried fish, and the book said the Icelanders eat these like potato chips; he said it was okay, but stayed with him for a while.  We also tried to get him to go for the rotten shark, but had scared him too much over the last 4 days and he passed this one up.

After the market, we headed toward the old harbour and stopped at the Volcanic cafe, where the food was healthy and volcanic.  We had coffee and then headed across the street and watched a movie on Iceland that gave new meaning to surround sound as it was displayed on all four walls and the ceiling, each view was the same scene in the appropriate perspective.  Me, dad and Gill laid on the floor and took it all in.

We headed back toward to the apartment with the intent to do some shopping, but the majority of the shops were closed.  Those that were open had people in them, including us.  We made a few small purchases and in general, had a nice afternoon.  

Once at the top of the hill, we stopped and had soup at Svarta Kaffi, they said they served the best soup in Iceland - at least this is what the sign said.  They served us soup in giant bread bowls. Mom and dad had mushroom and Gill and I had Mexican meat soup, which I would call left over meat gravy soup.  It was good, but a bit strange.  We all licked it up.

Back at the apartment, we all chilled out and had some internet time, then we taught Gill how to play Oh Hell and we played two rounds.

Gill and I braved the fierce wind and went and picked up Thai food at the end of the harbour and then stopped at the grocery to get dad a Gull.  We mowed through that Thai food like eating was an Olympic sport.

It was at this point that we had to do the packing.  Gill and I had to switch suitcases so I could fit in all of the dog treats mom and dad brought Maggie and Thatcher - they are the luckiest dogs.

almost all day

Today, we headed off to explore the west coast.  This was a suggested itinerary in our book, and we left out of Reykjavik before 9am.  We went north and around the long way on the fjord and the scenery was great and required a few stops for pictures. 

We stopped at the end of the fjord to see the tallest waterfall (656 ft) in Iceland - Glymur. Our guidebook said to take the very good gravel road off the main road, and there it would be.  Well, it was a fairly good gravel road, but then there was a fairly substantial 5.5 km hike.  We started off, and it was a gorgeous morning.  We had to cross a few streams, which we did as a team.  

Finally, we got to this cave and realised we had to go through the cave and down to the river.  At the same time, we could cross to the very end of the rocks and watch two guys try to cross the river upstream on this log - it took them a very long time, and they were dressed and prepared for it. 

So after some consideration, we decided to turn around - almost making the falls.  The walk back was just lovely and when we were in running distance, it started to rain.  We almost made it to the falls, but we didn't, but that was okay because we had a lovely morning and otherwise would have gotten all wet.

After this, we headed to the Settlement Center in Borgarnes. This was a fairly large village, and the Settlement Center told the history of the people that came to call Iceland home, mostly Vikings from Norway.  Downstairs, told the saga of a boy named Egil - pronounced ale.  He was a dark poet, who had a gorgeous blonde Viking brother; he also tangled with the sorceress queen of Norway and her husband and eventually outlived everyone until the age of 80.  His final despicable act was to kill two slaves who had carried his lifes silver and buried it all in a secret place.  We almost had lunch here, but they just couldn't seem to clear a table for us.

So we moved on to Reykholt and had lunch at the Foss Hotel.  It was clearly past lunch time, but they offered us broccoli soup. I don't even like broccoli and neither does dad, but we both agreed it was delicious.  

After lunch, we went and looked at this pretty church; it was very basic, but perfect in its simpicity.  All the churches, we have seen in Iceland have been like this, and they are very appealing with the simple lines inside and out. Inside was plain and very narrow wooden pews and a wooden desk/alter under a picture of Jesus, that's it. 

After the church, we got back in the car and talked about our options.  The guidebook said that the adventurous could take a gravel road road back toward Reykjavik through Pingvellir.  We were adventurous, so off we went.  

Through a small village, which seemed to have a golf course and a car wash, we found the gravel road, and stopped to read all of the warning signs.

It was so desolate looking most of the area being created by a receding glacier which left no vegetation (except lichen) and lots of jumbled rocks.  The road was very rough with lots of holes.  It was also the same color as everything else, which was a bit disorienting.  We began to climb and the road went soft and wet in places, but we were encouraged because we passed two other cars with very happy people in them.

The puddles got a bit bigger as did the mountains, and there were patches of snow.  The map we were using made it clear that it was fine to use the map for planning your travel, but should not be used for actual travel.  It was difficult to judge how far we were going to have to go on the road.

The snow got closer and closer and eventually it was everywhere and the temperature dropped to 2 degrees C.  We got between the glaciers and this was exciting, but then there was a part of the road that was all snow and it turned out it was very deep and very wet and didn't give you a lot of options.  We almost made it through, but then got stuck.  

