ICELAND
THE MILLER MEETING IN THE MIDDLE
SO, WE FLEW TO KEFLAVIK, ICELAND, AND MET THE LONDON MILLERS
FOR A FEW DAYS IN ICELAND. WE GOT THERE A DAY EARLIER TO ADJUST TO THE TIME CHANGE, AND STAYED AT THE SILICA HOTEL AT THE BLUE LAGOON.
ICELANDAIR ALLOWS YOU TO BID FOR AN UPGRADE, AND WE APPARENTLY BID ENOUGH. LOUNGE SHARED WITH AIR FRANCE AND KLM. HAD OUR TRADITIONAL GIN AND TONICS, AND SNACKS. BATHROOMS....OH NO, DOWN THE HALL FOR THOSE...
I DON'T EVEN WANT TO KNOW WHAT THIS GUY WAS DOING IN HIS BARE FEET. WE WERE GLAD WHEN IT WAS TIME FOR OUR FLIGHT. THERE APPEARED TO BE SOME SORT OF ADJUSTMENT GOING ON. WE GAVE HIM SOME SPACE...
ICELANDAIR BUSINESS IS GOOD, BUT NOT GREAT. WE LIKED THE LITTLE ICELANDIC LANGUAGE TIPS ON THE PILLOWS AND SEAT BACK COVERS.
AS USUAL, MY IN FLIGHT ENTERTAINMENT WAS WATCHING OUR PROGRESS. MOVIES...WHO NEEDS THEM. I'M EASILY ENTERTAINED.
GULL BEER (MEANS GOLD IN ICELANDIC). NOT BAD.
SUPPER, SOME KIND OF FISH, I FORGOT
ALMOST THERE, SHORELINE OF ICELAND.
THIS HUGE PUFFIN GREETS YOU AT THE BAGGAGE CLAIM.
HERE IS OUR HOTEL, THE SILICA HOTEL, ABOUT 500 METERS FROM THE BLUE LAGOON; ACTUALLY, PART OF IT. IT HAS ITS OWN LAGOON AS WELL, WHICH WAS VERY NICE. ROOMS WERE NICE AND INCLUDES ADMISSION TO THE BLUE LAGOON ITSELF.
SINCE WE GOT THERE VERY EARLY, THEY LET US WAIT IN A QUIET ROOM, AS THEY CALLED IT. IT ACTUALLY WAS NICE, AND MOM DECIDED TO STUDY THE INSIDE OF HER EYELIDS. FORTUNATELY, OUR ROOM WAS READY AT 11, SO WE DIDN'T HAVE TO WAIT LONG, THEN HEADED TO THE BLUE LAGOON.
THIS IS ON THE WALK TO THE BLUE LAGOON. IT KIND OF LOOKS LIKE THE MOON. THE TERRAIN IS LAVA COVERED WITH MOSS, AND FORTUNATELY THERE ARE TRAILS. NO WAY ONE COULD CLIMB OVER THAT TYPE OF TERRAIN.
THE BAR AT THE BLUE LAGOON IS ON THE RIGHT. INTERESTING PLACE, AND WATER VERY RELAXING.
LAGOON AT THE SILICA HOTEL. IN MANY WAYS IT IS NICER THAN THE BLUE LAGOON ITSELF.
THEY'VE INCORPORATED SOME ROCK FORMATIONS INTO THE WALLS OF THE HOTEL HALLWAY. PRETTY NEAT.
BREAKFAST WAS INCLUDED, AND IT WAS GOOD. FOOD FROM ALL KINDS OF PLACES. LOVED IT. THEN WE WERE OFF TO MEET THE LONDON MILLERS.
MADDIE WAS REALIZING HOW COLD AND WINDY ICELAND IS. WE WERE WAITING TO GO TO LUNCH, AND GETTING CAUGHT UP ON OUR TRAVELS.
MADDIE AND HENRY, AS WE WERE WAITING FOR OUR LUNCH AT THE LAVA RESTAURANT.
LAVA RESTAURANT, WITH VIEW OF BLUE LAGGON IN BACKGROUND.
