London Calling

Travel Day.

Iceland was sensational. It is such an interesting place, brilliant scenery, including the extraordinary Northern Lights. 

Our airport shuttle was late to the church pick up in Reykjavik, then came hurtling around the corner and without a word, the driver threw our bags aboard and thundered off with us hanging on. The reason for the panic became apparent when we came across a Gray Line Shuttle in a nasty four car pile up on the motorway. The passengers were off loaded into our bus. The smashed up mini bus was our "late" bus. 

Anyway, we were on our way to the airport. The flight was good, comfortable seats, but the passage through Heathrow was terrible. Slow, slow, slow, then we buggered up our transport forum the airport and ended up taking a cab. Expensive. Slow. And a painful, know it all driver.

Anyway we got to our accommodation late. It is fabulous. Clare, the owner, stayed up and greeted us. It is a really classy flat across from Clapham Common, stocked fridge, well furnished, roomy, excellent. Clare is Scottish and really friendly. Her husband is a costume designer for film, Michael Mooney. His credits are impressive - The Martian, Star Wars, Da Vinci's Demons, on and on and on. The place is full of fabulous books and a vinyl record collection. We had a glass of wine and hit the sheets.

Clapham Capers

Got up, put some toast in the toaster, then popped it back in for a second blast and set off the fire alarm. Hell! In bursts Clare, with her Mrs Doubtfire accent, "burnt the toast, it happens all the time!" flinging open the windows and trying to clear the smoke. Great start. Then we set off for a tour of the local village, very classy eateries and pubs, it is a really good area, Sarah's neighbourhood. Coolsville. 

Then we tubed it to London Bridge and walked through Borough Markets. I was shocked that there was no police presence here at all. I did not see one single policeman. If this was the US they would be crawling through this place given the recent terrorism here, but it is that stiff upper lip British attitude, we will carry on and drink tea. I kinda like it. The place was buzzing. The eateries are magnificent - stalls of Indian, Ethiopian, Thai, German cooked in front of you, aromas wafting through the market. I ended up with the sausage bap, onions and mustard, I couldn't pass it up. But nowhere to sit, so we just plonked down in a corner. My hip was giving me heaps, but we walked to The Globe, but there was a show on, so we couldn't get inside. 

So we went to Tate Modern Art Gallery and saw some particularly kooky art. Modern Art. When you get it, it is great and makes you see things fresh, but some of it is just plain nuts. A great space, though. A power sub station converted into a gallery. Liked that.

Met up with John, Judith and Sarah. Had a great night catching up with the travel tales and Sarah's stories. Nice.

Hippy Hippy Shake

We found an osteopath recommended by Clare, an Aussie called James! He gave me an hour session, but there is little I can do ATM, really. His advice was I need to stay off it, but that is just not possible, is it? He gave me some exercises to do. Yay.

We had a nice lunch with a very unusual waitress taking just a little too much interest in us. It was unsettling. 

Pre dinner drinks at our swanky pad with John, Judith and Sarah then we walked to a local pub, the Avalon. Great pub, nice beer garden, lots of laughs, good feed. Maybe a few too many drinks. This mornings wake up told the tale. I was bleary and just a tad sluggish. Peroni pints are to blame.

Good stuff and not much walking - neato.

Sarah's Big Day Out

Sarah planned a big day for us and it was fabulous. We walked around to her pad, it is cosy to say the least, but her new digs in Tooting are roomier and cheaper. The London rental market is crazy. So expensive for Sarah, but if you wan at to be in these good areas (and you have to be, really) you have to pay the freight. We tubed it to Canary Wharf, met up with John and Jude, then cabbed it to the chair lift across the Thames. It was really terrific, quite an amazing view and a little edgy.

