In Search of the Aurora Borealis (aka Poor Timing in Iceland)

It all started in the fall of 2013, when I was reading an article on the best places to see the Northern Lights. The spot where they would be the most active in January and February?

Iceland.

Coincidentally, Groupon was running a special on trips to Iceland with a Northern Lights tour included. So, throwing Caution and a little bit of coin to the winds, we booked our trip.

It's a short flight from Bristol, under 3 hours, and as the jet taxied down the runway, revving engines in anticipation of takeoff, the Immigrant Song is running through my head....."We come from the land of the ice and snow, from the midnight sun where the hot springs flow"....
And why wouldn't it? Iceland is a part of Viking lore and history. There are hot springs all over the island, it being one gigantic lava bed over the North American and European tectonic plates which shift at the blinding rate of 1cm per year. This causes fissures which allow magma to escape, which, when meeting moisture either in the form of seas or glaciers, turns this moisture into steam or hot water, and a majority of the island gets their heat and fresh water from this.

Also, being as Iceland has been occupied for many centuries, I would have assumed there would have been lots impressive, historic nordic architecture. Nope. In fact, it's hard to find buildings built prior to the late 1800's.

"Old" Reykjavik









Newer Reykjavik

According to our tour guide, Javier, for many centuries the early residents, Vikings, if you please, lived a more spartan existence in cave homes built into the rocky outcroppings. There isn't much in the way of trees on Iceland. Thus not much wood for lumber. Rock gets crushed for making brick and block. Some time in the not too distant past there was a major climate change. Whether it was due to a massive volcanic eruption or what, the climate of Iceland, which had been a little more temperate, got a lot colder, and the residents adapted as best they could. Many left. Even today the population of the entire country is about 10% greater than the city of Pittsburgh, which has roughly 300K people.

This is a mostly naturally formed
ampitheatre where tribal rulers held summits and tribunals around 800 years ago. All kinds of nifty things have been excavated by archeologists to support this.







So, Iceland didn't really get settled until the 1800's,  when the nordic countries as well as the UK began to see strategic value to it.  Iceland was ruled by the Danes for a long time, and if I'm not mistaken, still have some ties to them.

You can see the influence in some of the bright colorings residents apply to houses and businesses.

Unfortunately there is also a lot of tagging. Gang signs, and just a lot of scribbles on darned near every surface from buildings to utility boxes. You will occasionally see some street art, but it's primarily the type of art pictured above.

In case you haven't been able to tell, it was cloudy pretty much the entire time we were there. The day of the Golden Circle tour, not only was it cloudy and cold, it was windy too. Those of you familiar with the winds of west Texas which you have to lean way into in order to stay upright, well these winds were worse than that. Probably gulf coast hurricane grade. How Mike managed to get as many clear pictures as he did, I don't know. The tripod was rendered useless because it was wobbling all over the place even when we tried to hold on to it.

These pictures were taken at the Gullfoss Falls.

Holding on to the Terrible Towel so I won't lose it!











The winter scenery is hard to describe.  Cold, sometimes desolate, lots of ice.

 And then you come to the geysers. Most of them are small, but it is interesting that there are patches of greenery around because these areas around the geysers never freeze.

Notice the temperature. That's C not F.









There are areas all over Iceland with geysers. The area we were was primarily in the east by the active volcanoes. One blew it's top four years ago, another much larger one has been rumbling for a year, with lava recently bubbling up in places. In one sense this is a good thing because it is releasing some of the pressure. See, these volcanoes are also glacial, so if it should blow the top or side it will send chunks of flaming ice outwards like shrapnel which is way worse than just having it streaming out in a flow.

We learned all kinds of interesting things on our GeoIceland tour. We also learned about the doors you will kind of see out in the middle of nowhere. Little doors, set into small mounds. Supposedly for gnomes. Kept maintained. Gotta keep the gnomes happy or bad things will happen.

Then there are the Icelandic horses. In Iceland, horses cannot be imported, and those exported can never return. They are descendants of the Viking horses, with thick, heavy winter coats and wider hooves than traditional horses, and 'blue' eyes.

As you can see, they come in all colors, and most are in the height of large ponies to small horses, 13-15 hands



They are really pretty without the heavy winter coats, keeping the thick mane and tail year round. The shedded coats have been used for stuffing furniture cushions and bedding.


