Half-Term Holiday: Iceland Day 7

17^th February 2018

We didn’t go to bed until 1am, so slept in a little this morning before breakfast and checkout. We lost our room key, but they didn’t seem to mind, which was good. We left it somewhere in the field where we had been watching the Northern Lights, but it snowed while we were asleep… We were only headed to Reykjavik today, so we decided instead of taking the 1 highway, which goes through a tunnel under water, to take highway 47 around the bay area to see the scenery. It only took about a half hour longer but was much more pretty!

We got into our Reykjavik hotel not long after 12, but we were able to check in, which was excellent. Then we headed for a walk around the city. We started with Hallgrimskirkja, the massive and beautiful church which is modelled after the basalt columns. It’s gorgeous, and you can go up the church tower – although we didn’t as the queue was massive and the lift to the top only took 6 people up at a time! The church was lovely though and it had a massive organ which was beautiful too. There’s even a statue of Liefur Erickson out the front.

Just down the road we fond a boutique I’d seen in an Icelandair promotional video called Gjoska. We bought a lovely scarf of Icelandic wool knitted into a scarf, with green merino felted in to represent the Northern Lights. It was expensive, but then again the best souvenir we got. Plus, Richard and I will share it (mostly).

By that point we were hungry, and we spotted a place called Block Burger which turned out to be an amazing burger place! Then we ducked back to the hotel for more jumpers. It was still cold, even though we wanted to look more ‘fashionable’. Then we just wandered some more. We walked across the city pond which was almost entirely frozen. We also found a cemetery, and walked through it in the snow. It was spooky and beautiful.

Eventually, we found ourselves at the Saga Museum. It only took 30 minutes or so but was very informative about the early history of Iceland, using wax figures and audio guides. Very cool. Next door was Aurora Reykjavik, the Northern Lights centre. We learned about how the Northern Lights happen, why they’re green (or why we saw green ones), and the different legends which other countries had. Lots of spirits and ghost stories.

Just up the road we found a local brewery, where Richard had a local beer. I tries the Icelandic sloe-style blueberry gin. It was delicious and I want to try and get some in London! ON the way back to the city we walked past the hot dog street stand which apparently sells the best hot dogs in Iceland, so we had one. Comes with onions, fried onions, special sauce, mayo and ketchup. It was pretty good but not as good as the one we had in Selfoss.

Then we moved the car to a better parking spot, checked out Sandholt, the best bakery in Reykjavik (pastries were delish, but almost the last ones!), had anther hot dog (different place, tasted better). We even spent 30mins in an arcade ‘museum’ (room where you could play games!) before heading back to the hotel for the night.

We are on our flight now – I got a special chocolate because today is Women’s Day in Iceland! Lucky me. But sigh, back to work tomorrow. Oh well.

Half-Term Holiday: Iceland Day 6

16^th February 2018

We got up early this morning and had a quick breakfast so we could get on the road early. We were headed to the Snaefellsness peninsula for the day. We drove down the 54 highway to the peninsula. We drove past the Eldborg Crater, but the weather looked like it was coming in and it was a 2.5km hike to the crater. So we passed on by with just a photo. Then, on the side of the road, I noticed a sign for some mineral water. So we stopped, and there was this little tap sticking out of the snow with an information sign. We emptied our regular Icelandic water (still delicious compared to London( and filled up with tasty natural sparkling mineral water! It actually tasted okay, too.

Not long after that we made a call, given the ‘slippery’ and ‘difficult’ roads ahead, and did a u-turn in order to cross the peninsula to the north side.

There we went to the most photographed mountain in Iceland, Kirkjufell. It is deceptive thought -  it looks really skinny in photos, but it turns out that the mountain is actually quite fat as you approach it, but amny of the photos are taken where the carpark is, which is the mountains most flattering angle! So funny. We also visited Kirkjufellsfoss while we were there – it’s only just across the road.

We stopped for fuel (human and car) in the nearest town (Grundarfjordur) – we had read that in winter it can be hard to find open cafes on the peninsula, and they were right!