 Then we picked up a couple of red buses to Greenwich where we went through the Maritime Museum and up to the observatory. The museum does a little on the slave trade and shows off the navigation apparatus the early maritime explorers used. Some fascinating examples of pistols, swords and whips, as well as the cuffs and manacles they used on the African slaves. We straddled the Greenwich meridian, being simultaneously in the east and western hemispheres. The parkland around the observatory is beautiful and another great view opens out from the top. Very very steep climb, but worth it. Our tour guide then took us down to Greenwich markets, where we found a pub and tucked in to some lunch  and a few beers. 

Finished with a river bus ride down the Thames. The thing absolutely flew down the river, past so many icons - Tower Bridge, Millenium Bridge, The Globe, St Paul's, Houses of Parliament, the list goes on. It was a top day. Thank you tour guide Sarah.

The Golden Circle - Who needs pineapples?

Michele loves tinned pineapple, so when she booked this tour from home I thought, oh oh. But some research revealed that the Golden Circle is a ring road that takes in some of the best scenery in Iceland, a one day spin just outside of Reykjavik. Our tour guide for the day, Oscar, was fluent in English, witty and full of fascinating info. We got the front seat, another bonus, and we took off. Oscar was a very proud Icelander, pumping out all that this country should be puffing their chests out about. And there is a bucket load. Like for example zero unemployment, almost zero violent crime (one prison), 100% green energy - 90% geo thermal, 10% hydro, huge investment from booming tourist trade going directly into education, making the seven universities and all public schools free. If that is not enough they are ranked 20 in the FIFA world rankings and beat England in the European Cup and they have 60 golf courses in the Reykjavik area alone. Not to mention No.5 in GDP and No 1 in volcanoes. Who needs pineapples?

Our first stop was to check out the rent in the earth from a recent earthquake (they happen regularly) over which they have built a glass floor, a pastry shop, a SUPA and a souvenir outlet. They have their tourism head screwed on here.

Not long after the landscape changed. We were passing hundreds of square miles of lava fields where the volcanic rock has spewed out over millions of years and is overgrown with moss, a landscape from another planet. There are heavy fines for tampering with the moss, it is a delicate ecosystem. 

And the home of the elves. I don't think he was joking either.

Our first waterfall stop was impressive, but was nothing compared to what was ahead. Still, beautiful and rugged and misty and eerie in a Game of Thrones, ancient Icelandic Saga way. Expecting Smaug the dragon to come hurtling towards us at any minute.

Across the horizon as we continued on the road was steam rising, the geothermal vents that power the island. Oscar was like a dog with a bone on the geothermal brownie points his homeland was rattling up. Good on Him!

The next stop was right out there Jerry. A series of waterfalls to give Niagara a huge shake, and with no theme parks. Just magnificent. There was a "The Castle" story connected where the Brits wanted to build a power plant here, damming the waterfall. A family refused to give up their farm and battled through two generations to hang onto their "friend" the waterfall. AAAGGHHH. Incredible to think this world heritage site may have gone under.

The walk here was tough for me, last onto the bus like an wobbly old codger on a stick.

We got some good shots though.

Icelandic ponies, then OMG!

 Not only the place where they filmed The Bloody Gate scenes for game of Thrones, but the world's first parliament site. It is magnificent and features in the last episode of "Ascent of Man" the best documentary series I have ever seen.

I am beside myself. LOR and GOT and Professor J Bronowski all in one place.

More stunning scenery, then home. On the last leg, Oscar spoke of the Irish influence here. The Vikings captured Irish women to bring to Iceland as slaves and of course they brought their stunning beauty, language and music. He is descended from them, apparently his name is the give away. The Icelandic language, like the ponies, in untainted and remains in its ancient form, so their names give away their heritage.

What a superb day. The rain added to it.

Michele, brilliant little tour leader that she is, organised the next day to incorporate not only a sleep in, but an excursion to the Blue Lagoon, a geothermal pool, as well as a last minute booking on a 10pm Northern Lights Tour. The Blue Lagoon experience was tops. Floating around in a geothermal pool, average 38 degrees, air temperature 5, as the sun was setting, sipping beer and wine was Caligula decadent. Peel me a grape would you?