We backed up a bit and went again making it to the other side in a very sloppy manner.  We stopped and had a chat.  All we saw in front of us was the road continue to climb and more snow, so we reluctantly agreed we had to turn...we'd almost made it.

The drive back was just as beautiful, but it was very quiet in the car now. We went back the way we had come, but when we got to the start of the fjord, we paid to go through the 5 km tunnel under the fjord, and this cut an hour and half off of our journey, and it was kind of cool is a creepy way to be under all of that water.  

Back in Reykjavik, we were determined to make it to the apartment without back tracking and we almost did it, but then we missed our turn and ended up on the wrong side of the harbour. We backtracked and then wound around the streets until we knew where we were and found our alley to the apartment.

After a quick drink and chill out, we went out for Thai food.  Gill and I saw a couple of places, and she lead us straight there, but it was closed...almost had Thai food.  So we went back to the Main Street, looked at menus and decided on the Budda Cafe -Japanese  food.  I had the freshest most gorgeous salmon sushi and 3 enormous hunks of cod for a main.  Mom had the lightest fish and chips.  Gill had egg drop soup and a slow cooked ribeye that was so tender, it just melted in your mouth.  Dad had a 5 course set menu that included sushi, duck salad, shrimp tempura with beef sashimi, and slow cook ribeye.  Everything was so so good...thank goodness that Thai place was closed.

On the way back, we planned our breakfast meal, since the hotel hadn't put a tray in the frig.  Our day of almosts was pretty spectacular.

The Blue Lagoon - the version without Brooke Shields

A day of leisure at least that was the plan. We had a great breakfast.  The hotel had put a tray in the frig and then bread on the door.  Gill had also made her yummy soaked oatmeal.  

After what seemed like an unreasonably long time, we managed to get everyone in car and headed for the Blue Lagoon, which is back by the airport and took us about an hour in the car.  We only had one turn around and that was all my fault as I was passing two trucks instead of turning off into the Blue Lagoon.

After a very complicated explanation, we were all given an electronic bracelet, towel and bathrobe and pointed toward the turnstiles.  Gill and I made it through no problem, but then mom went through and used a most unusual method.  

Visualize: mom went through, but only took one leg through, which meant she was now straddling the turnstile bar in the up position.  Now, it was locked, which meant she had to hop back on the leg that was on the right side of the bar, while kicking up the leg on the wrong side of the bar and scooch hop backwards.  She is also carrying her bathrobe and towel and her handbags.  It was horrifying and hilarious.  And she made it to the other side with no damage.

After we got our lockers, changed our clothes, put on our swimsuits, took off our swimsuits, washed with soap, put on our swimsuit, we were ready to get into the Blue Lagoon.  The Blue Lagoon is this wonderful blue white water pool that is a combination of salt water and fresh water that is discharged from the nearby geothermal plant.  It is supposed to be therapuetic.

We all got in, and the water was fairly awesome.  It was opaque.  We moved around the pool finding warmer spots, seat, and steamy places.  We got drinks - gull beer for most and green smoothie for the driver.  We all got our inclusive scrubs. Gill and I covered ourselves with algae and mom and dad covered themselves in volcanic ash.  We talked, we marvelled and we generally relaxed.  

Somehow, two hours passed, and it was time for me to get out and shower so I could go off to my facial.  Mom and Gill went off for their in water massage.  Dad took a shower and went to the lobby and read.

My facial was very good, and the girls said they were the best massages they had ever had.

Once we were all together, we decided to have a very late lunch / very early dinner.  Off we went into the Lava restaurant and had a two course meal.  Dad and I had sushi followed by lamb.  Mom had mussels followed by Ling Cod and Gill had the buffet.  It was tasty.  

The water had made everyone fairly mellow.  We had picked the 

Blue Lagoon today because it was supposed to rain all day and we figured that this was a good rainy day activity.  It was glorious the whole time we were there, but the heavens opened up as we were walking to the car.

We did the obligatory extra loop around the block on the return to the apartment - mom felt this was important to note based on the turnstile story.

Mom took a nap, dad read his book and Gill and I checked out the streets around the apartment. 

Back in the apartment, we had a quiet night and got ready for more site seeing tomorrow!

Plates, Geysirs, and One Big Waterfall

Day 1 in Iceland, and we did not start at the crack dawn.  In fact, we puttered around, talked about what we wanted to do, and ate breakfast.  

We had this whole discussion on site seeing, because clearly this had different definition for each of us.  For the girls, site seeing generally meant seeing the sites and/or seeing something unique to the area you are in.  For Dad, site seeing meant driving in the car and seeing stuff and staying in town meant shopping. It was good that we established this understanding early.

