Hurricane Home

We're home to a hurricane! If you've been reading along - hope you enjoyed and enjoyed our journey along with us a bit! - So much drama to return to... scary (truly) - so glad my friends and family are safe!! - ----- happy it wasn't as bad as it could have been! -

We are lucky to have made it back! - and to have had an Icelandic adventure.

(this is me playing Hurricane newscaster)


The Beacon train station below ---- flooded! - and Hudson Valley wasn't even supposed to be hit!! - but the river rebelled!


Storms make for a beautiful sky though.... and always a reminder of the beauty of wherever we are...Iceland... or the many countries we've visited... but, mainly, I always remember - it's wherever my feet are in the moment!

Iceland... an adventure we are happy we had...

btw, if you've been following this corny blog.... you know that this rose John gave me in the beginning of our trip from some Iceland flower shop traveled along with us to all our destinations and survived...


and so did we - a few snap, crackle, pops - directional challenges (yes, we got lost more then we thought! ) - and cranky stuff... but, well, like I said.. the Iceland air is awesome, thin, clean, beautiful and it resolves all quickly....

and love, it's there... always.

(btw, we left the rose in the garden of the home of Kalli & Natalia)

So, for now... as they say in Icelandic - the word for goodbye... "bless, bless"

A ridiculous corny video I insisted John take of me planting our rose in Iceland earth... ;)

Trip coming to an end....

This sunset is from the Golden Circle.

People have actually said "why would you go to Iceland?" - I hope if you perused this blog, you get why. It may be a tiny little country west of Europe between Norway and Greenland and a land of volcanic ash - but it is stunning with so much depth, history, lava fields that make you feel like you are on the moon, waterfalls, geysers, hot springs, black beaches, vast green landscapes, picturesque towns - some glaciers... snow capped mountains... and beautiful people.

Hard to leave - but the beauty is that we live in a place we love too...and return to good lives.

Oh, so the flags in the video say the word Heima... which means home. In spite of the HURRICANE!!

Blue Lagoon

No that's not sunscreen! - it's this very warm silica mask that is available to put all over your face while you float around in this huge pool of geothermal seawater that's led directly from its natural source to the Blue Lagoon.
Sauna... steam room.. cold mist.. hidden caves... massages if you so desire....
all good..
and really worth the visit. I was unsure at first due to tourist mania and the unknown, but it was way cool.. Oh, I mean HOT!

Sigur Ros pilgrimage to Mosfellsbaer, Iceland...and....

timing was very much on our side - and we got to hang out with the sound engineer for this most fabulous band - Sigur Ros... He happened to pull up as we were hanging outside the studio.

This is us standing in front of the studio door where they produced Heima!!!

That's the dude standing next to John - his name is Birgir Jon Birgisson



In case in you don't know allll about Heima: - here's the link: http://www.heima.co.uk/

This is their new project: (INNI)
http://www.sigur-ros.co.uk/










(btw, this is me by the studio door trying to be incognito reading The Grapevine - Reykjavik's version of The Village Voice)

Random pics from biking around Reykhavik...

a funky bike collective.... bringing biker people together to share resources and bikes.. and community.

beautiful light on a billboard...

a short and sweet ride around the pretty Iceland Botanical Gardens...

Our travelling rose...

My man and his goofy hat blowing in the wind

I've grown to like this hat of his.... in August one needs gloves, hat, scarf and warm winter wools --- not in daytime.. it's amazing.. like San Francisco weather really.

Dinner at 10:30pm in Hella..... nothing to brag about! :)

Nothing open late...
so it's a hot dog for John..
and pistachio nuts & skyr (Iceland delicious yogurt) while we sat in the parking lot.

This is just to show the lack of posh and perfection that we all know about with travel! ---- mishaps and a few tiffs and irritations - all part uprooting and getting on a plane and going away from our routines. I do it often, and I'm still amazed at how I still expect travel to be perfect.

