We spent the night at our airbnb and woke early to get to the airport. We had a 50 minute drive from Reykjavik to the Keflavik Airport. It was a bit hectic boarding but the 5 hour flight went well. We had the easiest time through the airport and to the Park and Fly shuttle. Since it was about 1:00 PM there was no traffic out of Toronto as we headed up Airport Road. It was good to be home.
We had a wonderful trip that has provided so many memories.
I finished the blog this morning at home. Later I will add links and maybe other photos but for now I'm done!
Tuesday, June 14, 2016
Selfoss
On our way back to Reykjavik, we stopped in Selfoss for a meal. Tom pulled into a parking lot of of restaurant while I was checking Tripadvisor for recommendations. I had found the #1 recommendation and realize it is the restaurant right there - decision made! It was a great spot. The name of it is unpronounceable - Tryggvaskali. After our meal we walked around the river bank and found lava bubbles. They look like round craters along the riverbank. Always something interesting to see wherever you look.
Our Last Full Day in Iceland
We had traveled the Golden Circle route that includes the Thingvellir area. It is famous for Iceland's first parliament established in 930AD. But also the place where the European and American tectonic plates surface above the ground. Iceland must be an Earth Scientist's dream. There are so many interesting and unusual formations. Lava fields, glaciers, volcanos, magnificent waterfalls, and geysir are just a few of the geological features of this small island nation that we visited. After a good night's sleep in the Fosshotel Helka we spent a short time in the hot tub before breakfast and then left to explore the South Shore. How dramatic the scenery is! Black sand beaches, crashing waves in the the Atlantic, glaciers, waterfalls and lava fields abound. Lupins must grow well in volcanic soil as they grow wild all over the land. We loved all the spots we visited and returned to Reykjavik in the early evening. We saw two short movies about the 1973 and 2010 eruptions and finally returned our rental car. We spent some time exploring Reykjavik but not enough to do it justice. Tired, we retired to our airbnb apartment.
Iceland
We arrived in Iceland very late. We took a taxi to our Airbnb apartment to discover a disaster. It was now about 1 AM and the address we were given didn't include a street number just the street name. The taxi driver was persistent as I pulled up a picture of the house and we tried to match it to various houses on the street. My first activity in Iceland was to trespass in the middle of the night checking for keys in flower pots up and down the street. Finally we found it! I was confident that the problem was all behind us. I had tried to call the host but there was no answer. They did not live in the house. We got inside but discovered that the room we thought was ours had not been cleaned or prepared for us with sheets and towels. I took pictures of the place and we left. Tom was able to hail a cab (a miracle at 3AM). Remember this is Iceland and it was still light out so Tom could see a cab at the end of the street. We had the taxi take us to a hotel in Reykjavik and we explained our situation. The rates at that hotel were about 260 euros a night and we didn't want to pay that for a few hours of sleep. They were so kind and generous to us as we figured out what we wanted to do. They gave us breakfast, the use of their computers and they ended up making reservations for us. In the end we decided to rent a car and book a hotel for the next night outside of town. We got our rental car around 8 in the morning. We were operating on 0 hours of sleep but ended up having a great day doing the Golden Circle Route outside of Reykjavik. We had purchased a self driving tour booklet and a GPS with the car rental that made it simple to get around. We were able to see lots of fascinating sights before crashing at our hotel at about 3PM. We slept for several hours and then had a great dinner. I had contacted Airbnb and the host and we were reimbursed for most of it and the host offered that we could stay there for free. We decided to stay out of the city and along the route but to return to Reykjavik the night before we left for home. We stayed at the Airbnb and it was fine and convenient. That was not the way we wanted our holiday in Iceland to start out but in the end it worked out fine.
Driving the Golden Circle
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| Thingvellir |
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| Where the European and American Tectonic Plates Meet Above Ground |
Our Last Day in Paris
Our last day in Paris started with our favorite Boulangerie for breakfast. We had packed up our suitcases and left them in our host's apartment. We weren't leaving Paris until 5PM. We shopped at the market for a picnic then we headed out for the day. We went to the Bercy area of Paris and then discovered that the Bateaux Mouches (cruise boat on the Seine) was going to sail for the first time since the flooding at 2PM. We decided to change our plans and opted for the boat trip. This was a news worthy event and the media was on the boat along with the tourists. Tom and I were both interviewed- Tom on iTele TV and Radio France interviewed me. We never got to see or hear these interviews. This was also the start of the Euro Cup soccer tournaments and France was to play Romania later that night. I think our interviews were overshadowed by the soccer games!