PICTURES OF OUR FOOD. BEEN TOO LONG NOW, ALL I KNOW THE TOP WAS IS FISH.
THIS IS THE STREET WHERE OUR AIRBNB WAS LOCATED, ACTUALLY OFF TO THE RIGHT OF THE PICTURES. GAY PRIDE WEEK WAS THE WEEK BEFORE, AND, THEREFORE, THE RAINBOW STREET.
LOOKING OUT THE WINDOW OF OUR AIRBNB. WE WERE TRULY RIGHT IN THE MIDDLE OF REYKJAVIK.
THE NEXT MORNING WE WENT ON A WHALE-WATCHING TOUR ON A BOAT, BUT NOT THIS ONE, OR THE ONE ABOVE IT. IT WAS BIGGER, AND WE ALL HAD THESE SUITS ON TO KEEP WARM. MARK GOT SOME GREAT PICTURES WITH HIS FANCY CAMERA; I USED MY CELL PHONE.
MARK AND HIS FANCY CAMERA.
WE WERE LUCKY ENOUGH TO SEE A RAINBOW, LOTS OF DOLPHINS AND BIRDS, AND A "MAYBE" WHALE SIGHTING.
AD FOR THE LOCAL PHALLOGICAL MUSEUM, AKA PENIS MUSEUM. KEEP READING, WE WENT THERE....
MOM SPOTTED THE MOST FAMOUS HOT DOG STAND IN ICELAND. THERE IS ALWAYS A LONG LINE, BUT IT MOVES FAST. WE ALL HAD HOT DOGS AND THEY WERE GOOD. SINCE BILL CLINTON ATE A HOT DOG HERE, THEY HAD TO BE GOOD...?
ARCTIC FOX. I'M SURE IT DIED OF NATURAL CAUSES.
SORRY KIDS, REINDEER ARE IN SHORT SUPPLY THIS YEAR. THE CHRISTMAS LAD IN ICELAND TAKE UP THE SLACK. BUT YOU CAN TAKE HOME A REINDEER HIDE FROM ICELAND, AS WELL AS A STUFFED PUFFIN, AS NOTED BELOW. IT WOULD NOT MAKE IT PAST CUSTOMS, HOWEVER.
YOU CAN ALSO PURCHASE MODELS OF ICELAND'S CHRISTMAS LADS. IT'S A LONG, COMPLICATED STORY; GOOGLE IT.
DINNER THAT NIGHT OFFERED FERMENTED SHARK, AND THE LOCAL SCHNAPPS. WE ORDERED IT; IT NEVER CAME.
THEY ALSO OFFERED WHALE STEAK. WE DIDN'T ORDER THAT. MAYBE THERE WAS A REASON WE DIDN'T SEE ANY WHALES IN THE OCEAN.
NAME OF ABOVE RESTAURANT IS ON THE AWNING. I COULDN'T SAY IT IF MY LIFE DEPENDED ON IT.
THE NEXT DAY WE DID A BUS TOUR OF THE GOLDEN CIRCLE. THE FIRST STOP WAS THINGVELLIR (THEY SPELL IT DIFFERENTLY, BUT PRONOUNCE IT THAT WAY). IT IS GEOLOGICALLY WHERE THE EUROPEAN AND AMERICAN TECTONIC PLATES MEET. SO, THIS RIFT OCCURS ALL THE WAY DOWN THE OCEAN AS WELL. THINGVELLIR ALSO IS POLITICALLY AND HISTORICALLY IMPORTANT, AS WAY BACK IN THE 900s ALL ICELANDERS WOULD MEET HERE EVERY YEAR AND CONDUCT GOVERNMENT AND LEGAL ACTIONS.
PICTURES ACTUALLY DO NOT DO THIS PLACE JUSTICE.
