Friday 9/9/16

It rained off and on again today, but again it didn't impede our plans.  We went to the Blue Lagoon - a lovely and very big outdoor man-made hot springs.  The water is full of sulphur, calcite and other minerals so the water is opaque.  It is supposed to have a healing effect on your skin, but is harsh on the hair so when you shower beforehand, you put lots of conditioner in your hair and just leave it in.  The water was very warm and felt wonderful on a cool day like today.  We went over to one part of the pool and used a white clay on our faces - it is supposed to make you look younger!  We were laughing about having the face of an 18 year old on the body of an old woman.  We stayed in the water quite a while and then tried out the steam room, which I did not like - too hot!  The sauna was nice, however.  The funniest thing that happened while we were in the pool was that we had a rain shower so our heads were cold while our bodies were hot - a strange sensation.  Our next stop was to Loftur's home.  He had some small bites: smoked lamb, crepes, rye bread with lamb pate, and a drink which is made from mixing orange soda and a malt drink.  This is a traditional drink at Christmas time.  Since it was Dave's birthday, we sang Happy Birthday to him in both Icelandic and English.  Loftur gave Dave a replica of a Viking pot as a present.  It was so very nice of him.  His wife came home on her lunch hour to meet us.  She was very nice and had actually been to Mystic once.  Their home was lovely and they had some beautiful artwork on the walls as well as a large salmon that Loftur had caught and had mounted.  Their son was at school - probably reluctantly as he went to the Justin Bieber concert last night and did not get home until midnight.  We stopped at the Pearl, which is a large dome sitting on top of water storage tanks (in case of emergency for the city of Reykjavik).  We went outside to the observation platform and could see nearly the whole city.  The far distance was obscured by some mist from the rain.  On our drive back into the city we saw several rainbows - one of them a complete arc.  We are back at the hotel now and have just finished straightening out our suitcases as we will be flying home tomorrow.  It is funny that our plane leaves at 5 PM and we get to Boston at 6:35 PM.  Our plan is to stow the luggage after breakfast and go by bus to the Northern Lights Museum.  We are happy to be going home and will be glad to see friends and family, but this has been an amazing trip - many parts of this country are so beautiful and untouched by man's influence.  This is probably the second cleanest country we have been in with Japan being the first.  If you haven't been here, I highly recommend a trip.

Thursday 9/8/16

We left Selfoss just after breakfast and thankfully, Dave is feeling much better today.  We went to visit a local horticulturalist.  He had a series of greenhouses and plants only flowers for cutting: Gerber daisies, roses, lilies, etc.  The whole operation was more complicated than I would have thought.  They are trying to be as green as possible so use geothermal water to heat and sodium lights to extend the days in the winter.  They don't celebrate Valentine's Day here, but Woman's Day.  Mother's Day is another big time for cut flowers along with June for graduations and christenings.  Surprisingly, weddings do not use a lot of flowers, but lilies are used for funerals.  It was quite an operation.  All of the flowers are sold at the local markets - none are exported.  Their competition is from Holland and some roses that are grown in Africa, which was news to me.  They are having great luck with growing the daisies in lava rock - plenty of that here!  Our next adventure was a river raft ride on a category 2+ river.  Ten of the fifteen of us suited up (Dave stayed on the bus, very wisely) in wetsuits, life jackets and helmets.  We drove for a ways up river and then hopped on the raft.  It was raining today (our first soaking rain that we have had here), but as we knew we were going to get wet anyway, it didn't make any difference.  What I didn't count on was how cold we would get, even with silk long underwear under the wetsuits.  The only thing to keep us warm was the paddling and for long stretches we couldn't paddle - we just let the current carry us down river.  Some of the rapids were a bit rough and we had to hold onto the OS (Oh, Shit) line quite often.  We had a lovely Indian guide named Ravi who was very entertaining.  The best part of the trip was when we went through a canyon - very narrow with steep basalt rock sides.  At one point, the basalt formed hexagonal columns, which was very cool.  There was a boatload of young Germans in one of the other rafts (there were three all together) who were pushing each other into the cold water - BRRRR!  We stopped at one point so that those who wished to could jump from a cliff into the water.  Several of the people from their raft did it, but to no one's surprise, none of the "old folks" were interested.  We were quite cold enough without submerging ourselves in the river.  When we got to the landing place (an hour and a half from our start) we had a short bus ride back to our starting point.  I couldn't wait to get out of the rafting gear and into the hot shower and then the sauna.  I was chilled to the bone, but the heat of the water and the sauna helped to raise my body temperature.  We had a late lunch at a bakery - soup and bread.  It was located in a small shopping mall and there were a few shops as well as a post office, grocery store and a library.  We also enjoyed a photo exhibit of the 2008 earthquake in this area.  It was a 6.3 and there was quite a lot of damage.  The display included a wide crack in the floor covered in plexi-glass and lit down below with red LED lights to simulate lava.  One side of the crack was labeled North America and the other side, Europe.  It was really quite interesting reading all the personal accounts of people who lived through the quake.  One woman made a collage of all of her broken china and glassware - quite an interesting piece of art.  Our last stop of the day was to Iceland's largest geothermal energy plant, cleverly named ON.  We had a guide who explained the whole process of generating energy from the thermal waters above the magma layer of a nearby volcano.  We then got to look into the turbine/generator room.  It was all quite interesting that they have been able to harness the natural power that abounds in this country.  We are now back in Reykjavik at our original hotel.  Dinner was on our own tonight so we walked up the street to a local restaurant for a light meal.  Tomorrow is our last full day here.

