The Joy Family

We had two possible options today: the thermal pools or the Saga Museum. Having done thermal pools a lot in New Zealand, we decided to go the the Saga Museum instead and so, after packing a lunch, we headed off. The Saga Museum is about a half hour walk from our apartment and is more on the outskirts of Reykjavik. It is a very modern looking domed building, visible from quite a distance away. As we approached the museum, we found ourselves on a rise of land from which we could see most of the city. The gardens around the museum are full of the same purple and white wildflowers, lupines-as Evy later learns, that we saw when we first landed in Reykjavik. The museum is quite ingeniously built using old oil tanks, though you wouldn't ... read more

We can't check in at the airport until about 10 am, so we slept in a bit this morning. There happened to be a shuttle bus about to leave when we came out of the hotel, so we were quite quickly at the airport. Despite having printed out the e-tickets last night, I had the terminal confused. We got off at terminal 3, only to discover it was terminal one that we needed. Fortunately, the terminals are not too far apart and there are moving sidewalks between them. At the terminal, we found Icelandair and checked in quite quickly, though we did have to wait in a second “Oversized” baggage line to check Benjamin's Packsack. As boarding was not for another couple of hours, we went to one of the airport restaurants and had breakfast, using ... read more

We packed and loaded up the car this morning, aiming the gps for the Edinburgh airport area to return our rented car. The roads got better the closer we got, and it was raining lightly most of the trip. Leaving the main highway in Edinburgh, we quickly found ourselves in a traffic jam full of people going to the Edinburgh Royal Fair (the Queen herself, went yesterday). This combined with lots of construction, led to a rather convoluted route as we tried to find a gas station to fill the car and also find the car lot. At one point we ended up in the short term parking and had to pay 1 ½ pounds to get out ! With the car returned, we opted for a taxi into town and were quickly at our downtown ... read more

Today mark ten months away from home and also, one more week before we return to Toronto. Benjamin and Joshua are delighted to be counting down with single digits. We slept in a bit later this morning, and having a coffee maker at this hostel was a nice bonus (we rarely find one) so we could actually have real coffee rather than the instant stuff. After breakfast, I got talking with a Taiwanese women who was looking at her map, planning her day. I told her of our plans to visit the castle and later, seeing us set to go in our car, she asked if she could join us. With no luggage in the car, there was lots of room so Amy joined us for the day. Amy has been traveling for several weeks and ... read more

It was light very early again today, which was just as well as we needed to get up a bit earlier. After breakfast at the hostel, we packed up the car and heading North up the road. A few minutes later, we turned around and headed back after realizing we had left all our food on the kitchen counter ! Our second attempt was more successful and we were soon passing through downtown Inverness, on our way to Cawdor Castle. Cawdor Castle is linked fictionally though Shakespeare's Macbeth when Macbeth is made “Thane of Cawdor”. Though there is no historical link to the event that the play is based on, I am eager to see the Castle that serves as some of this plays setting. The Castle is well maintained as is still used as a ... read more