So here we are after a long beautiful day - with hopes to find a lovely roadside restaurant - and there is KFC (and as much as I'm flexible this particular trip with my vegan ways - there is no way I'm sitting there and ripping greasy meat off a bone - or watch John do it!) - so we search and search - but if you are outside Reykjavik, you won't find too much...but so gas stations.

All part of the travel package deal.

As much as cranky happens - there is something about the Icelandic air, so thin, so fresh, that the cranky lifts so much quicker... we decided to bring some air back too in a jar...

The Rose...

It's still alive - our travel white rose..
this is a shot that John took of it against our guesthouse window.

a silhouette

Antique photobooth and photos of Icelanders....

These images are so beautifully displayed at the National Museum of Iceland

Cruising on a Hwy 35 in Iceland - heading toward the Geyser...

A short video below... of the highway in front of us try to ignore the spot on the windshield and imagine it's a bird...
(at the moment taking advantage of Nonni's suddenly speedy Internet - strangely fast this morning) - we are today in route to a lounging afternoon at The Blue Lagoon... no electronics... no running around.. just lounging.. and maybe a "in water" massage...

oh, here is the video... and I put music to it... it's pretty short... the music is now my favorite Icelandic song: called Surrender by Olof Arnalds

Fields of wrapped hay... a landscape art installation for sure

So many... and so beautiful... this shot there are sheep too.

Sheep... I lost count. So many..

lovely to see...

Roaming horses (how could they eat horses???)

So many roaming horses - and, so, so beautiful

That sunlight again...

Gulfoss...and a touch of rainbow

Gulfoss - a very special waterfall - part of the Golden Triangle

Stunning. Breathtaking. We saw a rainbow... I'll post as a memory... and the sunlight was absolutely perfect combined with the wind.
For now though - a goofy video as we stood on top of the falls.

A memorable and goofy fun time hanging by the Geysir

our shadow kiss and hug overlooking the larger Geysir

Geyser - AMAZING - a video of the spouting!!

Area filled with hot springs, steaming creeks - turquoise pools.
This larger geyser used to spout up to 262 ft! - but no longer mainly because people wanted it to spout on demand and tossed too many rocks which added to demise... (likely impatient tourists!) - nevertheless - Strokkur (called also the Churn) - spouts up often enough and we were lucky to witness a double (see video)

I really didn't think I'd be impressed - I was wrong.... it's humbling.... what we have going on under this earth. Profound.

The Golden Circle (or rather, Mossy Green Triangle) - Pingvellir first

Whatever one calls it ---- but it really is a not a circle though the guide books say it is... I read somewhere that it really is a mossy green triangle but calling it that is far less marketable then the Golden Circle - - nevertheless, even the locals said 'go' --- its WORTH the time - and it doesn't even take that much time.

So triangle. Circle. Or square. Go there.

First part of triangle:

Pingvellir - a rift valley bounded by cliffs

Pingvellir - means Parliament Fields - where Icelandic parliament met for first time back in the day...

The Yosemite of Iceland.

With the largest natural lake.

Guesthouse Nonni, Hella, Iceland

A cute little house in Hella - close to that famous volcano Hekla....
and Eyjafjallajokull. We stayed there in route to Ring Road - called Guesthouse Nonni - and we were greeted by this warm, witty fellow...Nanni himself. An elder fellow in his warm home who loved mapping out our trip to Vik and beyond...
with his favorite coffee cup from Idaho - with pictures of fly fish.. reminds me of my Dad. He has family photos all about - 4 daughters and 11 grandchildren.

Guesthouses are the way to go, of course.

Waffles and home baked breads, pear and peach deep dish breakfast pie made by Nonni - and hanging with other travel peeps... mapping out the day again... and nice long lounging mornings. He makes everyone feel so at ease... and a fantabulous sense of humor...and vast knowledge of Iceland on top of it all.

Rose that travels...