Wednesday 9/7/16

Dave woke up not feeling real well this morning and in retrospect, he probably should have stayed behind in the hotel because we had a very busy day today.  Our first stop was at a wonderful waterfall at Seljalandsfoss.  Kelly and I climbed up some stairs (most of the way) to walk behind the falls.  It was very loud and as someone said, we got "mystified".  It was a good thing we were wearing raincoats.  The way down was a bit of a scramble over wet and slippery rocks, but we made it down eventually.  It was lovely to stand behind the falls and see the huge volume of water that was coming down.  Our next stop was to Eyja falls Jokull.  This is the site of the 2010 volcanic eruption that stopped air traffic worldwide.  The little museum showed a short film featuring the farm across the road that sits directly under the glacier of the volcano.  It was quite amazing that no one was killed.  The whole family was able to evacuate with the help of large vehicles that were sent by the authorities.  The plumes of ash ballooned into the air showering the whole area with tons of black ash.  When the danger was over, the community came together to help each other with the massive clean-up operation.  It was a very powerful film.  We then stopped at Skogar waterfall, which was also lovely.  We were traveling in the south of Iceland today.  They get 270 days/year of rain - we have been so lucky with the weather while we have been here.  We stopped at Dyraolaey (the southernmost tip of the island) and took some wonderful pictures of standing stones and arches in the water.  The long and broad beach here has black sand - awesome!  If you were to head due south from here, you would not hit land until you reached Antarctica.  We had a delicious lunch (char, potatoes, leeks with red pepper, wonderful homemade bread, and chocolate cake) at the Volcano Hotel.  It was formerly the elementary school for this small town, but the school aged population declined so they sold the school and the children go to the next town - and even combining the two, there are only 58 students in total.  Dave stayed on the bus for all of our stops except for lunch.  He managed to eat a little of it.  Our next adventure was to take a Super Jeep tour (think 16 passenger van on huge tires).  We went off road, fact, we drove on the shore (again black sand) before taking a rough path up into the valley between the mountains.  Our destination was Kotlujokull glacier.  When we got close, we got out of the jeep and walked right up to the face of the glacier.  Our local guide, Johann - the 29th generation descendant of one of the original Viking settlers, explained the different types of rocks that are formed when an eruption occurs.  He then put on his crampons and walked up the face of the glacier to throw down some ice from an upper layer.  The ice is full of bubbles and at one point I could see a small rainbow in the area that he chipped with his ice ax.  The glacier is quite dirty, but he assured us that the snows will turn it white again.  We finished our tour back where we started.  Loftur, meanwhile, had managed to get some drugs back in Selfoss for Dave.  He is fairly certain that it is bronchitis that has hit him - he is so prone to getting it.  We rode the bus back to our hotel and Loftur went with me to the pharmacy to pick up the Zithromax.  On the was back, we stopped to take a picture of some circles that were caused by exploding gas bubbles from an earlier eruption.  Once I have got Dave dosed up and into bed, John and I went across to the hot dog stand to get take-out for dinner.  Loftur has been raving about the Icelandic hot dogs so we had to try one.  Lana and Kelly were headed to a nearby restaurant for salmon.  The hot dogs were good, but the ones we serve at the library fair are just as good.  We will have an early night tonight and hope that Dave feels better after a good night's sleep.  Tomorrow we (Dave will stay on the bus) will go on a rafting trip before going back to Reykjavik.

Tuesday 9/6/16

We left the hotel at 7:45 to drive to the local airport.  We boarded the plane with our carry-ons and it seemed quite strange to not have to go through security - we just had to show our passports.  Apparently, this is how all domestic flights are in this country.  Our guide pointed out the Minister of Finance - he was taking the same flight.  Our bus driver picked us up when we arrived after our 45 minute flight (it took him 5 hours to drive the bus back last night) and we headed off to visit some of the highlights of the Golden Circle.  Our first stop was Pingvellir National Park where we got to see the Rift Valley between the North American tectonic plate and the Eurasioan one.  They are moving apart at the rate of 2 cm. per year.  We saw some brave souls who were suited up in wet suits and scuba gear - they were going to see the separation of the plates underwater.  This is also the site of the settlement era parliament meetings: 36 chieftans would meet here to decide the laws.  You can see why they picked this spot.  There were towering rock walls and sloping fields in front of them down to the river.  The walls were used in the TV series, Game of Thrones.  This meant little to us as we don't watch the show.  We walked a little further and found the execution pool - here women were put in bags and drowned if they had committed adultery.  The men were beheaded for the same crime.  As we were walking toward the bus, we passed a lava field all covered in a thick bed of moss.  Our guide lay down on the moss to show how soft it was.  I felt it with my hand and it was quite thick and soft.  We then drove to Gullfoss waterfall - a wonderful two-tiered waterfall.  It was a wonderful sight and again we were lucky enough to see a rainbow in the spray.  We went back to the Geyser area (apparently the word geyser comes from the name of this area.  There were several small water and steam vents, but the main geyser shot up 100 feet about every 4 minutes - quite impressive.  We stopped at another waterfall on the way to Selfoss, which is were we will stay for two nights.  We took a little walk around the downtown area after being reunited with our luggage.  We found a wonderful handcraft shop just across the street from the hotel and we enjoyed looking into the local supermarket.  Much of their salad produce is grown in greenhouses taking advantage of all the geothermal energy in the area.  We had dinner in the hotel and I have just come back in from taking some pictures of a church beside the hotel in the beautiful sunset.