The weather was improving but still not great so next we went to the Bjarnarhofn Shark Museum. It was a small family-run museum filled with curiosities like a polar bear skim from inside a sharks belly, old sewing machines and taxidermy animals. They also shows us how they make the delicacy of fermented shark. The fishing boats into Reykjavik catch the Greenland shark by accident, then this family comes to collect it. They cut up the shark, then leave it in a wooden boc in the cold to ferment for ages, Then, the urea and natural antifreeze in the body turn into ammonia  -ew! But turns out if you hang it to dry, the water and ammonia evaporate and it’s safe to eat. It was quite tasty actually, even though it was still pretty smelly.

After that, we headed around the peninsula. The weather had cleared even more and the road service was only ‘spots of ice’ now. We drove past Dritvik Beach on our way to the bottom of the peninsula for the lava cave tour We were very early, so we went to have a quick look at the Lonsdrangar visitor centre and lighthouse.

We headed back for the lava cave tour, which was very cool. The cave was made 8000 years ago, and they tell stories about the volcano, the glacier and the trolls that live inside it! I realy enjoyed it. There were even some things which looked like stalagmites, but were actually formed by lava in about 8 hours when the cave was formed. Very cool.

After the cave tour we drove through a cute town called Arnarstapi, which had a troll statue, beach lookout and a lookout to Gatklettur Arch, a natural rock arch.

On the way back to the hotel, we had a quick roadside cookie stop and a drive through the town of Borganes on the way. We had another hotel dinner (they are very good, and not much else is open in winter), then settled in to wait… Because the chances of Northern Lights were good. And in the end we got the call around 10.30pm! We grabbed as many clothes as we could (coat, scarf, etc), but I didn’t have time to change, so I was in a dress – oops! The Northern Lights started off quite faint, but grew in strength for about 45 minutes. It was so beautiful, although freezing! We watched it until you could barely see it any more. Got lots of photos to remember it by though.

Half-Term Holiday: Iceland Day 5

15^th February 2018

Today was bright and clear and a gorgeous day, so we did some catching up on things we had missed on Day 2 (heading out of Reykjavik). We started with Hjalparfodd, a very pretty waterfall, although the road to the fall itself was snowed under and hadn’t been ploughed, so we had to walk from the main road! Luckily it was only about 500m or so.

Then we headed over to start the ‘Golden Circle’ with Geysir. We stopped at the visitor centre across the road first. It was CRAZY. There were all the usual day trippers, but also apparently lots of people and tours who couldn’t get in yesterday because of the storm. So it was packed, as was the Geysir area itself. It was cool though, the main geyser is called Geysir and is actually where we get the word ‘geyser’ from! The steam rises off all the hot pools, and then, every 8-10 minutes – WHOOSH! Water and steam in a plume into the air. We were there a while waiting so we could catch good photos of it all. I liked seeing the smaller steaming pools too.

Next, we decided to head to Gullfodd, a big waterfall just 10min up the road from Geysir. We got to the carpark and drove round and round and round… it was packed with so many other people! We were about to give up when we realised there was another carpark which was actually closer to the falls 0 so we went there instead. We were glad we ticked them off the list, but with so many tourists it was not a great experience. Especially as we had to go back to the Geysir visitor centre for lunch afterwards.

After that hectic time, it was around 3, so we drove on to Thingvellir NP. It’s not on a continent, it’s in between 2! There’s a rift valley where the American and European plates have been pulling apart, at the super rate of 3mm a year. It is 7km wide though at the moment.

We started at the visitor centre to speak to the rangers and get a map – although it was very well signposted anyway! The recommended a route, which we followed. We walked to Oxrarfodd, which was barely visible through the ice, past where they used to drown the women, to Logberg, the site of the law rock. They used to recite the laws from it and it was the site of the first parliament in the world! I don’t think the actual rokc is there anymore, but there is an Icelandic flag instead. We took a hiking path that went over some small islands (although you could barely tell in all the snow), past the Icelandic PM’s summer house, and the long way back to the car. It only took an hour but it was super lovely, especially with the sun beginning to set.

After that it was about 5.30 so we took the 1.5hr drive to the hotel, had a hotel dinner (again, but again very tasty) and get ready for bed. Tomorrow is a big day!