Finally, we decided to do the golden circle, which involved the Pingvellir National Park, Geysir National Park, and Gullfoss waterfall.  Piled in the car, we did our first 3-point turn and headed out.  Gill was the navigator, and there was lots of passing around of the maps.  Once everyone had a map except mom and I, things got on the right track and soon we were out of the city and heading for the hills.  

We made our first stop at an overlook with hundreds of little piles of stones.  The view was fantastic, and the stones were intriguing. It was also very very cold.  There was no description of the stones, but when we googled it later, it said that the locals place a stone here every time they pass in reminder of a farm that was destroyed in an eruption.

Piled back in the car, we headed for Pingvellir National Park.  This is where you can see the American and European plates pulling apart.  When we arrived, it started to rain, so we first checked out the Visitor Center, which indicated that the area was also where the chieftains used to have their general assembly and when you saw it; it was obvious why they did.

We walked down along the rocks and followed the paths until we were pretty wet, but felt like we had seen the Site, then got back in the car and headed for Geysir.  The road signs are not great, but it was at this point that we realised that the number on the sign did not indicate the number of kilometres to wherever and instead indicated the road number.  This might make the map reading a bit easier.

Arrived in Geysir; it was a hive of activity with lots of buses and people.  We went over to the hotel and had lunch as this was the recommendation of our book.  Lunch was buffet style and we had soup, pork roast, trout, cod and all kinds of salad.  It wa very very good.  We also had a view of the Geysir field and occasionally saw clouds of steam.

After lunch, we headed out into the moist steam environment that smelled of rotten eggs.  Dad and I waited poised with camaras to catch the event.  Everyone around us was doing the same thing and this because very funny for mom and Gill, particularly as my hands turned purple from the cold, but I got it.

Geysir captured on film we tried to leave, but got sucked into the gift shop where mom and Gill made purchases.  Dad and I got coffee and then choked a bit when mom announced she was having an Irish coffee.  Our Icelandic barista hesitated a moment and then made my mom her drink.

Back in the car we continued on to the waterfall.  Mom went and took a peek, but then let the 3 of us continue until we were right upon it.  It was a wonderful waterfall - the sound, the volume of water, but I could not agree as the sign said that it dwarfed Niagara Falls.

Now that we were really wet, we decided that we had seen the site and pointed ourselves back to Reykjavik and in an hour and half with some last minute circling and manoeuvring, we were in our apartment, and the inevitable discussion on dinner began.  We finally agreed on Fjalakotturinn, which has new Nordic cuisine.

Seafood and lamb were the specialities, and Gill and I had the combination plate, while mom and dad stuck with seafood.  It was all very tasty, and the lamb chops were cooked to absolute perfection.  

Dad ordered a local beer, which our server pounced as a sound.  Imagine saying creek, but only say the cr bit and then hold it or imagine taking a stick and snapping it in half and the sound it makes when it comes apart it the name of the beer, which happened to be spelled GULL.  This made us question whether the famous waterfall was stick-snapping-sound-Foss. Instead of Gullfoss as we had been pronouncing it all day.

We walked back, stopping at the grocery store for supplies.  Not really sure we need anything as the cleaners had stocked our frig with everything you could ever want, but we really like these smoothies called Froosh, and I had to have some more of those.  

I want to bed, and I apparently missed Gill damaging herself while exiting the bathroom.  Dad had to get up and stop the bleeding and then poor Gill spent an hour and a half in bed with her foot throbbing.  She told me this story when I woke up and demanded my victory tea - from a bet yesterday - and I laughed and laughed and laughed.  

What a great way to start the day.

Travelling Again

Yesterday, I flew down to Edinburgh, taxied to the train stationed, took the train to Glasgow and then taxied to a hotel.  After an hour of some of my favourite BBC program's, I taxied again and gave an hour presentation to 40 people that were very interested and interesting.

After a fitful nights sleep, I got up and repacked and then walked over to the Glasgow Central Train Station - it's beautiful. 

When I got to the train station, I realised a train to Manchester Airport was leaving in 5 minutes and even though it was not the train I planned...I got on.  After a bit, I text Gill and told her I was on the train.  

The train was uneventful.  I had a boozy amorous couple share my table, but only for one stop because that had an appointment at the hospital.

At one point, I was asked for the seat next to me and I announced I am saving that for my friend.  There was a shadow of doubt on their face.  But two stops later, my good friend was taking out knee caps with her suitcase and she plopped down next to me.  We had our usual greeting and the old man in front of us was wincing when we were done...this pleased me.

A few more stops, and we were at the airport.  After a very long line checking in, we ate and did our duty free shopping as our book said that alcohol can be very expensive in Iceland.  

The flight was a piece of cake, and two and half hours later, we were in Iceland, it was late afternoon and very grey.