Monday 9/5/16

Another beautiful day in paradise!  Today we went on a whale watch.  We drove close to the end of the fjord and almost immediately after leaving the dock, we saw dolphins.  The dolphins here are black and white.  Some of them came quite close to the boat.  When we got out a little farther we started seeing the spray from blowholes of the humpback whales.  We saw quite a few - some from a distance and some close to the boat.  It was a great day - blue skies, sunshine and the water was very smooth.  After, the boat stopped and we had a chance to fish.  My first catch was the line of the person standing next to me.  I think he came too close to me as he was reeling in his fish.  The second time, I caught a cod - 15 to 18 inches long.  One of the crew filleted the 15 fish that we caught and when we got back to shore, cooked in on the grill.  We had collectively caught pollock, haddock, mackerel and cod.  What a treat!  You couldn't ask for fresher fish - The samplers were delicious.  We then walked to a buffet, which was located in the library (very small).  The lunch was quite good, but I tried to eat sparingly as we have been having too many large meals.  The owner and chef of this restaurant has started a festival in the town.  All of the local fishermen and restaurants have one day in which they serve a sampling of free fish - soup, grilled, fried, etc.  It draws a huge crowd from the surrounding towns and everyone has a wonderful time - similar to the Taste of Mystic, but free!  When we got back to the hotel, we had to pack up our larger suitcases as the bus driver will be taking them back to the south of Iceland.  We will fly out tomorrow after breakfast to meet him.  Lana, John, and I took a walk (down a long steep hill) to the shopping area, while Dave took a nap and Kelly got ready for her special trip to go horseback riding on an Icelandic horse.  The four of us (minus Kelly - she will get dinner at the hotel when she returns) will walk down the hill again to go to dinner in an hour or so.  I have to say that the walk up the hill was not as bad as I envisioned it.  It is about the same steepness as Clift Street and ten times longer, but it does have a few curves in it so it doesn't seems so bad.  I hope everyone at home had a relaxing Labor Day.

Sunday 9/4/16

It was another beautiful sunny day today.  I hope our luck can continue through tomorrow as we are going on a whale watch.  Our first stop this morning was to see the Godafoss waterfall.  It was a smaller version of Niagara Falls - about 42 feet high and 100 feet wide.  It was pretty spectacular and to top it off, there was a rainbow in the spray.  We also went to the hot springs and saw boiling mud and fumaroles.  We went to see Dimmuborgir which is similar to Bryce in a way, but instead of eroding sandstone, this was volcanic rock formations - very interesting and it was fun to use your imagination to find witches, ogres, etc. in the formations.  We went for lunch in a restaurant next to Lake Myvatn and then walked across the street to hike among the pseudo craters - formed by hot lava meeting water underground.  The landscape here was covered in them.  On the way back to Akureyri, we stopped at the botanical gardens and had a lovely walk.  My favorite part was the fall flowers section - lots of purples and yellows.  We came back to the hotel for a little down time and then boarded the bus again to go to our home-hosted dinner.  The group was split into two and our group, 7 of us, were hosted by a family of six.  The three older boys were not at home, but the 13 year old daughter was.  The mom is an occupational therapist and the dad teaches English at the university.  She is Icelandic and he is a Palestinian from Israel.  They met in England at the university.  The meal was wonderful.  She served cod, potatoes, pasta, salad and lots of small dishes of different raw veggies.  The dessert was rhubarb crumble.  I asked her for the recipe as it was the best I have ever had.  I just hope she remembers to email it to me.  We had just returned and I will stay up for a while to see the Northern Lights.  Tonight it is cloudy, but sometimes that is when you get the most movement.

Saturday 9/3/16

What a disappointment!  I had no luck getting any of my photos to download to the iPad - I think it's time for a new camera.  I got Dave's downloaded, but I couldn't get them up on the blog - bummer!  The pictures of this beautiful country will have to come after we get home.

On a positive note, I went outside last night and saw the Northern Lights again.  This time it was a clear and starry night, but honestly, I thought the show was better with the cloud layer.  Last night was mostly a green glow on the horizon with a few weak flares.  The night before, there was a lot more "dancing" of the green lights.

This morning we left the hotel and worked our way east and north.  We are now in the town of Akureyri.  On the way here, we stopped at a replica sod house of Eric the Red.  The local owner of the "museum" was wonderful - very funny and informative.  John was chosen to be the Viking mannequin.  He donned a very heavy metal helmet and a Russian wolf collar (it was the pelt of the whole wolf) and sported a sword and large round shield.  We sat inside the sod house while he regaled us with stories about Eric and his son Leif.  On the way to our next stop, we saw a man on a quad cycle herding sheep in a field - the sheep were running and it was quite amusing.  We got to the sheep round-up and had a wonderful time talking to the locals.  Two days ago, the sheep up in the mountains were herded down (on horseback) to this central area where they were divided by farm ownership.  People who live on farms farther way came with trucks and loaded their sheep for the trip home.  Those who live nearby get the older sheep started for home and the rest will follow as they know the way.  All of the lambs born on the high meadows were tagged - they are identified by which mothers they go to.  One man estimated that there were 3000 to 4000 sheep that had been rounded up this time.  They will go out one or two more times to make sure that they gather them all before real winter sets in.  In the worse weather, the sheep will be in barns and fed grass.  One bale of grass will feed 60 sheep for 3 or 4 days.  All of the lambs will be sold for meat.  Our next stop was to an Icelandic horse farm.  We had a delicious lunch: pumpkin soup, salad bar and rhubarb cake for dessert.  After lunch, we went outside to watch the horses go through their paces.  These horses are shorter than the ones we see at home:  14 hands is the average height and 900 pounds.  They also have very shaggy manes which are never cut.  They are very cute.  They were brought to Iceland by the Vikings and no other horses are allowed on the island.  They have 5 paces: walk, pace, gallop, tolt (pronounced tuff), and fast tolt.  During the tolt, the rider can carry a full glass of beer and never spill a drop - a very smooth ride!  Our last stop of the day was a folk museum, a collection of peat houses used in the 18th century up until after World War II.  They had dirt floors and very small windows.  Some of the furniture was wonderfully carved.  We got here after a long day of being on the bus and then had dinner downstairs at the hotel.  We will look for the Northern Lights again tonight.  This is the farthest north we will be on this trip so I hope that they will be more brilliant.

