Stratford

We had a grand time in Stratford - the musical 42nd Street is wonderful - oh those tapping feet!! If you get the chance - go see the show.  My friend Ellen joined me on this little adventure.  We headed out for the drive along the 401 and oh so relieved to get off the highway into Ontario farmland.  Stratford is lovely.

the theatre

 Ellen - looking lovely!

Avon River - a beautiful day for a wander...

We spent the night just outside of Stratford at a little placed called the Forest Motel, which is a lovely motel on a small lake.  In the morning, it was great to sit by the lake and enjoy the peace of an early morning.  I am so very fortunate to live is such a beautiful country - here are a few shots from that morning.

a pair of swans performing their morning ablutions

the water was so still - like a mirror

the resident blue heron surveying the lake



Hot summer nights

I woke on this summer morn to the disturbing news of a very tragic shooting - 2 killed and 19 injured - all at a block party - people out enjoying a hot summer night.   Limited details as yet but some speculation is that a fight broke out and then the bullets started to fly.  We are experiencing record breaking heat and humidity - overnight it stayed around 25 C degrees (79 F) and today it is expected to reach 37 C (97 F) and feel like 44 C++ - darn hot!  So does the heat contribute to increased violence?  Or is the bigger question - why does anyone bring guns to a BBQ?

This is the fourth incidence of dramatic violence in a public place this summer (though isn't all violence dramatic??)  Experts say the Toronto is still very, very safe but it does make a dent in overall confidence of that fact.   I'm sure the journalists and 'experts' will analyze the shooting and have many theories - what it does to me is make me sad.  Is this the price of being a large diverse metropolis?

http://www.thestar.com/news/gta/article/1227418--multiple-victims-as-gunfire-erupts-in-scarborough

Toronto in July - HOT!!

I'm back in Toronto and it is hot! but I keep thinking February and it is not too bad.  Go slow is my advice - sloth like ;) plus just realized it is Friday the 13th so another reason to traverse carefully and slowly.  Though 13 really does not concern me but it is a good excuse, but it always puzzles me when buildings skip the number 13 labelling of their floors - it is still the 13th floor even if you call it the 14th??? Are we just that gullible to believe that floor 13 disappears if we don't acknowledge it? hmmmm...

 I came home to an ever changing neighbourhood the developments are proceeding - the one across the street is now at the 2nd floor with greatly increased hoarding and the other one seems to have moved past the pounding at the ground that shakes the house - really the earth moved!

I am looking at my next adventure, though a small one this time - Stratford, Ontario - I am a bit ashamed to say that I have never been to Stratford - so I am looking forward to someplace new to me and of course to experiencing some excellent theatre.

Last day in Iceland

Today is our last day in this beautiful country.  We head off shortly to the Blue Lagoon Geothermal Spa  www.bluelagoon.com - go have a look for yourself.   The lagoon is created by the run-off from the Svartsengi power plant which pumps the geothermal heated water from a mile below the surface.  After being used to generate heat and electricity, the excess is ejected into the lagoon.  The temperature in the swimmable area averages about 40 degrees Celsius and it is a mineral-rich water purported to have curative powers.    Now if we end up glowing neon after the visit - it should be an interesting flight home.   As the spa is on the way to the airport, the common practise is for travellers to take the waters and then head to the airport - we fly home tonight.

Iceland is a beautiful country with lovely, friendly people and while the names of places are difficult to pronounce - it was quite easy to get around.  A few items of curiosity that we noted include - there was no admission charged to view the fabulous sites - waterfalls, the geysers, the mud pots, craters or even into National Parks.  The only time we paid for things is when you needed a guide or a vehicle - ie - the glacier hike and whale watching.  You are not required to sign release forms before heading off on an adventure - rock climbing, whale watching, etc.  At many of the sites we visited - there was no railings on the cliffs or stopping you from getting close to the falls or the edge.  From what we could see the only barriers were in place to protect the environment - not you.   You can hike all over the place though there was some limitations on camping locations in the parks.    The washroom or (WC) facilities were great all over the island - even the park's loo had running water and many were heated.   The restaurants has been great - fabulous fresh fish - we often went with the catch of the day.  Plus the food was presented beautifully and with imagine and often in huge portions - we really had to hike on those days!  Though we did not try the exotic (well to us) menu items - minke whale, fermented shark, puffin or horse meat.  All locals that we connected with spoke English - in fact many spoke more that 2 languages. While the weather can be changeable - we had beautiful sunny days but you always carried a fleece or jacket as that wind could really go through you.  The sun does set in the summer (around midnight) - it just does not get dark and even after two weeks it is hard to get use to the late evening brightness. 

We have had a fabulous trip and will definitely put Iceland on the list to return.  So adieu from Iceland.

Icelandic Sheep and Horses

I thought I would talk a bit about animals.  The only known indigenous mammal in Iceland is the Arctic fox and no, we did not see any - my guide book reports that there are only about 5000 left in Iceland but also states they are a special creature that has adapted to the extreme conditions - one being fur on the bottom of its paws and the warmest coat of any mammal in the world - I definitely think they would need it as when the wind blows here - it is cold - even with the warm sun.