Half-Term Holiday: Iceland Day 4

14^th February 2018

This morning I slept past my alarm, but it didn’t matter – there was a snowstorm brewing outside! Turns out it was raging, and the roads were closed for 150km in both directions!! So we had a lazy morning, a late breakfast ending at 10 (the end of breakfast), and went back to the hotel for a rest! The storm was supposed to be hone by 12… But it hadn’t. So we checked out then anyway, and walked across the road to the shops for a browse. That was awful! It was blowing probably 50km/h and raining sideways. In about 100m we both got totally soaked, plus it was blinded by the sideways rain and I fell into a snow bank.

We ended up waiting at the shop for an our and a half, just waiting. I even had a nap, but I did buy some Icelandic souvenir yarn! It was very cheap.

The weather cleared around 1.30pm, but the roads were still closed, so instead we wandered around Vik. We visited the church on the hill, which was lovely, and a local museum where we learned about the closest volcano, Katla. Basically, we were killing time. We could see cars leaving Vik, but the website still said the roads were closed.

Around 3pm we said ‘oh well’, and headed to the road closure. Turns out, they’d just opened it! The emergency services guy even gave us a thumbs up as we passed through!

We headed first to Reynisfjara Beach, a black sand beach with many ‘sneaker’ waves. An accurate term! We took some photos and some rocks, and headed on down the ring road.

Our next stop was a waterfall we saw from the road the other day, Skogafoss. It’s a beautiful waterfall, which you can see easily with a tiny walk from the car. Or… You can walk 370 steps up to the top for some spectacular views. Only problem was, the staircase was mostly buried in the snow! Some was totally passable, other bits you needed to haul yourself up by the railing, and for a small section, we just left the path entirely. It was slow going with many stupid tourists being wimpy, but it was worth it for the views at the top! Totally gorgeous. And the way down was super fun – the packed ice was like a slide, with the railing to hold on to as you slip all the way down! Whee!!!

Back on the highway, it was already 5pm… But a half hour down the road was the Lava Center in the town of Hvolsvollur. It wasn’t huge but very very informative and highly interactive. It had super lasers for learning about volcanoes. We were even the only visitors at the time!

Then it was time to find our hotel in Selfoss (helpfully named Hotel Selfoss). We had an excellent dinner, and cheap too! There is a shopping centre attached to this hotel, and next to a highly rated hot dog stand with drive thru! So we had hot dogs and fries, plus Subway cookies. So romantic for Valentine’s Day. Hopefully we might see auroras tonight – we’ve signed up for the wake up service just in case! Best chance is 5-6am, so bed now and hopefully lights later!

Half-Term Holiday: Iceland Day 3

13^th February 2018

Well, it’s true what they say about the weather in Iceland – if you don’t like it, wait 5 minutes! Slept so badly last night due to a storm with howling winds and blowing rain and sleet. I woke up so many times, it sounded windy enough to blow over the hire car!! It meant that in the morning it was very wet. It turned out to be a blessing in disguise, though, because by the time we got to Skaftafell NP the wind had calmed, the sleet had turned to snow, and unlike yesterday you wouldn’t need crampons to do the hike! So we put on our raincoats and hiked the 1.2km each way to Svartifoss (‘black waterfall’). It was pretty magical really, with the falling snow all around as we walked. Just lovely, and not a tricky or overly long walk. It was even quite warm once we got going – I even took off layers!

After that we went back on to the highway, stopping at Dverghamrar, the dwarf cliffs. They’re on the side of a hill and were very cool, being so close to the highway! Only downside is, it was much colder and windy once we got there. We could even see Fodd a Sidu from the road on the other side!

We stopped at Klauster again, looking for Kirkjugolf, an old farm, but we couldn’t even see it underneath all the snow, which was a shame. Our little detour meant we could see Stkornafodd waterfall from the road. Unfortunately we couldn’t get any closer than the road.

Finally, we drove the rest of the way to Vik for lunch. It was 3pm by then at that point, but we took a few photos beforehand of the beach at Vik. The driving was the worst of the trip – windy and snowy and not much visibility!

