Blogs from South, Iceland, Europe - page 9

Dva roky za nami a sme opat na cestach. Pre obmedzeny cas sme tentoraz ostali len v Europe. Aby to ale zase nevyzeralo ako zajezd do Tater vybrali sme sa najdalej ako to slo - na Island. Kedze tu leti skor wifi ako desatrocne PCcka v kaviarnach, s popismi sa nejak trhat nebudeme. Mame na to len tablet a to je trochu tortura. Tak v skratke: let na nase pomery podozrivo kratky, styri hodinky z Viedne. Uvitanie ale velkolepe s polarnou ziarou priamo pocas letu. Z pozicovne sme si zobrali Toyotu Auris a uvazlivo ju poistili od rozbitia celneho skla az po pustne burky. Skoda ze tam nikde neboli zahrnute ovce ktore sa tu vrhaju pod kolesa v paroch kazdeho pol kilometra. Prve dva dni sme sa vybrali cez Golden Circle - Geysir, Gulfos, jedno padnute ... read more

Malheureusement, il fallait déjà quitter notre petit chalet et son emplacement idyllique pour reprendre la route vers l’est, d’un glacier à l’autre. Le premier arrêt est le Solheimajokull, un petit glacier à environ un kilomètre de l’autoroute. La meilleur description est celle de Michèle : « c’est comme si quelqu’un avait dessiné un glacier au fusain ». Un mélange de blanc, de gris et de noir en raison de la cendre des volcans. Le deuxième arrêt sont les falaises de Dyrholaey, dans lesquelles beaucoup d’oiseaux font leurs nids. C’est ridiculement venteux et frigorifique. Au bas des falaises se trouve une plage de sable noir (encore les volcans…) qui serait apparemment l’une des plus belles du monde. Le verdict du groupe est que c’est loin d’être le cas, mais la météo maussade n’aidait probablement pas. Finalement, on ... read more

I love going around with my tourists. Of course every group is different. I had a group from Singapore coming in on Feb. 28 and they left on March 8. They were very nice and understanding. You may wonder why I say understanding – you see, we have had the most terrible winter I can think of. Constant wind. Let alone the snow we have had, but the wind is so awful. Out of 90 days (back to beg. December) there have been 40 very windy days. And driving a bus in much wind is not really a pleasure. The first days were fine. I picked them up at the airport on Saturday Feb. 28 and we went straight to our hotel about 2 hours from Reykjavik. Snow blowing across the road on our way, but ... read more

Kävimme aamulla katsomassa viereistä Skogafossin putousta. Ajoimme sitten 30 km itään ja kävimme katsomassa Vikin mustaa hiekkarantaa. Sen pidemmälle emme jatkaneet itään, vaan käännyimme takaisin. Paluumatkalla satoi. Pysähdys Seljalandfossilla. Poikkesimme edellisessä majapaikassa hakemassa kengät, jotka Jorma oli unohtanut sinne. Piti odottaa pihalla, kun majapaikan pitäjä tuli kuntosalikäynniltään. Selfossissa söimme kolmannen kerran samassa ravintolassa. Varasimme Reykjavikiin majoituksen. Koska oli hyvä sää, ajoimme vielä Þingvellirin kautta. Siellähän Islannin parlamentti kokoontui ensimmäisen kerran noin tuhat vuotta sitten. Reitti Reykjavikiin kulki lumisen alueen läpi. Majoituimme hotelliin, joka oli ehkä parin kilometrin päässä keskustasta ja jossa auton sai pysäköityä kadulle ilmaiseksi. Kävimme kävelyllä vielä keskustassa. ... read more

So today I begin my 2-day trip to the south of Iceland with EXTREME Iceland. I'm hoping the tour company's name provides the exciting trip it seems to promise. I've been looking forward to this trip more than any other so expectations are high. I'm picked up at my hotel and taken to Extreme Iceland's base where Bjorn our tour leader for the trip is waiting for us in a minibus that quickly fills up with people among whom are lots of excitable young Chinese girls! As we set off we have problems with Bjorn's headset mike - he's on his own so needs to be driver and guide as he's going along so this is kinda important equipment. We even have to go back to base to sort it out which isn't a good start, ... read more