Unfortunately on this day, a major storm was coming through.  Part of the reason for the intense winds, but it is my understanding that Chicago has nothing on this place when it comes to seasonal winds! However, it did mean that in order to beat the blizzard we didn't get to spend as much time around where the North American plate meets the European plate. Instead of walking over it, we drove over it. At one point in time you could get your passport stamped when you walked from one side to the other.

As for the Northern Lights....that's where it gets tricky.
According to some of the locals, it had never been quite this overcast or icy this time of year. The last night of our trip our tour group went out after cancelling the previous 3 nights. We went to an area that was supposed to have clearing skies. These are the pictures Mike took. He did long exposures, and I would like to think that those were Auroras showing through those clouds, but I don't know.

So, while the trip wasn't a success from the standpoint of being able to say positively that we saw the Auroras, we got to experience a new place, soaked in outdoor pools heated geothermally, and enjoyed a Danish cider in our favorite pub.

The World We Allow Ourselves To Live In

A friend of mine posted a topic of discussion on Facebook concerning efforts to bring criminal charges against parents who allow their children aged 9 or younger to play out front or in a park unattended, and some want to make it for children 12 and under.

Yes, we live in more dangerous times. There are more people living closer together fighting for the same or fewer jobs than 20 years ago. People don't live in the same community all their lives with their family as a personal support group, we as a Nation are more spread out, more diversified, and this leads to us not trusting each other and allowing the criminal element to flourish and for us to want more laws designed to protect us.

From ourselves.

You see, these same thoughts have been uttered the past twenty, forty, and in my case (sigh) fifty years, and you know what? Yes, our own little corner of the world IS more scary, which translates into many more corners around the world being more scary, but that is in part because we have made it so. We have made it so by forgetting how to be good people on our own without every single person or talking head telling us how to behave, what to think, and whose fault it is.

It has made for good comedy over the years, but how many of you spent your childhoods running through the woods exploring streams and creeks, looking for fingerlings and tadpoles and baby frogs? And knew that the Cardinal Sins of Childhood were (1) talking back to your parents (2) not telling them where you were going, who with, and when you would be back (3) not being inside the house when the neighbor's or residential street lights came on at dusk (4) forgetting your manners when out in public (5) using bad language or bad grammar (6) not respecting other's property.  You knew that any infraction would lead to a spanking and possible grounding depending on the severity of our transgression. I'm not talking a pummeling,  bruising, child-abuse level beating, but a good swat on the behind( my family did not believe in paddles or belts but flyswatters were an option in the case of extending the reach as a transgression was occurring) and a major scolding.

Our children and ourselves are no longer self-aware. We are wired-up, plugged-in, and tuned out to our surroundings. We don't want people bothering us, close to us, talking to us anymore for fear they might hurt us emotionally as well as physically and yet that is exactly what is happening. We are in fear of what we hear on the news so we wall ourselves off from it. We talk tough about what we would do if someone ever broke into our house. We start carrying weapons because the next person who touches us might be out to harm us. We stop making eye contact. We don't want to be involved when we see an argument between an adult and a recalcitrant child because it's probably a parent dealing with their child. Until we hear about the child abduction and then we are all about 'Protecting the Children' when in fact all we are doing is adding an extra layer between us and personal culpability.
We have unintentionally become a bubble wrap society. We hold conversations with our friends in chat rooms. We air our personal feelings out for social media to see yet we are incapable of holding a conversation with the person seated next to us on the bus. People don't live in neighborhoods anymore, they live in covenant-bound planned communities. We don't hold ouselves to the same high standards we expect from others, be it best friends or family or coworkers, and lament over it.

The UK and Europe aren't immune, either, but it's happening slower. The pub is dying. Not just because of drinking and driving or because it's cheaper to buy a six pack and drink at home, but because it's become inconvenient to meet up with friends after work for a beer or a bite to eat and easier to IM your life away. There are many pubs which now serve meals so they can attract more business. I often see several families meeting up at a pub-kids included- enjoying a beautiful evening over a meal. Lots of conversation and laughter. Lots of personal interaction. These small neighborhood pubs are gathering places and not just pickup joints. Most evenings you can go into a pub, join in a conversation, and see some of those same people the following week. You get to where people at least know you to nod at you on the street, and there is something nice about that, something that makes you feel you belong. People begin to recognize you when you frequent their business. They notice when you haven't been in in a while or, as with Mike and I, if only one of us comes in. If you regularly come in for a particular item, they make an effort to keep it stocked. Pretty soon the neighborhood becomes a living, breathing, entity where people begin to become involved and to associate with each other. This isn't some sleepy little town but a city of 88,000. You can find this in London and Glasgow and Amsterdam, but if they're not careful they will lose this vital segment of their social culture.