Friday 9/2/16

We saw the Northern Lights last night.  We left a wake-up call at the front desk and the phone rang at 11:30.  We went out into the parking lot and saw them.  Unfortunately, there was a cloud cover so the color was muted, but they danced across the sky and we watched them for about an hour - so beautiful. My camera did not capture them as there was not enough light, but one of the group has a really fancy camera and he thinks he got some shots and is willing to share and John thinks he picked some up on a video that he took.  The memory will stay with me forever - it was a lovely display.  After breakfast this morning, we took a tour around the Snaefellsnes peninsula.  Our first stop was an unexpected one as our bus driver is local to this area and knew about a hidden waterfall - it was lovely.  Our next stop was at Sandy Beach to look at harbor and grey seals.  We saw both kinds fishing just off shore.  We also saw what we thought was a cormorant drying his wings on a rock, but apparently it was a shag, which I have never heard of.  We then went for a walk along the cliffs ear the ocean.  Most of the birds have migrated already, but we did see kittiwakes and Arctic terns.  Some of the group left us partway along as the second half of the walk was over lava fields.  I stayed with the walking on group and at one point I looked out over the water and saw a fin.  At first I thought it was a porpoise, but realized that the dorsal fin was way too big.  I then realized it was an orca (killer whale) and there were two of them.  I looked back and saw that Kelly had also spotted them so I let  out a great shout and everyone up ahead got to enjoy the view - quite exciting!  Our hike ended at a tiny restaurant, where the others had gone by bus.  It was quite warm so we were able to sit out on the deck and enjoy seafood chowder and lovely homemade bread.  Dessert was skyr with loganberry sauce - yum.  Our next stop was a National Park.  They had a small exhibit in the ranger station - all about the sea life in the area and the fishing industry.  We took pictures of a nearby lighthouse and then saw some sheep grazing on a sand spit - they seemed to be enjoying the dried seaweed.  Our next stop was to a farm, where besides normal farm animals, this family is famous for its Hakari.  This is a shark that can get up to 23 feet long and live for 400 years.  They get the sharks from accidental catches in the fishermens' nets - some years they get 20 and other years, 100.  They get the meat off the shark and let it putrify in closed boxes for 3 weeks.  Then they hang it and dry it for 3 to 4 months.  When it is dry, they skin it and eat it as a delicacy.  This process has been known since the 1400's and this particular family has been doing it for 400 years.  They had cut small cubes of it for a tasting (which Dave and I did not participate in).  You get a cube on a toothpick and dip it into a shot glass of "Black Death", a type of alcholic drink for 5 to 10 seconds, eat and then follow with a Black Death chaser.  The smell was enough to put me off, but those who tried it, including Kelly, said that it wasn't bad - in fact, she had seconds.  This particular shark pumps urine into its flesh to maintain its osmotic balance and apparently you could die if you ate the fresh meat.  This is why they putrify and dry it.  Not my cup of tea.  The young lady who showed the film and gave the presentation, was from Italy.  She is over here for the season.  She was charming and gave a great explanation of the whole process.  We walked out to the drying shed, which had a stronger smell of shark to see the hanging pieces and then helped to feed the ducks and chickens.  There were 3 baby ducks and they were very cute.  They also had quite a few of the Islandic horses on the property.  We went back to the hotel and the five of us, Lana, John, Kelly, Dave, and I walked down to the harbor for dinner.  Kelly had steamed mussels and the rest of us had fish sandwiches on squid ink rolls.  Everything was very good.  If I wake up in the middle of the night, I may look out to see the Northern Lights again as it is not as cloudy today.

Thursday 9/1/16

Wow!  We were really tired last night!  I had set the alarm  for 5:30, but was so fuzzy-headed last night that I didn't notice it was for PM not AM.  We woke up at 20 after six and jumped in the shower and hurried down to breakfast.  We really had plenty of time, but I hate feeling as if we are behind.  The bus ride was lovely.  We have moved north and west and are staying for the next two nights in a small town of Stykkisholmur.  Our first stop this morning was at the Borgarfjordur, a lovely fjord with a beautiful waterfall and a river that was very glacial.  We then stopped to see the town where a famous writer, Snorri, lived in the 13th century.  He wrote down all of the folk legends and sagas about Iceland, but instead of writing them in Latin, he wrote them in the Icelandic language.   Just a bit down the road we stopped at the Deildartunguhver thermal area.  The pipeline that runs from this area to surrounding towns is 74 km long and the 100 degree (212 F) water runs at 50 gallon per second!  We had a beautiful day again today - about 50 degrees and bright sunshine.  We saw many mountains, glaciers, and lava fields on on ride along the peninsula.  We stopped for lunch in a small town and had a vegetarian buffet and then went into a museum that explained about the early settlement of Iceland via audio tape.  It was very well done.  We boarded the bus again and stopped by a river where many people come to go salmon fishing.  In high season, permits for fly fishing of salmon run from 1500 to 4000 dollars per day!  At this time, the rate is a (mere) $300/day.  Kevin Cosner and Quentin Tarintino have both fished nearby.  Our guide is also a fishing guide and he treated us to salmon that he had caught and smoked.  He has also written a book on fly fishing in Iceland.  On our way to the hotel, we had one more stop to make, Helgafell Mountain (Holy Mountain).  It was only about 250 feet high so was an easy climb.  The legend is that you have to climb the mountain without looking back, face East, and make 3 non self-serving wishes and they will come true.  The short drive to the hotel was through lovely countryside near the water and when we got to town, the bus driver gave us a brief tour of the town and the harbor.  We checked in and then went for a walk down by the harbor and then across to another small island that sported a short lighthouse at the top.  The views from the top were wonderful and by the time we got back to the hotel, it was time for dinner.  Tonight's meal was huge:  cod (which I thought was the main meal, chicken with a variety of veggies and homemade ice cream for dessert.  The ice cream was drizzled with loganberry sauce - yum!  Again there does not seem to be time to post pix, but will try to get some on soon.

