Green lands in Iceland: Day 4 & 5

Although the tour company we used had good tours, I wanted something special for us, even though it was a long 14 hours on a bus. Upon leaving town, we passed by some charming villages and farms that were effected by Eyjafjallajökull where last year’s eruptions took place. All the lands looked scorched as a thick layer of black ash ash had covered nearly everything in its wake. Our first stop was a farm that we got out to take pictures from I even recognized from the news since it was so dramatic how close the farms cling to these active volcanoes. The surrounding little waterfalls of the glacial melt from Eyjafjallajökull where cascading down from the high cliffs, but due to the high wind, they stream changed mid fall and was lost in the breeze as a spray of water.

A few minutes down the road we stopped at the Skógafoss waterfall which still had thick black sand choking the steam of water coming down off the high cliffs. Ben was able to walk right up to it and the mist encircled him. I wish I had had the camera since the white mist enveloped him, and a few minutes later he reappeared. Just as we were getting back on the bus the sun made a 30 second debut just to snap that one sunny photo.

Just before we reach the lagoon we pass Iceland’s biggest volcano, Öræfajökull glacier which has the highest peak of the island, Hvannadalshnjúkur (2110 m). The mist rolled off of it in such a haunting way with the weather changing constantly from rain, to hail, to cloudy, to a little tiny bit of sunshine and then back to rain. It took us nearly an hour to cross the moss clad Eldhraun lava field past Kirkjubæjarklaustur. The green moss had nearly obscured the sharp jagged edges of the black lava rock. It was nearly a metre thick in some places.

We crossed a mile long bridge that only had a trickle of water below it, since the glaciers move around so much, they can never truly predict where the water will runoff at. We pasted wreckage of a bridge that had once been there, but taken out in the ’96 eruption. It was a metal mangled mess. Their bridges are all very temporary looking since they are destroyed so often. The big stop for the day was at Jökulsárlón glacial lagoon, nearly on the other side of the country, that started to form in the early nineteen twenties and is getting bigger every year. Huge blocks of ice that had broken off Europe’s biggest glacier, Vatnajökull, would float out into the lagoon and then out to the ocean only a kilometer away. It was stunning to see the sun come out just as we arrived and shone brightly on the icebergs. Since it was unbelievably windy, most of the icebergs had already floated out, but there were a fair few. The wind was so gusty that Ben and I could lean into it at nearly a 45 degree angle and it would hold us up. I jumped into the wind and it blew me a few extra feet which was a bit unnerving, so I did not do that again. For anyone that has not seen a glacier or an iceberg floating past you, it is something that you have to add to your ‘Do before I Die’ list.

As we boarded the bus the sun disappeared, and started to rain, so once again, the sun may have been absent most of our trip, but it came out when we most needed it. With the tourist season not quite kicked off, and it being Easter Sunday, we were able to make a very cool unscheduled stop at Svínafellsjökul glacial snout where we climbed up the mountain side to get a better look. We may not have been able to walk on the glacier, but to be within a few metres was pretty cool.

Along the road back, we stopped in the coastal hamlet of Vík in Mýrdalur valley which is the southernmost village in Iceland with beautiful black sanded beaches. This was the first time either of us had been on black sand. We had a quick meal of their yummy Icelandic meat soup again so we could have time to wander the beaches. It is said to be bad luck to take anything from the island, so I made sure to not collect any rocks or shells. The waves coming in off the ocean were huge, and we really had to keep our eye on the waves coming in. The waves were thunderous as they crashed against Reynisdrangar, the basalt sea stacks at the base of the mountain Reynisfjall. The small church on the hill was the highest building in town, where the reckon when the next volcano goes, and the glaciers melt causing a large flood, everyone would be safe at the church, so they have eruption drills for the whole town to run up there.

As we headed back to Reykjavík we stopped in the centre of the lava field and built our cairn for good luck. I always like a bit of extra good luck. As the sun was setting we had one last stop at Skaftafell National Park. At the Seljalandsfoss waterfall, we could have walked behind it, but even with Ben covered head to toe in Gortex (a walking advertisement for Columbia) he decided not to get that wet since he was drenched just standing close to it. Plus it was getting dark, and it was a very narrow path, and I used my little bit of common sense and figured he should not walk on the wet, mossy path. With the sun setting so late and rising so early, our long tour was nearly all in daylight!