THE NEXT STOP WAS GEYSIR, NAMED THAT BECAUSE OF THE GEYSERS. APPARENTLY OUR WORD GEYSER CAME FROM THIS PLACE: GEYSIR. THE ONE BELOW ERUPTS EVERY FEW MINUTES. THERE ARE NUMEROUS ONES AROUND, BUT NOT VERY PREDICTABLE, AND SOME WERE DANGEROUS BECAUSE OF THE SCALDING WATER IN THEM.
MADE A QUICK STOP TO SEE SOME ICELANDIC HORSES. THEY LOOK MORE LIKE PONIES, BUT HAVE EVOLVED TO THIS SHAPE DUE TO THE GEOGRAPHIC ISOLATION ON THE ISLAND. THEY ALSO ARE ON SOME MENUS IN RESTAURANTS.
ANOTHER STOP ON THE GOLDEN CIRCLE IS GULLFOSS (OR GOLD WATERFALL). AGAIN, PICTURES DON'T DO IT JUSTICE. ALL THESE PICTURES ARE OF THE SAME WATERFALL. YOUR PERSPECTIVE CHANGES AS YOU MOVE AROUND THE AREA.
OUR LAST STOP ON THE GOLDEN CIRCLE WAS THE KEYSID, OR CRATER LAKE. YOU CAN WALK AROUND THE TOP OF THE CRATER, AND AROUND THE LAKE AT THE BOTTOM.
SOMEWHERE IN THIS PICTURE ARE THE LONDON MILLERS TREKKING DOWN TO THE BOTTOM OF THE CRATER. I WAS MORE THAN HAPPY TO OBSERVE FROM ABOVE.
WITH ALL THE EXCITEMENT OF THE GOLDEN CIRCLE, WE RETREATED TO OUR AIRBNB FOR A "QUIET" EVENING OF PIZZA, IRISH WHISKY, HENRY DOING WHATEVER HE WAS DOING, AND ME DOMINATING IN UNO.
SKYR FOR BREAKFAST. IT'S SUPPOSED TO BE REALLY GREAT, AND IT DOES TASTE GOOD. IT'S YOGURT, PLAIN AND SIMPLE, BUT OK, AND NOT TOO EXPENSIVE.
THE NEXT MORNING WE WENT ON A PUFFIN CRUISE. HERE WE ARE WAITING FOR THE BOAT.
WE WENT TO TWO ISLANDS THAT HAD PUFFIN NESTS, AND LOTS OF PUFFINS AROUND. MARK AND HIS FANCY CAMERA GOT SOME GREAT PICTURES OF PUFFINS. MY CELL PHONE....NOT SO GOOD. THERE ARE SOME PUFFINS SWIMING AROUND IN THE PICTURE BELOW.
OUR BOAT IS AT THE END OF THE DOCK ON THE RIGHT. AS AN ASIDE, THE DAY BEFORE THE CAPTAIN OF THE BOAT SPOTTED TWO BEACHED WHALES ON THE ISLAND PICTURED ABOVE. IT WAS ON THE NEWS AND ONE SURVIVED. THEY WERE TRULY BEACHED WHALES....
NEXT WE WENT TO A WHALE MUSEUM THAT WAS FILLED WITH LIFE-SIZED RUBBER MODELS OF WHALES AND DOLPHINS. IT WAS KIND OF DARK IN THERE AND YOU COULDN'T SEE MUCH, BUT WE GOT A "DEAL" ON THE TICKETS.
NOT ONLY DID JONAH GET SWALLOWED BY A WHALE, MADDIE AND HENRY OBLIGINGLY STUCK THEIR HEADS IN THIS WHALE'S MOUTH. THAT PART IS NOT IN THE BIBLE TO THE BEST OF MY KNOWLEDGE.
FOR LUNCH WE WENT TO A CRAFT BREWERY, WHICH WAS ON THE WHARF, AND NOT BAD.
HENRY HAD SOME GREAT APPLE JUICE.
SOME OF YOU WILL RECEIVE CHRISTMAS GIFTS FROM THIS STORE. WE WALKED BACK THROUGH A SHOPPING AREA AND MOM MADE THE MOST OF IT.