Tuesday 8/30/16

We are on our way to Iceland!  We fought Boston traffic and got to the airport at 5:15 PM only to discover that Icelandic Air goes out of a remote terminal and there was no line at security.  We ate dinner at Legal Seafood and then had a wait until our flight left at 9:30 PM.  I am not complaining though as I would much rather be early than late.  We had a good flight except that our area of the plane was quite hot and Lana John and Kelly who were about ten rows behind us were freezing.  About 4 in the morning, an elderly woman fell into the aisle, whether from dizziness, sickness or stumbling we do not know.  The flight crew was wonderful and reacted immediately and there was a doctor seated two rows in front of me who helped out.  They started oxygen and an IV and had her in the aisle administering first aid for quite some time, but she seemed to be much better by the time we landed.  An ambulance crew came on board and took it from there.  We were met by our guide after we passed through passport control/customs and then waited a few minutes for some of the others of our group to get through.  We took a long ride in morning rush hour traffic and finally got to our hotel in Reykjavik.  We had breakfast at the hotel and then were able to get into our rooms before meeting Loftur, our guide, for a walking tour.  We walked by some lovely and colorful houses before stopping at the Hallgrimskirkju, a lovely Protestant church in the city.  The organ was very unusual with some horizontal pipes and we were lucky as the choir was practicing for a concert and we got to listen in.  There is a big statue of Leif Eiricsson (their spelling) outside of the church.  The statue was given to Iceland by the United States on what is thought to be the 1000th anniversary of his landing in North American - 950 AD.  Continuing our walk, we passed by a few houses that were sided in corrugated iron - very unusual, but after a fire in the 1950's it became quite popular.  We then went to the Harpa, the concert hall.  It was a great building made of glass.  The glass is in blocks meant to remind us of basalt columns as was the church (concrete, though, not glass).  The group then split up:  A few went back to the hotel for a nap as few of us had slept on the plane, a few including Lana, Kelly and I went back to a wonderful shopping street that we had passed on our walk, and the rest went with Loftur to see the parliament buildings.  Unfortunately, the shopping looked better from the street - I only bought a few postcards.  We made our way back to the hotel and had a short nap before going down to a welcome chat and then dinner.  I will have to put pix on later as my eyeballs are falling out of my head.  We are on the road tomorrow so will tell you all about it when I can.

Tuesday 7/26/16

Dave and I went down to Maison Plisson again for pastries for breakfast and then took off for the Catacombes.  Nick was able to purchase tickets for us online yesterday so we were able to skip the long lines and go right in.  The tour was amazing, yet macabre!  The cemeteries in the city were full and were beginning to collapse into church basements so it was decided to move all of the bodies in the dead of night to the abandoned quarries.  The work was begun in 1756 and was not completed until 1814.  One of the young men in charge decided to place the bones in arrangements so that there was some order and design to them.  There are the bones of over 6 million people in the Catacombes, including some famous people as well as plague victims.  When we came back out into daylight, we texted Nick and met them at the St. Paul metro stop.  Dan was getting his hair cut nearby so we waited for him and then walked to a famous place for hot chocolate.  It poured out of the pot like melted candy bars - it was that thick and it was wonderfully delicious!  We then walked down to the Bastille Tower and hopped on a canal boat for a tour.  We went under the Bastille Tower through a 2 km. tunnel and then through a series of locks.  The ride was delightful until we came to a lock which would not open.  The tour took a short walk to the other side of the lock and were going to reboard, but since we were almost at the end of the tour, we opted to walk to the nearest metro station and head for home.  This is our last day in Paris and we are going out for a fancy dinner tonight so I will go and get ready to change.  I will put pictures on when I get a chance at home.  This has been a magical trip, it is sad that it is ending, but we have had a wonderful time with many great adventures.

Monday 7/25/16

Laura and I walked up the street to a wonderful bakery, Maison Plisson, and picked up croissants and other goodies for breakfast.  These must be the best croissants in Paris, if not France - melt in your mouth delicious!  We then all walked to Notre Dame Catherdral - great gargoyles and a first for us:  a stained glass window with opening panels to let in fresh air!  We walked back and on the way stopped to pick up empanadas for lunch - very good.  We then took the Metro to the Arc de Triomphe.  What a wonderful view from the top and what a crazy traffic mess!  There are 8 boulevards that come into a circle around the Arc, including the Champs Elysees, which is 4 - 6 lanes wide.  There are no lines in the circle so people just make their own way around and cut in front of others when they want to get out onto one of the boulevards - fascinating to watch!  There was a quick little rain shower when we were at the top - this thinned out the crowd.  We stood under an overhang until it passed.  It was a warm day so the wet shirt felt good.  When we came down, we decided to walk along the Champs Elysees so that we could window shop in the very expensive stores and Dan could fancy car spot for his blog.  We came back and had a nice dinner at the Cafe Hugo at the Place de Vosges, just down the street from the apartment.

Sunday. 7/24/16

This morning we made our way by Metro to the Louvre.  What a massive museum - you could come here every day for a week and still not see the whole thing!  I had chosen two pieces as "must see" items so we enjoyed other pieces of art on our way to see Winged Victory and the Mona Lisa.  We came out and walked through Tuileries Gardens, where we stopped to let Ella play for a few minutes on the playground equipment (and where Laura got christened by a bird overhead) and tried to make our way to the Arc de Triomphe.  Unfortunately, all of the pathways and roads were being blocked off as it was time for the end of the Tour de France, which come down the Champs Elysees to the Arc.  We gave up that quest and made our way to the Luxembourg Gardens (beautiful) and then back to the apartment for a small rest.  Dave and I tried to go the the Catacombes, but the line to get in was blocks long so we texted Laura and Nick and we decided to meet up at the Eiffel Tower.  Laura, Nick and the kids opted to walk up the first two levels - Dave and I took the elevator all the way up to the top.  There was a great view of the city from the top!  We spent a lot of time walking around and enjoying the views from every angle before taking the elevator back down.  We got back to our general area and found a restaurant in which to have a late dinner.  We got back to the apartment around 11.  Before going to bed, we discovered that we could see the Eiffel Tower if we leaned out of Laura and Nick's window.  It is lit at night and changes color - quite spectacular!