On our last and final day, we had another lazy morning, packed up, enjoyed our large breakkie and headed to the Blue Lagoon on the coach. It is a man-made oasis in the lava field that is the leftover water from their steam turbines. The salt would corrode the pipes if they were to store it for heat like they do with other magma heated water. An employee of the steam plant one day decided to bathe in the warm water that bubbled up into the lava fields, and eventually realized it was good for his psoriasis. Thus, the Blue Lagoon was born. The salt has coated the rock with a thick white crust, so most of it is quite smooth, but there were a few rough patches our feeties would find. The mineral-rich water and silica mud mask left my skin feeling like a million bucks. With the constant new streams of water coming in, you had to move around to find the warm patches, and I found some hot ones. I love it when the water is nearly warm enough to scald my skin off. After a few hours of soaking in the water, it was time to finally head to the airport where we were bumped up to first class. May not have gotten the first class treatment, but the roomyness and comfort were a once in a lifetime experience as well!

My Little Pony in Iceland: Day 3

This was our one lazy sort of day. So after stuffing ourselves at breakfast we took a walk down into the old town to go to Reykjavík 871±2 , an exhibition of an archaeological excavation of a Viking age longhouse, from about 930 AD. After our strange run in with Swedish Museums, we wanting GOOD viking information, or at least, logical and unstrange information. We also ventured over to the harbour to get a few pics and then popped inot the strangest flea market, ever. Words cannot truely paint a picture of how weird this place was. You just have to see it for yourself. We had been told that the national food, and their best food, was the hotdog. We stopped at mall hotdog stand, Bæjarins Beztu Pylsur, in central Reykjavík to fule up for our horse ride!

Ben grew up on a farm, therefore he does not like anything farm-like. I grew up in the city, therefore, the farm fascinates me. It was very important to me to see and ride Icelandic Horses (my horse bit me when I called it a pony). The barn supplied all our riding gear which was very waterproof and wind proof, and we needed it. The weather was still not very nice. What makes these horses so special is that on top of being able to survive in this harsh climate, they can do 5 gaits. The fourth gait is a four-beat lateral ambling gait known as the tölt. We were able to sit it, even Ben was able to do it with no experience. The Pace is the fifth gait, which is for racing and is very hard for a person to sit on top of a horse while they do it, so needless to say, we did not do that gait. Our ride started into beautiful Heidmork with its numerous caves and canyons. The moss on the lava fields was breathtaking. It even started snowing a bit, which made the moon like landscape even more unique and interesting. My horse really wanted to go, so I was at the very head of the queue and we rode fast. It was great to get my confidence back on, and after fighting for dominance, my horse conceded and the second half of the ride was very enjoyable. No more of the horse trying to brush me off into their scraggly “trees” and no more biting. I even caught Ben smiling a few times, so I know it was not all painful for him.

After being dropped back off at our hotel, we took a hike up the mountain near us to go up to Perlan or The Pearl, a glass dome resting over five hot water tanks. We were hoping to get a wax figure museum tour of the Nordic Saga, but like everything else in the town, due to Easter, it was closed as well. It had great vistas over the city and it was actually clear enough to get views of their tabletop type mountains and sprawling cityscape. This is where we encountered our friendly bunny and the sunken troll living areas. You would have to see it to believe it.

Strange Anomaly #67

Waffles do not exist in Ireland. No where. That is just a travesty! Travesty I tell you! Find me waffles, good waffles, and I will be a happy camper! Anyone up for the challege of finding me a place?

Iceland Excursion: Day 1 and 2

Our trip started out good getting the emergency row for the extra leg room even though it was a short flight and since it was the first day of summer we got some free icecream onboard. The coaches were at the airport, waiting for us in the blistering wind and lashing rain, ready to take us into Reykjavik. Our hotel was just on the edge of town by the domestic airport. We first wandering into the newer part of time to see Hallgrímskirkja, the largest church in Iceland, which is shaped like a rocket ship. The inside was very stark, yet well done. There were a group of children inside singing ‘Day-O’, the Jamaican song, which was just strange, yet beautiful. We wandered down into the old town were we found some fantastic Belgian type waffles. I love waffles. With a bit of warmth in our bellies since it was no where near warm, we walked down to their main pond in city centre, Tjörnin.