Immigration and baggage claim could not have been easier, but then we hit a small snag with the SLOWEST Budget car rental guy ever.  Who knows what he was doing or why it was difficult, but after a painful wait for the two customers in front of us, it was finally our turn.  He seemed to be hitting his stride, and he was soon throwing the keys at me.  Out to the lot, we went up and down the rows, looking at every car for a blue skoda.  

Eventually, I stopped and stayed with the bags while Gill ran up and down the rows.  Finally, we decided it did not exist and went back to the terminal.  As we were headed in, I saw a green skoda in a Hertz parking spot with the right number plate - Viola!

After two laps around the parking lot following the exit signs and ending up at barriers, we just followed our instincts and managed to get on the road.  The road was great - wide open.  Gill was in charge of navigating.  It was mostly uneventful until we got near Reykjavik.  I only killed the car twice and stopped all traffic on the roundabout once because I was in the wrong lane. 

Once Gill realised where we were, I blurted, oh my gosh we are practically Icelanders and that is where it all started to fall apart. The day before the hotel had sent me a map and indicated that there was a lot of construction.  We followed this map, and it took us approximately 60 minutes to complete the last 2 miles.  

In that 60 minutes, we hit several deadends, retraced our steps no less than 3 times, backed down a hill to let a lorrie full of dirt move out of the way of a large excavator and parked up, while Gill ran around asking for directions in the rain.  

Then we called for directions, retraced our steps...again...and found the hotel.  It was not all bad as we were doing our third 3-point turn, we noticed a bare chested guy in fairly good shape staring out the window.  It took a moment to realise that he was getting a tattoo and he and we and the lovely tattoo artist next him waved happily at each other.

Checked in, I text my mom and said you are going to need to take a taxi because there is no way I was doing that again in the dark...my nerves were jangled, and let's face it I now needed a drink.

Hotel is awesome.  We have a two bedroom apartment with a kitchen and everything you would ever need.

We started to unpack and by we, I mean me.  

Gill was digging through all her stuff and finally announced she lost her luggage key.  I dug through her bag and we both shared a memory in the airport of 'something' hitting the ground and us both wondering what it was and then shrugging our shoulders.

So I asked Gill what she wanted to do and she said I guess we have to break the zipper.  She sat on the floor and tried to He-Man the zipper open.  I went through the kitchen and collected a can opener, corkscrew and two large knives.  Gill immediately started cutting down the side of the zipper saying, 'if I just cut along here.'  I am thinking, what you will have a hole in your suitcase?

So I took the can opener and thought if I can just clip one of these zippers then we can pull the whole thing around.  This did not work.  

Next, I looped the cork screw through one of the zippers and Gill grabbed the other - we lamented the lack of eye protection and agreed we should squeeze our eyes shut and lean anyway.  This did not open the suitcase.

Struck with frustrated, I grabbed the largest knife and sawed through the zipper horizontally and this freed the zip and allowed us to move it around.  Afterward, we called Gill's daughter and told her this story and her flat reply was, so you are going to need a new suitcase?

After this excitement, we laid on the couch until our hunger sent us out in the rain.  We went to a Tapas bar and had an assortment of 'Icelandic' tapas that included puffin with blueberry sauce, ling cod with lobster sauce, Arctic char with salsa, and lamb with mint, potatoes and beets.  We finished with figs, honey and Serrano ham.  It was fantastic, and a very cool place.  

It was so good and the atmosphere so lovely that when we left, I was surprised it was raining - like I'd totally forgotten.  We did not let this deter us, and we found a 24 hour shop and picked up some groceries.  If possible, it was raining even harder now.  My jeans became completely soaked and the water was running down into my sock and shoes, but at least my jacket was keeping my top warm.  This was not the case for Gill - who became soaked top and bottom.  

We settled in, after stripping off the wet clothes with peppermint tea because two very important people were coming to join us and they should be here any minute.  Just as I had fallen asleep on the couch, there was noise in the hallway and in they bustled. They had not lost their sense of humor, but they had been circling the area for some time in a cab and I was in the dog house. But it was no matter because they were here!

Ready or not here come Autumn

How can it possibly be September?  

Even more confusing, last Sunday it was too warm to walk the dogs, and this Sunday, I have had to turn on the heating in the house.  I guess this is it, fall is here.

The big talk at work is the loss of sunlight.  You can really feel it now, the days are noticeably shorter every day. 

Middleoldcrow, I can hardly believe you do not know what a bumblebee garden is, but it pretty much exactly what it says on the tin - a garden designed just for the bees, so something it blooming all of the time.

We have to take care of our bees, so that can they can continue to take care of us.  Besides, they are so incredibly cute and busy.

teddybear342: The bees do not interest the dogs, but if one flies in Maggie's face she will give it a half-hearted snap.  Let's face it, none us like stuff flying in our face - right?