We picked up our luggage and met our shuttle to the airport. It took us 2 hours to get to the airport due to the soccer game traffic but we were there in plenty of time as our flight was delayed about 45 minutes.
We picked up our luggage and met our shuttle to the airport. It took us 2 hours to get to the airport due to the soccer game traffic but we were there in plenty of time as our flight was delayed about 45 minutes.
Saturday, June 11, 2016
Catching Up Again
I'm going to try to get caught up again. We are now in Iceland so I have lots of catching up to do! I'll start with Thursday in Paris when we used the last day of our Museum Pass to visit the Louvre (Louvre Museum Official Website).
We have become very good at routing ourselves around Paris now so after our croissant and cafe at the Boulangerie we headed to the Musee Louvre. The Musee had been closed due to flooding. Many paintings that were housed in the basements had to be moved. We thought it might have been super crowded once it open again but it was manageable and we saw such great works of art. We certainly enjoyed our time there. We then headed to the Cafe de l'epoque (Café de l'époque - Paris-Bistro)for a good meal with great desserts! We then headed to the Marine Museum across the river from the Eiffel Tower. It is a small, very well organized display of the history of ships in France.
While on the Metro Tom was the hero of the day! A young family was trying to get on the crowded Metro. The daughter, mother and father got on the train but the outer door and then the inside door closed before the little son got on. The mother was frantic, the father was mad at the mother and Tom went into action forcing the inside doors open. The mother's head had been squeezed between the closing doors. Luckily the driver must have seen this and opened the doors on the platform and the little boy was able to get on before the train started moving. The father and others nearby didn't do anything to help and it was Tom's quick reactions that turned a potentially terrible situation into a minor event. I wish I had whipped out my phone and recorded it!
We have become very good at routing ourselves around Paris now so after our croissant and cafe at the Boulangerie we headed to the Musee Louvre. The Musee had been closed due to flooding. Many paintings that were housed in the basements had to be moved. We thought it might have been super crowded once it open again but it was manageable and we saw such great works of art. We certainly enjoyed our time there. We then headed to the Cafe de l'epoque (Café de l'époque - Paris-Bistro)for a good meal with great desserts! We then headed to the Marine Museum across the river from the Eiffel Tower. It is a small, very well organized display of the history of ships in France.
While on the Metro Tom was the hero of the day! A young family was trying to get on the crowded Metro. The daughter, mother and father got on the train but the outer door and then the inside door closed before the little son got on. The mother was frantic, the father was mad at the mother and Tom went into action forcing the inside doors open. The mother's head had been squeezed between the closing doors. Luckily the driver must have seen this and opened the doors on the platform and the little boy was able to get on before the train started moving. The father and others nearby didn't do anything to help and it was Tom's quick reactions that turned a potentially terrible situation into a minor event. I wish I had whipped out my phone and recorded it!
Wednesday, June 8, 2016
Musee d'Orsay
Today we went by Metro to the Musee d'Orsey (Musée d'Orsay: Home)
We had a late breakfast at our favorite spot again, La Petite Marquise, and then headed out. All went fairly smoothly. We started to go one way and found out the train wasn't running. Strike maybe? The helpful agent told us how to go another way.
We enjoyed our day at the Musee. There was a special exhibit about Rousseau. I really enjoyed seeing the impressionists and post impressionists. The most impressive I thought was Van Gogh's paintings. Around 4 PM we stopped for lunch and met a couple from New Zealand. The woman had been to Kitchener-Waterloo on business -small world! We continued to view the art until around 5 PM and then took the metro back to our apartment. Again it was a perfect day and more relaxing than yesterday. We have come to really like our neighborhood and going out for an evening stroll was a perfect end to a great day. What's up for tomorrow? Haven't decided yet.
We had a late breakfast at our favorite spot again, La Petite Marquise, and then headed out. All went fairly smoothly. We started to go one way and found out the train wasn't running. Strike maybe? The helpful agent told us how to go another way.
We enjoyed our day at the Musee. There was a special exhibit about Rousseau. I really enjoyed seeing the impressionists and post impressionists. The most impressive I thought was Van Gogh's paintings. Around 4 PM we stopped for lunch and met a couple from New Zealand. The woman had been to Kitchener-Waterloo on business -small world! We continued to view the art until around 5 PM and then took the metro back to our apartment. Again it was a perfect day and more relaxing than yesterday. We have come to really like our neighborhood and going out for an evening stroll was a perfect end to a great day. What's up for tomorrow? Haven't decided yet.
Pantheon
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| Spiral Staircase going down to the Crypt in the Pantheon |
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| Close up of the painting In the Pantheon |
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