Category: Travelling Tales

So for the last few years we have spent a weekend visiting a European Christmas market. Years ago we went to Copenhagen, (although that was just for the festive shops and Tivoli gardens), and since then have been to Bruges, Cologne and Brussels, and last year Vienna. The Germanic ones are the best by far, but going by Eurostar (which we did for Bruges and Cologne) is far better. When we were looking this year, Strasbourg in France came up as being voted the best Christmas market, and it looked such a pretty place too.

This huge Disney soft toy tree is at the train station. While we were stood there a man walked past, reached over the fence and pulled one of the toys, and the whole tree rippled (they must be attached to a cone shaped structure)- not sure what he was thinking would happen…

So on Friday night we got to the last train out to Paris, stayed in a hotel by the station, and on Saturday morning got the train to Strasbourg. Train travel is so relaxing- we brought some lunch with us, listened to podcasts, chatted and enjoyed the view.

We arrived at around 1pm, and our hotel room was ready so after leaving our bags we headed out.

This huge tree was in the centre of a square and smelled amazing! Like you were in the middle of a pine forest.

There were so many beautiful buildings- like something from a fairy tale. There were lots of markets (maybe 8?) scattered about the centre of the town, all within easy walking distance, so we just wandered.

There was a huge cathedral with a market in front- this was really similar to the centre of Cologne. We stopped for a drink here- I had some gorgeous hot apple juice with 7 spices and honey (I like going to France because I can actually understand a lot of the signs!) and Andy had a Gluwein (which is half the point of going I think!).

As well as plenty of Christmas markets, there was a lovely river so we had a walk along that for a bit as the sun was going down.

We had a bit of a rest in the hotel before heading back out to enjoy the markets in the evening before they closed.

Everywhere looked so pretty in the dark.

We walked back to the same markets from earlier. This time I had a hot chocolate to warm up (it’s got to be done).

The next morning our train wasn’t until lunch time, so we had a walk around the town, had a breakfast of almond croissant+ hot chocolate, before getting the train back to Paris.

We got the underground into the centre (after buying tickets, it turned out that the trains were free for that day) and then walked along the river, to the Louvre, then along to the Champs Elysée to the Christmas market there, although that was a bit of a nightmare and more like how I imagine Winter Wonderland to be- a lot of tat, a lot of fairground rides, and not really that festive. It was really busy, but there were police everywhere (not surprising) and most shops were searching bags, so one of us would wait outside with our rucksacks while the other went in. We bought some sandwiches for the train, and then headed back to check in for the Eurostar home.

We bought a gingerbread to share- I have no idea how they make them so tasty as they are like a cross between cake and biscuit.

It was such a lovely weekend- travelling by train is so much less stressful than by plane, and the markets were so festive, it was a great place to visit. I even managed to buy a few gifts so have finally begun my Christmas shopping (and nothing on Black Friday either!).

Are you starting to feel festive now? Are you a fan of Christmas markets? 

So after a few days with fairly long drives, on our first day in Vik we stayed close to home. It was drizzling a bit, so we wrapped up and walked down to the black sand beach.

That little church in the distance looked down on the town and out to sea. The mountains were hazy with the rain.

The black sand was very impressive, and so soft, almost like powder.

Further along was a statue for all fishermen- there is an identical one in Hull, as it celebrates the trade between the two places, and honours people who spend their lives in the Atlantic.

We walked a fair way, and could see the jagged stones jutting up into the sea (they were trolls that were towing a boat to shore, but the sunlight turned them to stone before they reached land). The contrast of the white snow and black sand was impressive too.

We then turned to walk back to our hotel, and realised that our backs were soaked. The rain had started off being misty (more like we were in the cloud) had got harder, and was pretty much sideways. We had been walking on the beach for over an hour, so headed back for some hot chocolate.

Any of my hair that had been poking out of my hat or hood was soaked, and somehow my coat had leaked a bit at the elbows. Plus my jeans were soaked through. We knew that around the headland was another interesting beach, so we braved the weather and drove there.

It was so windy there! At one point I was being pushed along so hard I was running and bracing against the wind at the same time! It had these amazing stone columns, and caves all along the beach.

The waves were immense too- we had been warned not to turn our back on the sea as they can sweep people away.