We often complain about not having time to spend with family and friends but it's because we don't have the motivation to do so. We ping them on Facebook to chat instead of doing it face to face. Our parents and grandparents worked long hours too, and yet somehow they still managed to make time to go across town to see friends or family. Maybe it's time for us to start living like that again. Maybe it starts with inviting a couple of people on your street or in your apartment to a potluck or bring your own drinks and you'll have some inexpensive snacks or a fruit and cheese tray out. Or grill burgers out front and ask a neighbor if they would care to join you. If enough people will do it, then maybe our children will be free to run in their neighborhood or to the park or into the woods as we did.

We have to start somewhere, but most importantly, we have to start and not give up and pass these lessons on to our children.

Living With Fire

Residents of the UK who have never been to the US have a lot of trouble with the concept of wild fires. It's understandable, as drought is not a common occurrence here and would be considered a once-in-a-lifetime event. Even then, the idea of a fire chewing up 10 to 15 thousand acres will furrow many a brow. There is a lot of moisture here. It comes from the Atlantic Ocean from the west and the North Sea from the east.
The entire land mass could fit into Oregon, most of the UK being no wider than Indiana, though the widest area is comparable to the width of Pennsylvania. From the northernmost islands to the southernmost tip of England the length is roughly equivalent to drawing a line from the Canadian-N. Dakota border to the Nebraska-Kansas border. That's not very big. Probably one reason the climate is fairly wet. Moisture doesn't have such a large land mass to move over. Many property owners still burn their trash or their leaves. Many parts of the US don't allow outdoor burning of this sort and during dry, windy conditions won't even allow outdoor smoking.
Over here in the UK, you could drop a lit cigarette on the ground and it would be out in no time. Just north of my home in Colorado, someone tossed a still-burning cigarette butt out a window and because of the windy, dry conditions nearly 400 homes and over 10,000 acres burned to the ground.

A year later, I am out walking and decide to show how much some moisture helps in recovery. After the fires were put out- and in part the reason the fire finally was controlled-the rainy season began. This was followed by a long, wet winter and spring, and the summer was fairly rainy as well.

This is the front of my house from .4 miles. See those trees on the right?

If you looked through those trees and about 100yds up the road, this is where the fire started, on my left. Less than .5 miles away

This used to be heavily forested. These are the few trees that have yet to be cut down or have a chance of survival because the tops have greened out.

The grass fields in the park had to be replanted and well and sprinkler systems replaced along with tree removal

The flooding left huge ruts in drainage areas where none existed before, causing roads to be covered in soot-filled ash and mud

And out my back door, a rainbow, and land mostly untouched by the flooding. During the worst of the flooding, everything to the left of my driveway and the street in front were raging rivers with water as much as 12" deep.                                                                                                                                  

So, I have seen firsthand how destructive fires can be, and am amazed by how rapidly the land can recover with the right amount of moisture. So UK residents, next time you mutter about a little rain, be glad you don't have to worry about long hot stretches without.                                                                                                                          

There can be only one....right?

For those of you who don't know, that is a line from the movie/series Highlander. And just like the movie spawned the series with a major suspension of disbelief (how can Conor and Duncan MacLoud coexist when Conor was the one left standing in the movie?), so it goes with castles in Scotland.  There is a real MacLoud castle on the Isle of Skye, one which has been in the family for hundreds of years, named Dunvegan.  MacLouds still live in this castle, and while it is available for touring, the primary interest is in the gardens as a majority of the castle is roped off and you can only peek in the rooms available for viewing. As it was raining pretty steadily while we were on the Isle of Skye, this didn't seem like a very good way to spend our money and time so we didn't go in.