Saturday 7/23/16

It rained heavily last night, but that was okay because we were inside and it was our last night.  We had just over an hours ride to the airport this morning.  Fortunately, the car rental return is just across the street from the terminals.   We got our boarding passes, got rid of our luggage and had a very easy time going through security as there was a special line for families traveling together.  Our flight was short.  I sat next to a young man (9th grade) from Melbourne, Australia.  His father is French and he comes here every other year to visit his grandparents in Toulouse.  He must be a great kid as his favorite subject is math!  We took a taxi van to the apartment that we are renting for the few days we are here in Paris.  We are located just a block away from the Place de Vosges, which is the oldest planned square in Paris.  It was built between 1605 and 1612.  The surrounding grand buildings are all of red brick - very impressive.  Dave and I took Dan and Ella to the square so that Nick and Laura could have some quiet time to figure out dinner plans, etc.  We walked along one side of the square which had all of the art galleries and had a contest about the weirdest painting or sculpture - there were several in contention for first place.  We ate at a small restaurant a few blocks away.  We found a bakery that they had been in on a previous trip here and Dave and I volunteered to go out tomorrow morning for fresh croissants for our breakfast.  Dave and I are relaxing at the apartment while the others have gone for ice cream - we were just too full.

Friday 7/22/16

It is a bit rainy today so it was a sleep in day for Dan especially.  When Ella woke up, we left Dan sleeping and went into Mirepoix for fresh croissants.  Dan was awake when we returned so we had eggs and croissants for brunch.  We had a relaxing morning - caught up on a bit of laundry, which we had to hang inside, did some reading and straightening of suitcases.  The sun came out weakly and it was pool time!  When everyone was dressed we drove to another vineyard - this one featured sparkling wines and then went into Mirepoix to get a few more postcards.  We decided to have leftovers (mostly pizza) for dinner as we will leave tomorrow after breakfast.  We will be flying from Toulouse to Paris for the next part of our adventure.  La Prade has been a wonderful and relaxing haven.  We have enjoyed the local sights, but it has been nice to come back to the pool and the lovely gardens.  Everyone is feeling very relaxed.  I will catch up with you all again once we get to "The City of Lights".

Thursday 7/21/16

Happy Birthday to Laura!  We got up earlier than the kids would have liked to drive to Grotte de Niaux, a cave famous for its prehistoric cave drawings.  Unfortunately, all of the tours were booked until Saturday.  It was a disappointment, but we went to plan B.  We drove up to a ruined castle, Le Chateau de Miglos high up on a hill and admired the wonderful views of the mountains and the valley.  We decided to drive across the mountains - spectacular scenery and sometimes we were above the clouds - on an unsaved, winding road.  We stopped at a small village, but there was no bakery so we continued on to Ax-Les-Thermes, a city built on hot springs.  We had lunch in the main square and put our feet in the springs.  Ella was excited as her child plate had a hamburger and purple mashed potatoes!  Unfortunately, while we were having lunch, the market and most of the shops closed.  I took a picture of a little girl in the cafe who had the larges lollipop I had ever seen.  I took a picture and then went over to talk with the father.  It was not the huge lolly I supposed, but a round container filled with about 20 smaller candies.  The shops close up for "lunch hour" - usually from 1 or 1:30 until 3:30.  We did get to admire a mountain bike that was for rent.  The young man who owned the shop says he rents the bikes as they cost 5000 euros to buy!  I must say that it had all the bells and whistles - shock absorber on the front fork and in the frame and a specially raised chain so that you wouldn't bottom out while going downhill, but really - 5000 euros?!  On the drive back we drove through beautiful countryside.  There were many places where trees were planted next to the road making a lovely shaded alley for the car.  We stopped at Domaine Gayda for a bottle of wine for Laura - beautiful grounds - huge bunches of lavender and a rose bush planted at the beginning of every row of grapes.  We came home and jumped in the pool for a refreshing swim and then Laura and Nick went up the road for pizza (a small RV fitted out with a brick oven) for our dinner.  The choices were different and wonderful - we tried several: chicken with pineapple, ham, asparagus, and mushrooms, lamb, sausage, onions and mushrooms.  We came in and had cake and ice cream to celebrate Laura's big day and then played a game of pinochle.  It was another wonderful day!

Wednesday 7/20/16

Today we had a kid-centered day.  We went to a go-kart track, where Laura and Ella took the slow cars (putt-putts) and Nick and Dan took the fast ones.  Dave and I opted to be the photographers.  Everyone enjoyed the experience.  Dan was excited as the track was very long and he beat Nick, going 65 kmh and having the best lap time at 1.16 to Nick's 64 kmh and 1.19.  We then drove to a lake where we had lunch in the cafe.  The water was quite cold so again Dave and I (the wimps) elected to watch.  Laura was excited to get a long distance swim in (the pool length is about a half normal lap), but we heard thunder getting closer so wisely elected to pack up.  We got sprinkled on slightly as we walked to the car, but the bigger drops waited until we were driving.  Once at home, Ella and I made a birthday cake (Ella's execution, I just stirred).   It was a bit of a challenge not having the correct tools (no beaters, just a wooden spoon)   and ingredients, but we were able to make a bluish/pink vanilla cake with chocolate frosting.  The edges got slightly burned (the oven was in Celsius), but we trimmed them.  We played Kings in the Corner (a card game) while we waited for it to cool.  The frosting was made with super fine sugar as there was no confectioners sugar at the market, but it was good despite being slightly grainy.  Ella decorated with a variety of sprinkles in patterns and arranged the candles to make the number 44.  We went out to dinner in Mirepoix at La Flambee.  The dinner was very excellent - Dan had a whole pot of mussels and then we went for ice cream in the square.

Sadly, I can't seem to get any more pictures onto the blog as the machine is full.