LATER IN THE DAY MARK AND I VENTURED DOWN THE STREET TO THE PENIS MUSEUM. YEP, YOU READ IT RIGHT. THE FIRST COUPLE ARE WHALE AND DOLPHIN PENISES.
ICELANDIC TROLL PENIS
AN INTERESTING EXHIBIT. MODELS OF THE PENISES OF AN OLYMPIC HANDBALL TEAM FROM ICELAND THAT WON A MEDAL. THERE HAD TO BE SOME ALCOHOL INVOLVED IN THIS PROJECT.
AND DID YOU KNOW THAT THERE IS A PENIS COMIC BOOK CHARACTER?
THE GIFT SHOP WAS AMUSING, AND EXPENSIVE. YOU BUY IT, REALIZE IT CAN'T BE DISPLAYED ANYWHERE IN YOUR HOUSE, THEN HIDE IT IN A DRAWER SOMEWHERE. FOR ONCE I SAVED SOME MONEY AND JUST TOOK A PICTURE.
OUR LAST DINNER IN ICELAND. VERY GOOD. BELOW IS SALMON ON A BED OF WHAT APPEARS TO BE BABY POOP, BUT TASTED BETTER. MADDIE HAD SOME OTHER KIND OF FISH AND SUCKED IT UP.
HALLGRIMMSKIRCHE, A LANDMARK IN REYKJAVIK. IT TOOK FOREVER TO BUILD, MOSTLY BECAUSE OF A LACK OF FUNDS. THE ARCHITECTURE IS SUPPOSED TO MIMIC THE BASALTIC COLUMNS OF ROCK FOUND IN SOME AREAS OF ICELAND. MY THEORY IS THAT NOT TOO MANY ICELANDERS GO TO CHURCH, SO THEY NEVER COULD GET ENOUGH MONEY TO BUILD IT...JUST A THEORY.
AND IN FRONT OF THE CHURCH IS A STATUE OF OL LEIF ERICKSON., I THINK. WE DIDN'T GO TOO CLOSE...IT WAS LATE
AND.....A TRUE LAVA LAMP...
WE FLEW HOME THE NEXT DAY. WE HAD TO WAIT FOR THE BUS TO THE AIRPORT AT A PARKING LOT. IN THE BACKGROUND IS THE OPERA HOUSE, WHICH IS REALLY BEAUTIFUL, BUT NOT SO MUCH IN THIS PICTURE. THIS WAS ALSO THE DAY OF THE REYKJAVIK MARATHON, AND THIS WAS PART OF THE COURSE, BUT IT WAS ALMOST OVER.
THE KIDS HAD A RACE ON THIS BERM. AND EVEN LET ME TAKE A GREAT PICTURE OF THEM.
THIS GUY WAS WAITING FOR A BUS TOO. YOU CAN'T TELL VERY WELL, BUT HE HAS IMPLANTED DEVIL HORNS AND PROBABLY 200 PIERCINGS. IT'S HARD TO TELL, BUT HE HAS SHORTS ON; THE REST IS TATTOO. NICE GUY...
AND YES, WE SAW THE NORTHERN LIGHTS. THIS PICTURE WAS HANGING IN THE SAGA LOUNGE OF THE AIRPORT. SO, WE SAW THEM; JUST THAT THEY WERE IN A PICTURE ON THE WALL.
BACK IN THE AIR AND ON OUR WAY. AGAIN, MY ENTERTAINMENT WAS THE LITTLE MAP, AND A COUPLE GIN AND TONICS.
WHEN WE FLEW OVER GREENLAND, YOU COULD SEE IT VERY WELL. MOM TOOK SOME PICTURES THAT I COULDN'T UPLOAD. WOW, IT'S HUGE AND COVERED WITH SNOW, JUST LIKE THE GPS MAP.
ALMOST HOME. CUSTOMS AT O'HARE WAS THE USUAL CIRCUS. WE WERE GLAD WE STAYED A NIGHT BY THE AIRPORT.
A GREAT TRIP BY ALL ACCOUNTS. THANKS TO THE LONDON MILLERS FOR MAKING IT SO FANTASTIC...