In the summer puffins nest there, but we were too late for that. We were soaked and freezing (to the point where my hands were shaking) so we went to the cafe for tea and cake to warm up, and to brave the walk back to the car!

After that, we were finished for the day! We spent the late afternoon warming up, reading and relaxing, before heading out to dinner. There was a restaurant in the town that made home-made pizzas (and actually even had a veggie burger on the menu) so we walked there (in the rain…) for a very nice dinner.

The next morning we were up early (before the sunrise) as we had a long drive ahead of us.

Our hotel did do breakfast, but it was fairly pricey, and we had bought some mini cinnamon rolls from a supermarket before driving there, so a couple of those with some tea was our breakfast every day.

We had about a 2 1/2 hour drive, as we were going to the south-eastern point of Iceland. We stopped on the way to take photos of glaciers. At points we were driving across huge lava fields, and we saw hardly any traffic (or buildings, or petrol stations…)- the isolation reminded us of when we drove through Nevada, and the scenery was like Big Island in Hawaii. Amazing.

As we approached a car park we could see these huge icebergs poking up above a mound by the side of the road. This was what the long drive was for.

Here, in Jökulsárlón, icebergs break off a glacier and float out to see. The range of colours was just amazing- some were such a deep blue, others as clear as glass, some frosted and misty, some smooth, some textured, some with dark grey streaks from volcanic eruptions. In the silence you could hear drips and the occasional crash as ice sheared off larger icebergs.

I found the ice!

After a hot chocolate in the cafe (there is a bit of a theme to this holiday it seems) we drove to the other car park on the sea-side. (Seems lazy, but you could not walk between the two car parks as they were on opposite sides of a one-lane bridge)

The black sand beach was strewn with ice. We walked for a long way up the beach, taking many many photos!

We saw a few seals swimming in the water too. We probably spent nearly 2 hours here, so it was well worth it.

When we returned to Vik, it was pouring with rain, so we had a tea in the hotel bar before heading out to dinner.

On Thursday we were driving back to Reykjavik, this time staying in the centre so we could see some of the city. We had wanted to visit The Blue Lagoon, and although most people do that on their way to or from the airport (it’s between the airport and the city) we decided we didn’t want to pack wet swimming things, and also didn’t want to worry about the time it would take to change, return the car etc, so we did it on our penultimate day.

Rain was forecast, but when we arrived it was clear. We had booked for 1pm as we had about a 3 hour drive, but we arrived a little early and were let in just fine.

I had read reviews before I went, so I was prepared for a few things: We didn’t want to waste luggage space on a towel, so we booked the second option which included towel hire, a drink, and a skincare pack. I wanted a bathrobe too, but in the end I was fine without one. I had packed a colourful bag for life, and we used that for our towels. Of course, all the towels you hire are the same (dark grey) and they have a good system, with numbered pegs, but I had read a lot of people muddle them up, or forget, and I wanted to keep my towel dry for getting dressed after, so we hung our towels in the bag for life, which as well as meaning they were not mixed up, kept them dry when it rained and hailed (yes).

Now, I am not one to use communal changing rooms, and I knew they had a few individual cubicles, but I thought I might have to queue, but no, as soon as I arrived the first one I saw was empty. They do insist that you have a naked shower before you go into the water, but as well as open showers again they have some with doors, and when I arrived that was fine. I had read on the FAQ page that the water dries out your hair, and although they have hair dryers I didn’t want to wash my hair there, so I tired it up, although it was so windy that a lot of strands did get wet (I should have worn a sweatband style thing). I wished I had a shower cap in the bag with our towels, because the shower heads were on the ceiling right in the middle of the cubicle, so it was hard to turn the shower on without getting wet hair!

The worst bit was waiting for Andy to change (turned out he was upstairs and I was downstairs)- as I had my shower and although I was waiting inside, the door kept opening and letting the cold air in. It wasn’t too many steps to the main pool, and then it was so lovely and warm.

I didn’t use any of the mud stuff on my face, but plenty of people were. Your entry includes a wrist band which opens your locker, and also serves as a wallet so if you buy anything, you charge it to your wristband. Our entry included drinks, so after enjoying the warm water and going to the sauna for a bit, we went to the bar- you stayed in the water and just reached your arm out for them to scan your wristband. They only served cold drinks though- I fancied a cup of tea, but had a blueberry smoothie. This was good but you had to hold it out of the water so one hand got really cold! It then started raining, and then hailing, and we had been there for nearly 2 hours, so decided to head back inside. There was a big queue for the showers at this point so I had to stand about shivering for a bit, and in the end opted for an open shower and just kept my cossie on.