There is Castle Tioram,  featured in the opening of later seasons of Highlander-the Series. These ruins sit on an isle whose shallows near the shoreline allow it to be accessed on foot at low tide. The present owner of the castle wishes to return it to its former glory and make it into his residence along with the addition of a Clan meeting center. I don't know if this is for general clan use or specifically for the Clan MacDonald of Clanranald. He has met with much resistance from those who wish the site to remain as ruins, but I understand that progress has been made recently. I think it would be pretty neat to see it restored.
Eilean Donan Castle was featured prominently in 1986's Highlander movie. It is the ancestral home of the Clan Mackenzie and remained a residence until recent times. Weddings and other events have been held there as well.

The purple minion? He is sporting colors as close to the Clan Mitchell as I could find  
Eilean Donan Castle

We stormed the castles! Aye!

Living Well...

George Herbert is attributed to the quote "Living well is the best revenge".

For years, I thought that meant you had to be able to 'one up' your nemesis, by ending up richer, more powerful, aging slower, so when you should meet in passing years later you could turn away smug in the knowledge that in the end, you'd won.

 Well, I will tell you that I have bettered pretty much all who had wronged me in one way or the other. But in most cases it's not because I am richer or more powerful or more successful or aging better, it's because I lived. I moved on. I found happiness without them. All over the UK and Europe I have met the most interesting people, and I dare say that perhaps a handful are closet millionaires but most barely make ends meet. They come from all walks of life, from the busker singing for change to the pub keeper pouring your pint. Perhaps he's the entrepreneur who created this great farmhouse cider I'm drinking.

The point is that there are many ways to live well, and the best way to do it is, well, to Live. Well.

You don't have to have Bill Gates' money to enjoy the finer things in life, you simply need to take the time to look at the world differently.  Like this farmhouse cider. It wasn't expensive, but it sure is good. What makes it even better is meeting the man who created it, learning a little about the process of making cider. As you talk, you get an idea about the man and if he's kind of sharp but mellow, that's kind of the way his ciders will taste- sweet or dry. The mellow, happy former dairyman who now makes nothing but cider in his retirement years--you guessed it--sweet or dry, his cider is smooth and very likeable. This is something that any person can experience. The sharp but mellow guy? Mick Jagger's brother is his next door neighbor. Mick probably walks across the hedgerow bridge to share a pint and perhaps take a few liters back with him when he's in the neighborhood. I seem to be meeting lots of people who are living life richly,  and thus well.  Next time you see a roadside fruit stand at a farm, stop and buy a couple of peaches or a jar of Aunt Mae's preserves. Talk to them about their farm. Value them and you add value to yourself. 

Me, I think I will have another glass of cider and think of how lucky I am to have married the Most Interesting Man I Know.

I won big.

Travels With Minion

My daughter Alyssa, loves the minions from Despicable Me, and often reminds us of the purple ones when she wakes up in the morning, so we were thrilled when we found one in a shop in Portugal.

Alyssa and her minion.                                                               

Now, the intention was to send the minion to her when we returned from Portugal so that she could have it in time for finals.  As luck would have it, that didn't happen. So, we got the bright idea of taking it with us on future trips and taking a few pictures of him, similar to people who kidnap a garden gnome from someone's yard and return it weeks later with pictures of its travels, having more fun than its owner, for sure.   

   

The minion traveled to Amsterdam, Scotland, Portugal, and various places in England before making its way home to her. We now have Snuffles, the bear accompanying us on future travels. Be watching for them in my blogs.

...and so it goes...

The Art of Travelling Cheap

This is not meant to promote any particular website or chain. I am not sponsored by anyone(although that would be Most Excellent), simply providing my views on the subject.

That being said, on with the purpose of the blog, which is not to spend all your hard-earned money on a place to lay your head at the end of a day of travel or sightseeing. It can get expensive. You can be brand-loyal and stay only at the chains you have piled up the Rewards points such as Hilton or Marriott and earn upgrades and free stays. If you travel a lot for business and your company allows you to keep the points for personal use, who wouldn't want to take advantage of free rooms when on vacation? Word to the wise, however,  not every chain in the US offers the same style of room you expect in the US. It can be more like booking a Best Western--one place you pay $40 a night for a 4-star room and another you spend $70 and are thankful the sheets and towels are clean(although I understand BW now has a system to separate the bare bones from the pillowtop plush) so be sure to peruse Trip Advisor as well as the motel website to make sure you are getting what you expect.