Tuesday July 19, 2016

Today we went to Grotte de La Bouiche, a cave with the longest underground river in Europe.  It was discovered in 1938 by a young man.  We took three different boats with a guide through the cave (had to get out and walk past a waterfall and another section that was too narrow for the boat).  The guide pulled the boat along the river by using a series of cables in the walls of the cave.  I found it interesting that the boats had to come into the caves in pieces and built on site as they wouldn't fit through the opening.  Cameras were not allowed inside of the cave so I only have a picture of the exit.  There were a couple of wonderful structures.  My favorites were the birthday cake, complete with candles and a giant foot structure aptly named Big Foot.   We then drove to Foix where we had lunch in a cafe just under the hill that the castle stood upon.  The castle is on a very tall rock structure in the middle of the city.  We walked up to the castle (Chateau de Foix) and enjoyed a self guided tour.  This is a medieval Cathar castle first mentioned in 987.  The round tower, however, was not built until the early part of the 15th century.  Not surprisingly, it was only taken once in 1486 and that was due to treachery between two branches of the Foix family.  I got

a picture of the boys climbing up to the castle and the girls at the top of one of the towers. There is also a view of the town from the castle as well as one of Dan and Ella standing inside of a fireplace.  We came back to the house and had a swim before a wonderful dinner made by Nick.

Pix from Mirepoix

Mirepoix is a charming town and the closest to where we are.  It has a grocery store, the Super U, and    Plenty of restaurants.  The pictures I have selected are one of the interesting architecture, a great old sign, a funny sign: Mall of Evil?, which is a dress shop, the carousel in the middle of the square, a French couple napping after lunch at one of the cafes, and a close up of a gargoyle on the cathedral.

Pix from Chateau de Lagarde

The ruins here were impressive, but it was neat to see the drawings of what the chateau looked like when it was in its prime.  There is also a view of the Pyrenees

from the chateau, llamas under the old moat bridge and a photo of Queen Laura and Princess Ella (Ella made the crown of flowers).

Pix from Camon

The pictures are of the church bell, an arrow slit in the wall, a narrow street, a close-up of a shutter latch, a blue door with roses and a view of the river in Camon.

Pix from La Prade

I am putting up some pix from the farmhouse where we are staying.  The house is quite large.  We are staying in the darker section off to the right (separate photo).  There is a double living room, kitchen, dining area, laundry/utility room and full bath downstairs.  There are four bedrooms upstairs with 3 full baths.  Ella shares with us.  The gardens, pool area and surrounds are lovely.  I took a photo of the huge lavender by the pool.  The rainbow effect is taken in a corn field across the road from the house.  They water constantly and the sun was catching it just right.

Monday 7/18/16

We went into Mirepoix this morning to visit the Market.  It was wonderful.  There were butchers, fish mongers, bakers, and lots of people selling fresh produce.  There also were the typical stalls of clothes, shoes, leather goods, etc.  The kids loved the people selling rabbits, chickens, ducks, etc., but their favorite was a tiny black baby pig, who was not for sale, but was being used as a promotion for the Animal Rescue League.  Ella loved him because he made little noises like a squeaky and he wagged his tail when you petted him.  If you bought a box of candy, the profits would go to rescue animals.  My favorite was the escargot seller.  He had two huge wok type pans of escargot and he advertised his wares with a couple of stuffed snails on the counter.  It was a colorful, busy and fun market.  We had breakfast at a cafe (The Mad Hatter) run by some Englishwomen and then spent some time just walking around and shopping for fresh food.  We came back to the house and have all been reading or working now that the Internet is up.  We will have lunch and then go to a nearby lake for a swim.

We did not go to the lake as we were still having spotty Internet service and Laura had a wee bit of work to do before a conference call with her boss and an interview with a prospective employee later this afternoon.  She finished that up when the wifi was up and we went into the pool.  It is a warm and windy day today.  There is very low humidity here.  We are washing clothes and hanging them on an outside line and they are dry in 10 minutes!  Nick bought something at the market today that he will grill for dinner.  Later on tonight, we will go for a walk and make a plan for tomorrow.  Last night on our walk, Dan and Ella tried to roll a hay roll in a field.  They didn't get too far, but had a great time trying.  The moon was almost full so I expect that it will be full tonight.  It stays light very late here - until about midnight and the sun is up around 4:30.  Quite nice now, but I wonder if it flip-flops in the winter?

Sunday 7/17/16

The Internet was down yesterday so will try to catch up on the posts today.  Will get pix on when I can.  The owners of the farmhouse (La Prade) were very nice.  Andrew works in the business district of London and Sally is a flight attendant for British Air, although she has a reduced schedule now - she works 6 days and then has 12 off.  She also only flies in Europe so she doesn't have any overnights.  They have two children, a boy, 16 and a girl, 15.  Their daughter was here with them as well as their dog Max who had an insatiable appetite for having you throw the ball and then running to fetch it and drop it at your feet.  He apparently can do this for hours.  The humans wear out well before he does.

Yesterday was another beautiful day.  We had breakfast and then drove a short distance to Camon, which is known as the most picturesque village in France.  It was quite lovely with a beautiful Abbey on the top of the hill (now an Inn and restaurant), narrow streets and great views of the surrounding countryside and the river.  The Abbey was built in the 10th century and supposedly started by Charlemagne.  Most of the town was built in the 12th through 14th centuries.   Camon is known as the city of a hundred roses and there are roses everywhere - in gardens, on trellises on the sides of the house - quite beautiful.  We had a nice time just walking around and poking into little alleyways.  We headed back and stopped at a ruin that we had seen from the road - Chateau de Lagarde.  This was started as one watchtower in the 12th century and grew into a major fortress by the 14th and 15th centuries.  In the late 16th century it was converted into a mansion and was inhabited by a series of dukes until the French Revolution.  The owners fled to Italy so the commune then deemed the castle a quarry and it was dismantled for its stone, ending in the ruinous state today.  If the owners had stayed, they would have been beheaded and the mansion saved.  Quite the choice!  We came back to La Prade and had lunch out by the pool.  Some of us chose to stay in and by the pool while others chose to nap.  We then went into Mirepoix for dinner at a restaurant on the square.  Nick and Dan are quite adventurous in sampling local fare so Dan had beef tongue and Nick had tripe.  After dinner we found an ice cream stand further along the square and those who wished had either a cone or a bowl.  I am not much of an ice cream eater, but Laura gave me a taste of her strawberry and it was like eating the fruit right out of the field - I may have to indulge next time.