There was shower gel and conditioner in the cubicles, and the changing room had an empty cubicle so again I headed in there to change.

Then we drove into the city centre, checked in to our hotel and went out for some cake (well, we hadn’t had any lunch, so a chai latte and half a lemon muffin was our substitute…) .

Then we had a lovely wander around as the sun was setting, before finding somewhere for dinner we went to The Laundromat Cafe, although there were lots of places with good veggie options (including Glo, the place Anna went to which sounded amazing).

This was vegan toast- basically toast with home-made hummus, home-made beetroot and date chutney, baked aubergine, salad, seeds and cashews. They had a veggie section on their menu so I could have a pretty good choice. Plus, the tea was loose leaf and came in a pot!

Another wander before heading back to our hotel.

For our final morning, our hotel included breakfast, so after that we headed down to the water for a lovely walk.

There was a cycle path next to the pedestrian path, and it went as far as we could see around the bay.

We walked to this sculpture of a boat just as two coach parties arrived- although their driver was rather impatient and started the engine after a few minutes!

Then we walked to the large concert hall.

And then back into the town.

I loved the little colourful buildings.

We even found this handy map which showed us just how far we had travelled- the icebergs were on the bottom of the big ice cap on the right.

Then it was time for us to check out, head back to the airport and head home. Even the airport food was good- they had a Joe and the Juice, so I had a lovely sandwich with really nice thin crispy bread- avocado, tomato and mozzarella, and we shared a fresh juice. Mmmm.

That is mostly ice, not cloud in the photo. 

We even had amazing views out of the plane window (and I enjoyed the plane journey even more because we bought those tickets using air miles).

It was a brilliant trip. I would love to go back and see some of the north/ east areas, and I think going in warmer weather would be good- more wildlife and different views again. We didn’t get to see the Northern lights- on clear days it was low solar activity, and on the higher activity days it was cloudy where we were. But that’s just another reason to go again.

Also, I was expecting it to be really expensive, but I was pleasantly surprised. It’s not cheap, but also it isn’t too bad, and nothing compared to Norway (I think one small piece of cake in Norway was about £9!). Most places where we bought a hot drink each we spent about £5, which for two hot drinks isn’t bad. Our hotel meal cost more, around £35 I think, but then it did include free bread, and Andy had a beer. We got cash out at the airport, and spent it on drinks, but even the remote places we went to accepted cards, so I think we could have managed without any cash at all. So, if you are tempted, go! But maybe bring waterproof trousers if you are going in the winter (or just a ski suit).

Be warned, it’s a long one!

Last Friday after work we flew up to Glasgow, stayed there overnight, had breakfast (Bill’s, gotta love Bill’s) and a wander around the town, before our flight to Iceland (it was cheaper to do this including the hotel, than to fly direct).

Because we weren’t staying in the same place, we had hired a car, and then drove to our apartment. The lady at check in told us the first snow had fallen on the mountains that night, and to our surprise the following morning, it was snowing fairly heavily where we were!

We only had a little car (a VW Up, 2 wheel drive…) although all the rentals came with winter tyres and also they let some of the air out (which makes it sound like all the cars have punctures), but as a few cars drove on the roads tracks appeared, so we headed out to þingvellir national park for some snowy scenery.

On the drive there were plenty of scenic pull over stops (just look for the big info boards) so we stopped at a few.

There was a little visitors centre which we stopped at first (on the left if driving from Reykjavik)- this had free toilets (the bigger one, which we went to at the end, you had to pay 200 ISK for, which is about £1 I think)- and served warm drinks. We had a little look at the map, and then headed out to see the waterfall.

There were a few parking areas, each marked (I think we parked at P4) and then a mixture of paths and boardwalks led to the main sites.

It then started to snow quite heavily.

All the rocks were covered in snow, and the boards became quite slippery to walk on.

As it eased off, we walked around a bit more before heading back to the car.

It’s not every day that you get to see continental plates!