Right on the pond was a well-designed building which was their city hall, Ráðhús Reykjavíkur. It had a living wall along the water, which is great to see growies on a building. City hall was right next to Alþingishúsið, the Icelandic parliament which was not such a fantastic building, but was important to them historically since their parliament is the longest running in the world. As we pottered back to the hotel we caught sight of their ample wildlife in the city, Bunnies and Geese. Their sidewalks were paved with Geese poo galore. I had a great little book that could lead me to all the free things to do since with the Easter Holdiay weekend, nothing was open. I my little book, I did find a local’s favourite restaurant where we had an amazing meal of yummy wild bird, otherwise known as Puffin, and their Minke whale. I feel ethically ok with it since they have been sustainable hunting these animals for a thousand years, use everything from the animal and do not overhunt since they have done extensive studies on their population and they are not near extinction like most other whales. Ben had been so exhausted from working crazy long hours, we were in bed and asleep long before the sun went down, even with sunset at nearly 11:00.

The next morning we headed out on our bus to the national park Þingvellir to view the Hellisheidi plateau which is one of the most historic site on the island. We stopped right at the Lake Þingvallavtn, the largest lake which is known for the scuba diving. The canyon that runs through the park is where the continental drift between the Eurasian and American tectonic plates are pulling away from each other about 10cm a year. It is the only place in the world where you can view this since the others are under water or heavily vegetated over. The waterfall there is normally very small, but with all of their rain is was a gushing torrent of water, where in historical times they drowned the adulteress women. The old clans used to meet at this area where the first parliament or Alþingi was established in 930 and remained there until 1789 when it moved to Reykjavik

Next stop was the geothermally active valley of Haukadalur, which contains the geysers Geysir and Strokkur. The work geyser comes from the geyser Geysir. Even though this one is still bubbling, it is dormant so we got to see Strokkur erupt every 7 minutes, and it even had another eruption just seconds after the first one, although it was much smaller. The smaller pools around there were nowhere near as stinky as the Yellowstone ones with the sulphur. One lady was even stupid enough to put her finger into one of the boiling pools. Some people have no common sense.

We left there to head to the Hvítá river which the Gullfoss waterfall is located, which is one of the most impressive waterfalls in Europe. We had our yummy meat soup that was much more appetizing than it sounds, before bearing the rain that pelted us as we walked up to the waterfall. The mist was hauntingly beautiful and also froze along the walls of the canyon. The roar of the waterwall was amazing. We were able to walk right out to it and get some great views down the canyon, although we got quiet wet.

Next stop was the Skálholt Cathedral (Skálholtdómkirkja). It was a very modest church, located on ancient catholic ruins. The stained glass and Jesus paiting were very modern.

The last stop of the day was an a lake within a crater, Kerið. It is nowhere near as impressive as Crater Lake in Oregon, but it was still beautiful none the less. Bjork even held a concert in the crater with everyone on little rafts. Now that would have been a great concert since the acoustics were great.

Strange Anomaly #66

The Big English wedding. Kate and Prince William got married and as the rest of the world got excited (my mother taped it since the wedding was going on while she slept); here they all denied wanting to watch it, and yet, they all did! And they got giddy when they had their romantic balcony kiss, twice! They were all in denial in being interested in anything going on across the Irish Sea, but deep down I knew the girls were. We enjoyed watching it a work, and had our own cake, and ate it too, while watching the wedding!

March’s 5-day weekend

I know it is a bit late, but March was Edell’s Birthday month, so I have to start out with that. Her friends are so nice and welcoming of Catherine and I, the only other person I really knew besides Edell, and her party was in a great location. She does have a great group of friends that it was good to catch up with them since I only really see them once a year. The music got a bit loud around midnight, when I sensed I was too sober to keep up with the screaming over the music. I was just happy that I did not pass out at her thirty-wONEderful birthday like I did at her thirtieth.

With where St Patricks Day fell this year, I got to have a 5 day weekend. It had been a while since Ben had a day off so we slept in and managed to leave the house just in time to catch a bit of the St Patrick’s day parade that was a bit goth themed. It was so crowded due to the sunshine making an appearance so we headed for burgers and green beer. I know, so cliche, but I had to do it!

My last work buddy Paul, has a fabulous wife Meg, that invited me out for girls night at their place so Ben could get some much needed time alone at the house without me underfoot. They have a great group of friend that were good to chat with, and if I had not forgotten my keys at home, I would have stayed longer to enjoy the champagne drinking and little nibbles she whipped up, but I did not want Ben waiting up all night for me knowing he had to get up early and go back to work on the Saturday.

It has started warming up, since spring is in full swing so Ben and I trekked out to see the King Tut exhibit at the RDS on the other side of town. We stopped for our favourite breakkie in our old neighbourhood, Ranelagh, at Hobart’s on the way there. With the proper fuel in our bellies we could continue on in our trek and make it through the huge exhibit. It was all replicas, really well done, but nothing was real. Even the death mask of Tut was a fake. It was good to see the tomb recreated exactly how it looked when they opened it, even though it cost an arm and a leg to get in.