After lunch we went to check out the DC-3 plane wreck at Solheimasandur. We weren’t sure if we would have time to walk all the way (one article we read said 2 hours one way!), but we did it in just under 45min each way. It was flat, but rough going after other hiking, and my body was screaming by the time we got back to the car. I did enjoy the walk though, and the plane was very cool. We took lots of photos.

Then back to the same hotel as 2 nights ago, another amazing dinner in the hotel (best lobster soup!), then diary, TV and bed. I shall sleep very well tonight!

Half-Term Holiday: Iceland Day 1

(Note: I wrote this diary at the time, but am typing it up later! I barely had time to write the diary some of the days)

11th February 2018

Finally, another trip! I woke up on Saturday very stuffed up – I have quite the cold, it seems. We didn’t fly out of Heathrow until 8.30pm, so we packed on the day and headed out around 5.30pm for the airport. We had a pub dinner in the airport, which was pretty good, during which we found out our flight was delayed 15 minutes. In the end, we didn’t get on the plane until almost 9, so we landed a little later (2hr 40min) than expected around 12am. Customs in Reykjavik was quite quick, and we picked up our hire car at 1am. We seem to have gotten a free upgrade, as we’re driving a Dacia Duster 4WD SUV rather than the Swift we’d ordered. And it has studded tyres  too!

First of all, we needed to get to the hotel, about 50km away in Reykjavik proper. Richard did really well given he was adjusting to a left-hand drive car on the wrong side of the road, and despite the snow on the side of the road, the road itself was clear. We got in at 2am.

Our travel agent had warned us there was a storm due today (Sunday), and that we should eave early to head to Vik (our next overnight stop). So we got up at 6am after very little sleep, and had breakfast. When the road map was updated at 7am, the second half of our journey was closed. So we decided to stay in Reykjavik for the day until the road cleared, and call the travel agent around 10 to get a plan B hotel in Reykjavik in case we couldn’t get to Vik at all. We had a brief nap until about 9.30, then checked the map again. It looked clear, so we double checked with reception, who said basically ‘go now, and go straight there!’ So we did (almost).

We made one stop along the way, a gorgeous waterfall called Seljalandsfoss which was only a short walk from the carpark. It wasn’t even super cold, especially not with my layers on! We took photos, bought a snack and used the looks before heading on. The roads were listed as ‘slippery’ on the map which meant less that 20% ice, and blowing snow. Both of these were accurate and totally manageable. Richard didn’t seem to have any troubles.

We arrived in Vik around 1.30pm, but couldn’t check in yet, so we walked across the road to the Icewear store. They had advertised a free tour of the factory – however, that turned out to be just looking through the window at the machines (which weren’t on, because Sunday(. The souvenirs weren’t quite what we were looking for, either, sadly. We did get sandwiches for lunch from the supermarket though.

The weather did seem worse when we arrived, but the snow flurries cleared so we went for a walk along the beach – black, volcanic beach! In fact, in some places the sand caved away to reveal white snow underneath! Very cool. It was so windy though! 60+ km/h winds, so I had my hood pulled super close to my face… I didn’t see the ocean coming! A wave got me and splashed into my show. Luckily my shoe and pants are waterproof. We were basically blown back to the hotel in the end, where we just chilled for the rest of the afternoon, watching the Winter Olympics and the snow out the window.

We had dinner in the hotel restaurant (Berg), where we had scallops with seaweed, lamb rack and chocolate cake. I even had a gin and tonic with Icelandic gin! We want to head off before 9 tomorrow – we’re staying at Skaftafell, but want to go sightseeing further east, so have a bigger day ahead tomorrow.

Half-Term Holiday: Iceland Day 2

12^th February 2018

This morning we were up not so early (7am) ad ready to go before 9am. I like that breakfast is included in all our stays this trip. So we headed off, actually still before dawn! Our first stop was just off the highway and we stopped there basically because it looked cool. Turns out it was an old farm that was destroyed by volcanic activity, called Laufskalavarda. Very cool volcanic rocks in the pristine snow. And with damn too, very photographic. Then we went on the highway on to a short road off it to the Fjardaragljufur canyon. By this time the sun was up and the snow was very sparkly. We actually walked not very far, but it was a lovely view. And then we needed our sunglasses!