What Iceland does have in significant numbers is sheep and horses.  About 750,000 sheep live in Iceland - more than twice the people population and while we did not see that number of sheep, we saw hundreds, if not thousands.  They were often in small groups of 3 to 6 or so and scattered all over the place, high on the mountains, close the sea, right beside the road and sometimes right in the road.  From time to time there was fences but it did not seem to matter as we often saw sheep on both sides of the fence.  If you hit or kill a sheep you are responsible for paying for that sheep so we kept a beady eye on them.   We are still not sure how we would find the farmer attached to a sheep as many sheep seemed a long, long way away from anywhere.  Again, my guide book tells me that the farmers do a round up or rettir in September which takes about a week.  The mount their horses and go riding off into the wilderness in search of their sheep.  The sheep are then brought in to central sorting pens with the help of the Icelandic sheepdog or fiarhundur .  Here are a few pictures of the Icelandic sheep - their coats come in all different colours - brown, black, cream/white, and combinations of those colours - it was very common to see a couple of cream sheep with a black lamb or a very shaggy brown one.

we came upon this one on a short hike - she really stared at us and

seemed to say - 'hey no way are you getting this bench!'

The icelandic sweater is very popular and worn not only by the tourist, we saw many locals including farmers in the field wearing the sweater.  It is the traditional yoked sweater with the pattern around the neck and sometimes around the waist and wrists.  Unfortunately, they are way too itchy for me.

The Icelandic horse is a specialized breed and bred expressly for the land and climate of Iceland. Many years ago, the Althing passed a law forbidding the future import of any foreign horses.  Now, if an Icelandic horse leaves Iceland, it is never allowed back in - this is to keep the breed pure.  One of the unique attributes of the Icelandic horse is that is has a fifth gait (most horses only have 4 - walk, trot, canter, gallop) Icelandic horses has a fifth - tolt with occurs between a trot and canter and is incredibly smooth.  They too come in all different colours, dappled to all-white, brown with blonde hair, grey to reddish.  We came upon a herd along the side of the road and were able to snap a few pictures, when we started the car to leave the horses ran along side of us - and when we stopped they stopped too - it was very cool. 



Around the ring road in Iceland

We made it around the ring road in Iceland and are now back in Reykjavik.  The last couple of days we had very limited internet so no posts but I will attempt to catch up a bit now.

I am sitting up on the 8th floor of our hotel overlooking the harbour in Reykjavik having breakfast, it is a beautiful sunny day with some white fluffy clouds in the sky.  We have a few days here and head home on Wednesday :(    Last night we went to a play at the fabulous theatre/concert hall across the street.  It was a comedy but ended with a beautiful montage of the sights of Iceland.  What a beautiful dramatic country.

we understand there is a bit of controversy about this place - an expensive building built while the country is in financial crisis (this shot was taken at 8:30 at night)

The title of the show and it really is a 60 minute show

the actor's view of Iceland

 

The actor went through 15 lessons/rules on being an Icelander -

this being the final one - which loosely means - 'do the right thing'

this is our certificate - so it is official now - we are icelandic...

The last two days took us off the ring road and around the Snaefellsness Peninsula on a gravel road for part of the way.  By the way, we had a white car, though by the time we turned it in, it was more brown than white and quite speckled with bug guts - even though we did give it a wash half way through the trip.

Here are some scenery shots from around the Peninsula:

Mt. Snaefellsness and Snaefellsjokull glacier

lava field - we would come upon these and some would stretch as far as the eye could see

Hallnar

Akureyri - "Capital of North Iceland"

Day 6 in Iceland and we are off to Akureyri which is the 2nd largest city in Iceland with a population around 17,500.  It is nestled at the base of the Eyjafjorour fjord which is one of the longest, narrowest and straightest fjords in Iceland - it is also very beautiful. From its mouth on the Arctic Ocean (yep I said Arctic Ocean) to the base, it is 60 km.  You might think it would be really cold but today while overcast, I was in flip flops and a t-shirt with a light jacket most of the day.  There was really no wind and I have found that it is the breeze/wind that carries the chill.

Our first stop was at Godafoss waterfalls named for a momentous occasion in Icelandic history.  In 1000 ad, after serious deliberations by the Althing (their version of government) Thorgeir Thorkelsson Ljovetnigagodi (now isn't that a name?) threw his pagan idols over the waterfall and converted to Christianity.  The falls then became known as 'God falls'.

Godafoss

down river from the falls

Then back in the car for the drive to Akureyri - about 90 kms on the ring road or Hwy 1 (a two lane paved for the most part road)  For most of the drive we were in a valley between mountains with a river on one side and lots of sheep doted throughout the fields.  Here is shot from one of the rest spots.

this ring road can be seen on the left of this photo - this is looking east

We made it to Akureyri in good time and toured the town - stopping in at the Akureyri church, botanical gardens and through downtown.  It did not take us long...