And on a completely non-Irish note, we did get a new tenant for our fabulously remodeled condo, as completed by my father and his buddy, Bud!

Fire! Fire!

Seemed like a totally normal Friday at work: quiet and uneventful. But this Friday proved to be quite different. Paul is on his sabbatical, and with my boss away at meetings, it was only Vinny and I in our little room. As I have stated before, fireworks are illegal here, but we thought we heard a bunch of fireworks. I stuck my head out the window to see if I could see anything, but I didn’t. I could smell fire though and just figured it was teens up to no good.

A few seconds later my co-worker said that neighbor’s house was on fire. The popping noise was the slate tiles flying off the roof and breaking sue to the heat. They still are not sure what started the fire but it destroyed 7 out of the 8 houses in the terrace, so they are tearing down the whole thing. It was scary to watch, and as some of you know, I watch my neighbor’s house burn down as a kid, and know how devastating it can be. The fire brigade worked hard to stop the fire from spreading to the adjacent buildings, but the wind was determined to spread it further. Luckily no one was hurt, and it did not spread too much, but still terrible.

Strange Anomaly #65

Apparently it is OK to drive in reverse up a wrong way as I learned this afternoon when I was nearly taken out by a large vehicle. And when I got a bit angry and shouted, “You are going the wrong way on a one way, I have the right of way here!” She got angry as well and shouted back, “But I’m reversing up the one way?” As if it made it alright that she had nearly taken me out. So when I gave out about this at work, they were like, yeah, it’s acceptable to reverse the wrong way, but WTF?

Boom Busy

It was like a boom weekend all over again! Like in the good olde days of 2007, we started the Friday with a bit of coffee and cake for Tom’s last day. That night was sadly his leaving do, but it was good to see the group together as it has been a while since we had all had a reason to get together. Tutti and I had a great walk back home as it has been months since I had seen her.

The next morning, as I was recovering from my whiskey drinking, I got a call from Edell to meet up for coffee and some chats. It was great to see her as she had been so busy with work our little nightly tea break had become further and further apart. A bit of girl time is always good, too! That night Ben and I meet up with Tori and Andrew for a few cheeky pints and to generally catch up on things. We have been all running in different directions and had been a while since all of us had time off at the same time, so it was a much needed session.

Then finally on the Sunday I headed out to Greystones to Catherine’s for a very civilized Sunday Brunch. I made American style French Toast, that they ended up loving, as we eat ourselves into a food coma practically. Catherine had great crepes and Ruth was in charge of the meat. I even had my heart-shaped egg maker that was super cute. I headed back on the train and had to stop myself from dozing off, luckily the small child next to me kept me entertained but did eventually bully me off the train when I accidentally told him I was to get off the stop before I was supposed to and he stated that i needed to get out. As with any Sunday night, it was full of conversations with our loved ones due to the time difference. I exhaust myself now that I can have the freedom of Skype on an iPad and pace to my hearts content. It has been years since I have been able to pace and talk on the phone with the reception to my mobile phone limited to a small corner of our window sill.

I felt good to do nothing on my day off on Monday, to well, catch up on my sleep and relax!

Two Surprise Visits

The first surprise was when we arrived back from Portugal I got a text from Karen who said she was on the train back up to Dublin and if we would meet up with her before she flew back out in the morning. She surprised her parents with a visit over Christmas so it was great to see her before she headed back to Vancouver. It was good to see all the girls together again!

We were not expect any house visitors this year, so it was a second great surprise a few days later that Bruno and his friend Jaime came for an extended weekend visit. Jaime had never been to Dublin, so we enjoyed the many pubs the city as to offer. After fighting off colds, we were not up to staying out until 3 or 4 in the morning, Bruno more than knows his way around the city, so we gave them the house key and let them explore the city. We took a walk down to see the new docklands, as it had changed immensely since he had left. While checking out the new theater by Liebskind, I was nearly egged by a bunch of skanger children. If Jaime had not told me to watch out, and if I did not have lightening fast reflexes, I would have taken one to the face. I so wanted to run down those little 10 year old punks and teach them a lesson, but they are like a little pack of wolves. Alone they may not be that strong, but as a pack they are fierce. I kept my cool and kept walking since they were not worth it. We hopped on the LUAS instead and headed to the other side of town to see the Criminal Courts since Bruno worked on that as well. Bruno’s little bank building was halfway built, so we hope to have him visit in May when that is completed!