Corny... but John bought me a rose... and it's been traveling with us... and it's still alive..

we are posing with it occasionally... John reluctantly, of course.

We'll see if it lasts until the end of the trip!

Revkjavik bay....

(able to upload a video or two... seizing the moment here at Nonni Guesthouse in Hella) - just had a lounging breakfast with this kind man.... and some travellers from Spain, Italy... now off to Golden Circle... xoxo

Waterfall (Foss) -

beautiful green flowers pop up in the volcanic rock... - such a contrast ... dark - then a burst of color...


we got to hang out behind this waterfall... so rare one can go behind one... I love that.. I pan over to John in the darkness in my favorite orange jacket he wears... you can't miss him.

Wind report on the black sand of Vik, Island

you can't hear our weather report - but the wind speaks for itself. We were on the beach at Vik... and the wind was intense - just a bit before night. We collected hear shaped rocks and black sand.

Food I WILL NOT eat while in Iceland .. or anywhere!

Food I will surely NOT eat that are known to be big in Iceland:

Lamb - no way, love the taste as I know it well from childhood, but that's not going to ever happen. I'll wear wool, but not eat their meet no matter how grass fed they are.

Puffins

Reindeer

Hakari (shark)

Horse--- oh my god, no.

Haddock

Whale

Sheeps head

Rams testicles

Cemetary.... Stokkseyri....

Nothing like a cemetery to make me feel more alive... this little one in Stokkseyri was moving...

first time I ever saw a bed frame as a plot - with a tombstone embedded in it. Makes sense.

and this little angel was on a tombstone of a 1 yr old child and her 20 yr old mother with the same name... Kristjen Bjoerson

In this little town some handmade wooden benches... and house made of earth.

Revkjavik graffiti and grit

Just getting to post these shots now - I didn't realize how many I took of the graffiti (or, rather, art) tucked away in alleys and hidden yards of Revkjavik. We also came across a bicycle collective where anyone can just walk into the yard and fix their bikes.... or share an un-rusty wrench and elbow grease.

Vik, Iceland - (south)

to the left? - me & the wind @ Vik

A nice long dramatic ride along the coast (Hwy 1 of Iceland that is) - and we turn the corner on this Hwy and see a little town with a red barn-like church high up on a hill that looks familiar to us both, like we know it well - and, later, we look at the cover of our Frommers guidebook and it’s the little church vibrantly displayed on the cover.
-
What’s in Vik? - the blackest sand you’ll ever see. Ever.

Wind.
It was wind like I’ve never felt wind - rough, wet, loud and wild. At one point it almost landed me on my butt - and I’m no lightweight - so it was w.i.n.d.y.!! (a video to prove it - but no bandwidth to download at moment)

We collected some of the black sand and made a video for friends in Cold Spring (and ourselves) - and knew we arrived somewhere like no place we’ve ever seen. Happy for the extra trek to get there, and wanting to go even further since we had daylight until 9:45ish... so the birthday boy gets everything he wants on his birthday and we continue up to Kirkjubaejarklaustur.

Skogafoss Waterfall.....

putting aside fashion - once you hit the more rugged Iceland, it's fashion beware - but, I do like my new rain gear from 66 North-Iceland (& best hiking shoe from the Hudson Valley Outfitters)

Most importantly - loved this waterfall that you can walk behind.... the drama... really lovely - and I've done the whole Niagara thing -- which is awesome... but there is something about the air..the thinness of the water. We went down under the falls - and the water was really just air.

Oh, and on our way back late at night.. we past the falls again... and they were illuminated. On one side of us was a late sunset - on the other side - lit up water falls.

Fjorubordid Lobster restaurant... go there..soon

http://www.fjorubordid.is/englishhaus_haus.html

more later... rushing...
but it's amazing.. and has a long story of the "magical" lobster soup...

(vegan susan took a break from vegan land)

we could walk there from the home of artist right next door.