From the bigger visitor’s centre you could look down on the park, and see the church, and the paths we had walked on. Also, in the distance you could see plumes of steam rising from geothermal vents which looked very spooky.

The next morning we were heading south, so we checked out of our apartment and then drove to the other main Golden Circle highlights on the way there. We were so lucky to have the most gorgeous sunny day.

Still plenty of snow about, but most of the roads were cleared. Again there were a few scenic car parks so we stopped in a couple.

Our first stop was Geysir (around 100km from where we started), which is where all other geysers get their name from, although it doesn’t erupt regularly any more, there is another one, Strokkur, which goes every 5-10 minutes. It was so cold here, and the road was still snow-covered, and the car park was really icy. None of the paths had been gritted either, so it was a bit treacherous in places.

It was strange to see all covered in ice, with pools bubbling and steaming away. It did remind me of Yellowstone, only on a much smaller scale- Yellowstone in winter must be amazing but I think Iceland is more accessible!

We got to see an eruption, and then it was so cold we headed back (carefully- don’t slip!) to the cafe for a hot chocolate.

Then we drove the short distance (on more icy and snowy roads) to Gullfoss, an amazing waterfall. Again, here there was lots of ice and snow on the ground, but some of the boardwalks had been gritted. In the summer you can walk down to near the waterfall, but that was closed. There was still plenty of it that we could walk around, for plenty of amazing and different views.

Here you can see the path that was closed leading to the far edge of the waterfall.

There were some steps to walk down to get a different view, although it was so cold there as the spray was freezing (literally- it was sticking to all the grass, paths and railings as it came off the waterfall and then freezing). It was just stunning.

From there was had another 200km to drive to our next destination (Vik, on the south coast). We stopped off at one waterfall on the way, which I thought was called Skogafoss but I think is actually a different one.

The sun was getting low in the sky which meant we had this most amazing golden light.

We walked along a bit to see some other waterfalls (you could walk behind the main one, but people were getting soaked, and it was so slippery people were sliding down on their bottoms)- the little bridge was slick with ice so you had to hold the rail very firmly.

Then we finished the drive (another hour at least ahead of us)- the scenery was beautiful, and the snow ranged from barely there, to several feet deep.

We actually thought we had got lost for a bit, (even though we were on the main ring road) as it was so empty, but thankfully we arrived in the tiny town just after dark, dragging the case through the snow to get to our hotel. After being fairly frugal so far (we had breakfast in our apartment, lunch was a banana and a roll made up in the kitchenette, and dinner had been soup) we ate in the hotel restaurant as we could not face going out into the cold again! I was pleasantly surprised- they seem to cater for vegetarians and vegans much better than I had expected (I thought it would all be seafood)- but on the menu they had a vegetarian pasta, and then a vegan meal which I ended up having, which was thyme polenta (spell-check wants to change that to tadpole, but no, it was certainly not that!), poached pear and local mushrooms.

I shall save the other few days for another post as this one is already rather long!

Hey peeps! So I mentioned in my last recap that we took a flight over Kauai. It was a teeny plane- only 4 seats and the front two seats folded forward so I could get in the back! I was pretty nervous the whole day leading up to it, but it was only for an hour so I basically had to get on with it.

It was amazing. The pilot was fantastic, and we had those proper sound reducing headphones and microphones so we could all speak to each other. The pilot also had a tablet with music on it, so when we went over parts of the island where Indiana Jones was filmed, that music played (and repeat for Jurassic park, The Descendants, some old TV shows…

He gave us a commentary of the island, some history, interesting facts (on Kauai buildings are not allowed to be taller than the tallest coconut tree, as one hotel was built and was too high and the locals didn’t like it. Also they have a few roads with single lane bridges, and the locals don’t want these replaced as they don’t want large construction or chains or resorts), and answered questions too. Kauai is known as the garden island, and you could see why from the air. In the centre is a huge mountain, and it is pretty much constantly in cloud. Because of the way the valley is positioned, it funnels moist air up from the Pacific constantly. We were very lucky because the clouds cleared briefly, so we got to see right at the top. It was strange flying over such uninhabited landscape- every now and the you could see tents in tiny clusters- lots of scientists there looking at plants and things. But the ground at the top is more like a bog, he said it would be a foot or two of water under all the undergrowth.