We drive on to our first town Kirkjubaejarklauster (or just Klauster, as it is apparently known) where we stopped for fuel (the recommend when driving in Ieland to never let the fuelget below half, just in case) and looked for food, but there wasn’t much. So we kept going. We tried to see a waterfall, Systrafoss, except it was frozen over! We could hear it but not see it under the snow.

On our way to Skaftafell, we passed a nice looking waterfall we cold see from the highway. Skaftafell is where we were staying, but there were cool things not far from it so we kept going.

We spent most of the afternoon about an hour from Skaftafell at a pair of lagoons. The first was Fjallsarlon, an iceberg lagoon It was lovely, with lots of ice bits sticking up from the water. Sheets of ice 30cm thick in places, broken off cleanly so you could see inside them. Ice balanced on ice, covered in snow. And we could walk among a lot of it, because it was so frozen!

After that we went to the glacial lagoon Jokulsarlon, which was phenomenal! We had a sandwich at the visitor center before heading to the lake. There are seals living around the lake, just chilling on the ice, and the icebergs were so cool! We took heaps of photos and walked as far as we could. Then we walked under the bridge to the Diamond Beach. Icebergs from the glacier get washed out to sea, then washed back on to the beach on the black sand. Talk about photogenic! We were here for at least an hour just taking photos – Richard got the whole setup going with timers and everything! He got some lovely shots.

By the tie we got back to the car it was past 4pm so we headed briefly to Skaftafell visitor centre to check out what walks we might do tomorrow. They recommended crampons for your shoes which we don’t have though, so I guess we’ll see. There are a few short walks though.

Theatre Trip: The Phantom of the Opera

THE PHANTOM OF THE OPERA

Her Majesty's Theatre
Date: 31st January (Wednesday), 7:30pm
Seats: Stalls D20-21

(With Richard!)

I have seen Phantom several times on multiple continents (in Sydney, Melbourne and New York), and I think this was one of the best ones. Funnily enough, the Phantom was played by an Aussie here in London!

We booked tickets several weeks ago on my birthday, and picked Phantom because a) we hadn't seen it yet here, and b) because Husbando was tired of going to shows I liked more all the time. He loves Phantom. We grabbed a quick dinner at Japan Centre nearby before the show (Japanese food court, yum!) and picked up our tickets.

Our seats were fantastic. Normally about £70, we picked them up for £40 each. Row D (which is actually the third row), just off the side. I really liked being on an angle so we could see more of the hidden stagecraft (like quick changes on stage) and avoid most of the smoke. The chandelier was right above our row too! And the costumes, oh my. I would like so many of them!

I had forgotten how good this show is. The music has been stuck in my head ever since we booked tickets, and the set pieces were more impressive than I remembered (that elephant that is only on stage for about 2 minutes!!!). The vibe of the show was fabulous, and I love the reactions from the people who obviously haven't seen it before.

The actors were generally great too. I really enjoyed Meg and Madame Giry, both parts I'd really like to play. Meg in particular has a nice track and quite a big part, and of course her dancing is lovely. The directors Andre and Firmin were a bit difficult to hear as the mic balance was a bit off but that did get fixed during interval (the people sitting next to us complained to the sound desk) so was improved in Act Two.

Raoul (Jeremy Taylor) was fine. He wasn't anything to write home about, but he was good. I think I've been a bit spoiled with Aussie casts for Raoul and the Phantom.

Christine (Kelly Mathieson) was definitely my favourite. This is her West End debut, she was 'discovered' in the Scottish ballet (as in, her singing voice was). I was a huge fan of the way she played the part. She started out very shy and withdrawn and grew in confidence more and more as the show progressed. By the point of 'Don Juan Triumphant' she was bold and almost sexual, and I had never quite seen a performance like that before. I really liked it, and her emotion in the final scenes was very raw and emotional too.

Our Phantom (Ben Lewis, graduate of WAAPA) grew on me throughout the performance. At the beginning he seemed weaker, but as it got more intense, so did he. By the final scene I was enthralled! He really acted out the madness of the Phantom at the end beautifully.

All in all, I probably should have gone to see this sooner. I guess I'm usually attracted by the neat and shiny things. But the older shows still have great appeal.