As the afternoon wore on the excitement in Reykjavik was building. They have ratings for the possibility of seeing The Northern Lights based on both the magnetic resonance and the clarity of the air. News was out that it was a 4 for both, a real goer.

It is now mayhem. People are trying to book tickets and get onto buses, both tourists and locals, so there are tour guides checking your credentials, bus drivers trying to predict vantage points and two way radios crackling out Icelandic panic. In the end we were front seaters again, luck of the draw and out on the road south. They were heading for spots away from the city lights and beyond the airport was the target, but as we are belting along the guide shoots out her arm and points.

Hell, there is The Aurora!

To keep going would be dicing with disappointment, the lights are fleeting, so the two coaches pull off the freeway onto a flat lava field and we all pile out.

At first it appeared just like wispy cloud. But slowly it takes shape, like funnels or beams, then it changes into curtains or waterfalls. Once it changes it does not stop. It's a real show. No two minutes are the same and standing out here on a lava field, in the pitch black, freezing cold, it felt like it was performing just for us. The colours were there, but faintly. Amazingly, through the cameras, the colour was vivid. Michele used a slow shutter speed app she had bought and it was worth every cent. I was happy with my sad old phone camera, but hers were stunning.

An experience we will never forget. After an hour they faded and we piled onto the bus. As we found our seats our guide said "uh oh." The lights were putting on a final performance, the best yet. But how could we be disappointed? The only clear night, the only hour they appeared and we were there to see it.

Iceland was like nothing I have ever experienced before.

Even without the pineapples.

Land of Ice and Elves

Siggi's Pad

After saying goodbye to John, Deb, Marty and Maryanne, we filled in the time in the hotel lobby, then transferred to Montreal airport. It has been a fabulous four weeks, just brilliant, with too many highlights to list. Loads of laughs, great food, fascinating people, Uber rides and aching limbs. But not one lousy Mountie! John revealed that we had covered 330k on foot! He and Deb did more than the rest of us, but conservatively, we would have walked about 290 - 300 I reckon.

Hell!

Montreal airport was interesting. Our plane, Iceland Air, was out on some distant runway so we were herded into a Star Wars pod with spider legs, that enclosed us all the way, obviously a transport for a snow laden airport. It didn't seem to matter that it was 28 degrees. It was so, so slow, but eventually we were on board. Little leg room, but good in flight entertainment. Relived the entire first season of The Office. "Ge' out."

Our first experience of Iceland was walking out to our bus. Oh yeah! Proper bone chilling wind, even with our puffer jackets on, for the first time in so long. What a shock. But in a weird way, refreshing. 

Reykjavik is very different to any capital I have been in. The architecture is low rise and a mix of shapes and sizes. Because it was 7 am, the streets were quite deserted, giving it a bleak feel. 

We couldn't get into our accommodation till 12 so we had time to kill. After dropping off our bags, we walked into a little nearby cafe for a bite to eat. It was full of people but the place was completely silent apart from the clinking of cutlery. We were whispering to each other, ordering some coffee and toast, thinking this was some ancient Icelandic breakfast tradition that we dare not meddle with. After all, we just got here. The mystery was solved when I noticed some frantic signing and grunting from the next table. A deaf tour group. We could talk as loud as we liked. We could yell at each other, without disturbing anyone but the waiter.

We did note the 9 dollar coffees. Hold the phone. This place is pricey.

We spent some time in the enormous Kirk, a few blocks from our accommodation. It is magnificent, a huge Lutheran church in an architectural style I had never seen before.

Jet lag had me by the throat, so a lengthy silent meditation in the warm Kirk was just the ticket. Michele was on hand every time I threatened to collapse onto the pew in front. We decided to fill the time on the Hop On, Hop Off bus. This was a top idea. We got the feel of the city, lots of info and a comfortable seat while we waited to get into our digs.

Siggi and Sunna's joint is really cool, in a peculiar, Nordic Noir way. I really like it. I reckon Siggi was at Woodstock, or the Icelandic equivalent.