We saw beautiful coastlines- most of it was privately owned so only viewable by sea, air, or extreme hiking (where you need a permit and are gone for days). About half an hour in to the flight, we had a bit of turbulence, as we flew through clouds, and then I did get a bit nervous (oh so sweaty hands) and wanted to get off, but thankfully it didn’t last long and the scenery took my mind off of the worry. It was so much smoother than a helicopter so I am glad we chose the plane option.

Earlier in the day we had driven to these waterfalls, but from the ground you only see 2 of them.

From the ground

They were from some old TV show title sequence, but of course pretty impressive anyway.

We saw plenty of rainbows and this one managed to come out on my phone! You are meant to be able to see a rainbow every day in Hawaii, and I think on Kauai we managed it as it was always sunny and cloudy.

And then the music of Puff the Magic Dragon began to play…

And there he is! For some reason I always thought he was meant to live in Wales, but no, this is Hanalei bay, which is mentioned in the song. The lava has poured out into the sea and is shaped like a dragon.

I was very relieved when we got to the ground again, but it wasn’t as bad as a helicopter flight, and I am so glad we did it, because so much of the island was not accessible at all.  It was a great end to our visit there. Kauai was just amazing. So chilled out, just like the Hawaii of the movies (The Descendants was based heavily on land that is there in Kauai, and we saw where some of it was filmed from the air), and pretty much the opposite of Oahu and Honolulu (which are great, but super busy, with massive highways and shops and restaurant chains and night-life).

Gosh these recaps are taking me a long time to get around to doing!

After doing the 5K in Honolulu, we had a flight to catch that lunch time. The islands are close together, so the flight was short (about half an hour) but there are no ferries or anything. Tip- if you sign up to Hawaiian airlines loyalty scheme you get money off checked bags.

We had a condo, which had a teeny kitchen area (we mainly used the fridge), and a balcony with beautiful views of the sea.

On the first morning we walked out a short distance to a local bakery for some breakfast, but later on in the day we discovered an amazing coffee house in a town up the coast, so tended to go there.

Not breakfast- we shared this amazing coconut, macadamia nut and chocolate slice.

Our condo was between two towns- I did look for a running route but there wasn’t much- we walked by the sea a bit but the path went into private apartment complexes, and the roads as soon as you got out of the small residential area were fast roads with no pavements. The town up from us had a lovely 8 mile path right by the sea, for biking and walking.

We spent a few days and evenings walking along there. The weather was again so interesting- the clouds clung to the centre of the island, but on the coast the sun was usually out.

One day we drove to the Waimea canyon, the “grand canyon of the pacific”. It is just stunning. Red rocks, bright green plants, waterfalls everywhere, just amazing. At some points there are viewing platforms, and I was at one when a family asked me to take their photo. I took a few, and tried to aim the camera so that the metal railing wasn’t in the photo, but when they looked, they said to me “a bit too much sky, can you try again?”- a bit cheeky, but also, why would you prefer metal railing over beautiful sky?? Some people!

There were some hikes, but they were pretty extreme (and not really allowed due to soft surfaces)- some people had hiked down to the coast and back and were pretty filthy!

Then we went to the coast- this was where the expensive resorts were and basically always sunny. There was a thunder hole- always exciting! (There are tubes of lava rock and so as the waves crash in some of the water gets forced into the holes and out of the top like little fountains).

We had dinner with a sea view as the sun was going down – so relaxing.

We drove up the coast to a nature reserve (the lighthouse features in my favourite Disney film- Lilo and Stitch- the artists were inspired by the beautiful green landscape of Kauai and so that was where Lilo was meant to live).

More beautiful coastal views.

We drove a bit north, and saw big rice paddy fields. Then we went south through a bit tree tunnel at an old plantation town.

On our final day we went to the largest coffee plantation in the USA (free samples, Andy was pretty happy).

Then we went in a tiny plane. A really tiny plane. Now, I have been in a helicopter (we did a flight over New York) and I wasn’t keen. And I hate the tiny propeller planes-we flew from Vegas to the Grand Canyon and I really hated it.  But so much of Kauai is privately owned, so you can’t see a lot of it from the roads and paths. So I agreed that a little plane would be better than a helicopter.

I was so nervous though! We got some amazing photos, so I am going to save them for another post.