Akureyri - note the huge cruise ship the Costa Pacific - I think out of Norway but not sure

Akureyri Church - note the people sitting on the right - all have accessed free wifi from a local coffee shop - we think they are staff from the cruise ship.

 pansies in July - they were everywhere and look lovely with their happy faces

downtown Akureyri - a hive of activity

After lunch we headed to Varmahlid, our stop for tonight - this is the earliest that we have ever arrived so we headed to the local swimming pool for a dip.  The pool and hot tub are heated with the geothermal waters found throughout the country.  The water did not smell of chlorine but did have a different feel - kind of silky.



Whales!! in Iceland

Day 6 in Iceland - Today we went to Husivak in the north of Iceland to go whale watching.  This had been on both of our lists and we had a glorious day.  The whole day was bright, sunny and warm but not too hot.  The sun is just starting to set now (11:00 p.m.) We chose North Sailing - an original locally own company - our boat was the Gardar - an oak boat built in Denmark in 1964 and designed for Iceland waters. 

Gardar - whale watching boat - the one in the distance

We saw humpback whales and a blue whale - the first one the company had seen this season.  The water was calm and beautiful - perfect watching weather.  I did not get decent photos of the humpback whales but did manage to snap a few of the blue whale.

Blue whale

Blue whale

our view while whale watching

East Iceland

Day 5
We stayed the night in Djupjvogur a small fishing village situated between two beautiful fjords, Berufjorour and Harnarsfjordur and woke up to a beautiful sunny day.

A local artist carved these egg sculptures representing the eggs of native birds.  They are on display not too far from the centre of the village. 

Today was a long drive all the way to Laugar near the Myvatn Lake area.  We had a near miss though along the way - we saw something moving very quickly in the ditch on the opposite side of the road when all of a sudden it jumped onto the road heading right towards us - it was a tire - yes! a tire - we have no idea where it came from - as there was a mountain to our left and the sea to our right.  Thankfully, the tire missed us.  A mystery??? or a game to see who can hit the tourist?

Another road hazard is sheep - they are all over and have the right of way - even if you are travelling at 90 kms per hour.  We keep a watchful eye on them but are amazed to see them in what seems to be very remote areas.

just another day in Iceland

We requested an upgraded room and received the deluxe suite, here is the bathroom ;)

Waterfalls, Glaciers and Icebergs - oh my!

I got ahead of myself yesterday and titled the post Day 3 & 4 and then only talked about Day 3 so today I will try to catch up.  The challenge is that our days are long - not only in the amount of daylight but also in the things we are doing.  Yesterday - Day 4 of our Iceland adventure was not only our busiest but also our most physical so far.  First thing we headed to Skaftafell Park part of Vatnajokull Park.  Vatnajokull glacier is the largest glacier in Europe and the park covers 12000 sq km - 10 percent of Iceland's surface.  We climbed upstream to Swartifoss (which means black falls) - just a short walk, just under 2 km each way.   

Swartifoss

Lesley on the trail

the view - halfway up

We then went on a 3 hour glacier hike on a small finger of the Vatnajokull Glacier with Jons, our guide for the hike, 6 young ladies from South American and 3 well travelled Americans.  After a quick lesson on how to put on the cramp-ons and a check that we have them on properly we were off.   

a crevice in the glacier

just testing the waters - yes it is cold!

Barb and Lesley on the glacier - we made it up and down without falling down...

the glacier looks quite dirty - there is dirt plus ash from the 2011 volcano eruption

Jons with a moss covered rock - these rocks are on the glacier and picks up bits of dirt and the moss grows on them even as they rock moves slowly down the glacier - so the saying 'a rolling stone carrys no moss' is not true on this glacier...

After a quick lunch that included a tub of Skyr - a very yummy thick yogurt, we were off to Jokulsarlon and the promise of icebergs.  Travelling the #1 highway is quite easy but we have learned that if several cars are pulled off either at a look-out or at the side of the road that we should too.  So just before our targeted destination, Lesley noticed several cars pulled off the road.  We pulled over and on foot headed up a steep hill and as we crested the top - the view took our breath away - we saw a lagoon full of icebergs - there must have been hundreds - white, blue and some that looked like vanilla ice cream with chocolate ripples.  

you can see the Breioarmerkurjokull glacier in the background

Jokulsarlon is the glacier lagoon of the Breioarmerkurjokull.  50 years ago the glacier reached the shore but the glacier recedes approximately 100 metres per year gouging out a depression that is filled with melted water and icebergs.  Across the highway from the lagoon is the shore where chunks of ice play in the surf.

a piece of glacier ice on the black sand beach - so clear - it looks like glass

At the last minute we decided to take a boat ride in the lagoon - up close and personal with the glaciers it was fabulous.

our boat - yes really

a huge piece of ice fell off this iceberg right in front of us

yes the iceberg is blue