7/16/16 Mirepoix, France

We have arrived safely, but the Internet is very slow so am not sure about putting pictures on.  I will try tomorrow.  We landed in Paris and had to run from terminal A to terminal F to get our next flight. With the help of a lovely airport worker who expedited our baggage handling, we made it to our gate just as they were boarding.  Our flight to Toulouse was only an hour long and we were met by Laura and family.  We had lunch in the beautiful square in Mirepoix and then drove to our wonderful secluded farmhouse.  Andrew and Sally, the owners, will leave for London (their home) tomorrow morning.  The house is lovely and we took advantage of the pool right away.  Lots more to say, but the keyboard just ran out of battery juice so I will continue tomorrow.

3/23/16. Home Again

As promised, I put the pictures of our last, amazing night in Alamosa.  The moon was almost full, the sunset was lovely and we saw the porcupine and a great horned owl - what a send-off!

Our journey home was a long one.  We got to the airport very early as we heard about the bombings in Brussels and wanted to be prepared for the extra security, which, as it turned out, did not exist, but better safe than sorry.  We did have a delay on the second flight from Philly to Providence so we didn't get home until about 9:30.  We are always glad to come home from wherever we have been - the snow from Monday has melted and the daffodils and crocuses are in bloom.  It feels like Spring - hoorah!

3/21/16 Monday

We got up this morning and said our good-byes to Mike and Louise.  Louise started to get a little teary-eyed, but she will be in Mystic in July and then again for Thanksgiving so we will see her soon.    We decided to take the smaller roads through the mountains to get up to Denver.  It was a very pretty ride - one which you would not want to take during bad weather, but was prefect today.  We turned in the car and made our way to the hotel.  We have just come back from walking to a nearby restaurant for an early dinner (we didn't have lunch).  We are all set for our flight tomorrow.

Last night, after dinner, we took a walk and we had a bonus.  Not only did we finally see Spike (although I only got a picture of his backside - must be camera shy), but we also spotted a great horned owl atop a telephone pole!  I just tried to put the pictures onto the computer, but there seems to be some resistance.  I will try again when we get home.  I did download pictures of the cats, however, last night.  In order, there is Ollie, Leo, and Sadie Sue.

and will put them on today's blog.

We had a wonderful time in Alamosa, both in our volunteer work and spending time with Louise, but we are both ready to go home - there is no place like it.

3/19/16 Saturday

We did get to go out for dinner last night as Louise got home at 5:45.  We ate at the Brewery again - good food.  This morning we decided to have breakfast in town at the coffee shop next to the Brewery - eggs and wonderful homemade wheat toast.  We stopped at the Animal Pound to see the dog that Louise has found Thursday morning, but it didn't open until 10 so we continued on our way. Our destination was Penitente Canyon out near La Garita (north of Monte Vista).  The canyon is on BLM land (Bureau of Land Management) and was formed 20 to 30 million years ago from volcanic eruptions of the San Juan mountains.  The rock formations were lovely and we found a neat rock art painting from early Inidans near the entrance to our hike.  We had a lovely long hike along the canyon and came across deep ruts in the rock from Carreras (two-wheeled wooden ox carts).  They were used as early as the 1850's to carry firewood and other items.  The views from the top were amazing and we finally wound our way back to the parking lot.  On our way out, we saw some prairie dogs curiously watching as our car went by.  On the way back home, we stopped by the dog pound and saw the rescue pup.  They have named him Dundee and he will be available for adoption on Wednesday.  The lady at the pound said there has already been some interest in adopting him.  Louise fell in love with him, but we tried to persuade her that she had enough to do with her work, the two dogs and the three cats.  He is very cute and I have no doubt that he will find a good home.  A little bit ago, Louise took Monte for a walk and saw something strange on the ground behind a tree off the road.  I went out with her to check it out and I thought it looked like a dead coyote to me, but we didn't get too close.  Dave came out with us later and we discovered that it was indeed a dead coyote and it had been shot.  Obviously, one of the neighbors is not fond of them.  We haven't made plans for tomorrow yet beyond packing and cleaning out the car.  We will leave for Denver on Monday morning.

3/20/16 Sunday

Today is our last full day with Louise so we packed up our suitcases after breakfast and then asked Louise what she wanted to do today.  We ended up taking a ride up to Crestone, a small town at the foot of the mountains known for having a free-spirited atmosphere.  There are many different religions, magical thinkers and just plain grown-up hippies living here.  We drove through the small town, but as it was Sunday morning, nothing was open.  We did discover a Buddhist shrine (Stupa of Enlightenment) and stopped to take a picture. On the way back we stopped at an odd looking place called the UFO tower.  Apparently, people pay ($20/person) to come out here (in the middle of nowhere) to look for UFO sightings - a sucker is born every minute.  We then stopped at the Colorado Gator Farm as Louise had never seen them in the wild.  The place started as a tilapia (fish) farm because there is a hot spring on the property.  Eventually, the owners bought some baby alligators to clean up the fish waste.  Now it is still a tilapia farm and the filtered water is used to grow plants in the greenhouses, but they are also an alligator rescue place.  Some of the alligators are from New York and California, where people were keeping them in bathtubs and backyard swimming pools!  They also have snakes, turtles, tortoises, lizards, emus, and peacocks on display.  They have two albino alligators, one of which is named Mr. Bomangles.  We came back into town and stopped at the grocery store.  Louise is cooking tonight - pork chops with spiced apples with roasted Brussels sprout and barley salad - yum!