Another thing is that pillowtops are not standard in most motels in the UK. You barely find them in those $300/night rooms in London. And while you are choking on the aforementioned price, let me say that is an average price for an average room in the summer. Want that Hilton/Omni/Marriott experience? Expect to pay half again more. And you might get a Queen sized mattress. Kings are as hard to find, so get used to doubling up on that Double most of us had when we first got married because it was affordable. At least it will be pillowtop!

So, I would spend hours on Trip Advisor or hotels.com or comparable booking sites looking for deals. Sometimes I would find them. Maybe they weren't the Hilton, but were at least 1/3 the price and were comfortable enough and close to where I wanted to be. As always, if you are familiar with an area's transit system cost is directly proportional to how close you are to an attraction.

Then a friend of ours introduced us to the wonders of airbnb.com and couchsurfing.com. All of a sudden a world of possibilities opened before us. Now we could stay with people who lived in the area and have a better immersion into a culture. With airbnb the experiences can be varied-- you could be handed the keys to a flat or home and with the exception of a binder in several languages which advise you where to go and what to see, or you could be in a room in someone's home with an atmosphere more like a regular bed and breakfast with breakfast included and very social hosts who want to learn as much about you and your interests as you about theirs. The costs are generally cheaper than a regular b&b, and more personal. You often have to share a bathroom, something common in many smaller hotels, so that's another thing. If you don't want to share a bathroom, book only 'en-suite' rooms.  Couchsurfing is the cheapest as this is a free service and you are as likely to end up on a floor or a couch as you are a bed and sharing a bath and this is all that is offered. While I have not couchsurfed myself, my husband and I recently played host to a frequent surfer. Apparently most of her experiences have included being fed most meals by her hosts, being taken on tours, being offered bicycles, etc. Lucky her. My understanding was that most of the people taking advantage of a free place to stay would do things like cook a meal for you or bring you a bottle of wine as a thank you for hosting them, or were expecting no more than a place to flop and a little conversation and direction of what to see and do and otherwise were left to their own devices. So, if you decide to try this route, expect the bare minimum and don't make your hosts feel put upon to entertain you. Both sites allow you the opportunity to review not only the places you stay but also the people who stay with you so that you have the right of refusal based on previous write ups or at least know who you are inviting into your home before they arrive. Read those reviews before booking, especially the most recent. Sometimes you will find a few less than stellar reviews at the start but they improve as the airbnb hosts strive to be more accomodating and in some cases, better housekeepers!

Glamping is another way to travel and save money. Essentially you are offered an enclosed no-frills room or cabin with which to throw down your pad and sleeping bag. Main plus is you don't have to worry about being eaten alive by mosquitoes or midges or getting rained on. If you are lucky, there is a covered area to set up a camp stove or grill or there are charcoal grills available to use. Most have a central shower area, all have toilet access. Some have individual units to which you are given a key so you can lock your stuff up while you are out exploring but aren't necessarily patrolled so keep that in mind if you do have anything of real value.
A number of hostels have similar setups, offering you a communal space or bedroom with as many as 9 other people sharing that space. Most offer single or bunkbed accomodations and communal toilets and showers, some offer lockers or trunks to store your things but many of those expect you to provide your own lock. Hostels are more likely to appeal to younger people, and many offer breakfast either included or for a nominal charge.

Eating out will also take a major chunk out of your vacation budget, so consider staying in places which offer room refrigerators. This is especially important if you will be based in one spot for a number of days. Pick up some fruit, deli meats and cheeses as well as bread and condiments and you are set. As an alternative, many grocery and convenience stores offer 'Meal Deals' where you can get a bottled drink, sandwich, and chips or candy bar for a nominal price, perfect for picnics in a park or to eat on your transit commute.

Speaking of transits, the UK and Europe offer 'two-fer' and family deals on trains and buses. Sometimes you can find multi-use packages for a week or a month.  Attractions do the same. If you like storming castles and other historical sites, consider purchasing a week or annual pass to a Heritage or National Trust organization. You can save a bunch of money that way, especially if you travel with the family.

Now that you've saved hundreds on your trip, you can spend all that loot on the really important stuff--farmhouse ciders and souvenirs!

Have fun...