Blogs from Southwest, Iceland, Europe - page 43

I had a sort of surf and turf day yesterday - starting with a puffin-watching tour to an island just outside the harbour and an afternoon trail ride on the sweet and sturdy little Icelandic horses. They have five gears - the tolt is a kind of fast walk- think those bum swinging race walkers and the ride is very smooth. But my horse was missing that gear and delighting in a brisk trot, which made me glad I was wearing a sports bra, if you know what I mean. In between, my Icelandic pal Osk (who is becoming a good friend the more time we spend together) and I ate a bowl of delicious lobster soup at a quirky seafood shack down by the harbour. It's called the Sea Baron and the soup is a ... read more

My Icelandic pal Osk claims was the Topas that kept me from feeling too lousy when I finally hauled myself out of bed at noon. She and the girls insisted i down a shot of the salty licorice-flavoured booze with them - an Icelandic specialty that riffs off the excellent locally made candy. It was one of the more vile alcoholic things I've ever tasted and for me, as you know, that's saying something. It's about 11C and overcast, My hotel is a short walk to the centre of town the main street, Laugavegur. Just about everything was closed and the streets were quiet - a few tourists and some cats. There are kitties - most of them black - all over the place. They are magnificently aloof. The incredible Hallgrimskirkja Church dominated the view - ... read more

Besides my rucksack and laptop, all I took from Haiti was a couple good-sized bruises, a few scrapes on my forearms, cement burns on the tops of my fingers, ten broken and jagged fingernails, an unbearably foul-smelling pair of socks and shoes, and a lifetime of good memories. Ah, volunteering with Hands On always leaves me with a smile on my face, regardless of self-inflicted pain and mutilated body parts. As long as I continue to survive deployments with HODR, I shall carry on with the volunteering. I left Port-au-Prince in very windy conditions, a by-product of a depression brewing in the western Caribbean. A day after I left, Tropical Storm Alex was officially named and became the first Caribbean storm of the season. Bummer I left when I did. I could have used a ... read more

So here I am in Iceland, ready for a week of relaxation, hiking, geothermal pools, puffins and perhaps a ride on a pony. I'm drawn to the clean air and promise of fun people who consider sarcasm something of a sport. I left for the airport 5 hours before my flight (curse you, G20) and got here from the Beach in 25 minutes, which is pretty much unheard of. The traffic at 4:30 on a Friday was like 4 a.m. on a Sunday. I've never seen the Gardiner so deserted at rush hour. But the wait for the flight passed quickly - I met a girl named Vicki from Perth, an ex-jounro, who is travelling the world carrying, much to my envy, just one small bag. How does she manage? I bought her a bison burger ... read more

I have been reunited with my beloved skyr haha - that can only mean one thing - I have landed in good old Iceland. I am so exhausted... already haha, but I had a fantastic day =) I landed in Keflavik to find out that today is Iceland’s Independence Day - partyyyyy. Oy. Too bad I’m running on fumes as is… otherwise I could’ve enjoyed more of the “festivities”. I arrived at the hostel at the same time as 3 other girls from Canada, so we walked around a bit and went for breakfast. (Flights arriving at 6:30am are so not cool.) After that I headed off the BSI to make sure my tickets were confirmed for Ishestar (horseback riding) for the afternoon. I was sad/impressed that I remember the layout of the city so well ... read more