Cain Manor

I found these photos on Flickr. She is from, and these photos are of, Iceland.  I think it conveys the general sense of the country quite well.

We finally got the Photos’ uploaded. They can be viewed HERE!

The Sagas record that when Iceland was discovered, trees from seas to the mountains covered it. If that were indeed true, the early inhabitants did a pretty efficient job cutting down the trees for fuel and allowing their sheep to finish up by devouring young shoots. You really don’t see many trees at all around Iceland. Some birch trees and some fir-type trees here and there, but no forests to speak of.
Continue reading ‘Environmental Issues’ »

These are scant, but they are the only pictures we have..

July 7, 2007

Well, we are back home in Seattle. I’m a bit sad today. The sun is out and the mountains are in their full glory. I am happy to live in such a wonderful country and city, but I already miss Iceland and the people we met there. They say 7/7/07 is lucky so I’ll just have to hold to that for now. Interestingly enough I’ve read a lot about how today, 07/07/07 is a day that all the churches are booked up for weddings. Even in Reykjavik our hotel concierge said that the churches have been booked for ages on this auspicious day. I feel lucky to have been married on 6/26/07 in one of the greatest places I’ve been to.
Continue reading ‘Heading Home a New Bride’ »

We got up after a very hot night (temperature wise) and hit the town. We had coffee at a new place, Mokka which was very good. I must say the coffee here is excellent. Not sure why. it could be the glacier water that they use or the milk or the coffee itself. But yum!! Would love to duplicate a Suisse mocha at home like I’ve had here. Starbucks has nothing on this place and it is so nice that there isn’t a Starbucks store in Reykjavik. I’m actually surprised that there isn’t as they plan on taking over the world.
Continue reading ‘Our last full day in Reykjavik’ »

We woke up, had breakfast and headed for the triangle of tourists sites in the area. This region, immediately east of Reykjavik, is popularly known as the “Golden Circle”. It’s the most visited part of Iceland as here you find the big three attractions, Gullfoss, (a wild and roaring waterfall), Geysir, (home to the original geyser), and Pingvellir (pronounced Fingvellir), the original site of the Icelandic parliament. All three sites are mobbed with tour buses which fortunately we haven’t had to deal with too much, but so what?
Continue reading ‘Happy Fourth of July!’ »

On Monday, July 2nd, we awoke in Djupivogur (population 386) to a semi-foggy morning, but at least we could see the harbor. Greg mentioned hearing birds all night. They run once a day cruises in the summer from here to Papey Island which is just offshore and was most likely, due to its name, once an hermitage for the Irish monks who inhabited Iceland before the arrival of the Norse. It’s thought that they fled in the face of Nordic settlement. The island was once a farm and now is inhabited only by seals and nesting sea birds. It has an old lighthouse dating back to 1922 and Iceland’s oldest wooden church. If we had the time we would have maybe done the day trip over there, but it only runs once a day so would hold us up here another 24 hours.
Continue reading ‘Djupivogur - East Iceland’ »

Sunday, July 1, 2007 - We awoke in Akureyri (Iceland’s second biggest town) to thick fog. The hotel has lots of tourists (German I think) staying here, but I didn’t hear them at all. We had breakfast which was included in the room. I really appreciate how the Europeans think of breakfast as more than toast and cereal. The buffet included waffles you make yourself, cereal, yogurt, fruit, ryveta crackers, hard boiled eggs, cheese slices, tomatoes, meats, breads, nutella, peanut butter, yogurt, and of course, smoked fish and pickled herring.
Continue reading ‘Ahh, the bliss of waking up after a decent amount of sleep’ »

We (or I) awoke early, 5:30am after only 3 hours of sleep. Tried to go back to sleep and did for a bit but the sun was already high in the sky. There were people rolling into campsites until the early hours and kids playing outside into the early morning hours.
Continue reading ‘Saturday, June 30th’ »