Hi from the Lot!

Hi all-

We were really disheartened to leave the beauty of the Dordogne and our great little Gite yesterday, but we really didn’t travel too far.  (About 2.5 hours to be exact).  We are now next door in the Lot region; in a tiny village in a very old stone house with a couple of donkeys and chickens.  (Insert puns here!).

Anyway, we got nailed (and are still getting nailed) by some absolutely wicked storms in the past 12 hours and wi-fi is extremely spotty so I’ll be brief we’ll catch up when we’re able to!

For now, I’m posting a little video I helped Aidan make (following on our last post)…

PS- Caitlin also did a little video on our new place on their site- Here!

Cave people and slushies…

It’s Monday July 2, and we’ve just come back from an adventurous day exploring prehistoric cave art and an incredible troglodyte village that dates back to the stone age.  This was followed (of course) by some local slushies to close out the day!

The past two days have been all about history and it’s been wonderful to see the kids so interested and engaged in not just medieval history, but evolution and the social development of modern man.  It all started much closer to home yesterday… 

We began our Canada Day in France by making an excursion to the weekly local market just down the hill in Daglan.  This was a small market compared to the buzzing medieval spectacle of Sarlat, but it was quaint and very French, with every possible food requirement available for order.  Struggling through some basic ordering “en Francais” (and with significant help from Andrea), we managed to sample and buy a nice collection of local blue cheese, strawberries, smoked sausage, wine, and some absolutely incredible honey.  

We followed this with a quick tour around Daglan and were really impressed by this pretty little village.  The church of Saint-Martin is particularly beautiful and seems to retain some of its original features from the 13th century.  Many of the houses in the village are made using the traditional white limestone so typical of this region and the owners are obviously immensely proud of their little town as beautiful gardens, stone terraces encased in Wisteria, and other decorative flourishes abound.  It was a quite unexpected to have such a beautiful medieval village right down the road!

Our expectations were again blown away in the afternoon when Steve took us for a tour of their impressive property.  We were unsure of what the tour would entail when Steve arrived at our door with an inconspicuous looking wooden box.  That changed for us quickly, as he pulled out a parade of outstanding historical artefacts he discovered while restoring this very property!  

He started from hundreds (or perhaps millions of years ago) with some fossils from way back when this whole area was under water.   This was all very interesting for the kids who tried to imagine what the creatures that made the fossil may have looked like and if they may still exist.  What really blew us away was when Steve showed us some stone age tools and an actual fossilised bone from Cro-Magnon!  It was unreal and very grounding.  The land all around us has been trodden by people, not so very different from us, for an inconceivable period of time.    

Steve went on to show us coins and objects from the past few hundred years, including items that date back to the 1600’s!  Steve and Liz have also found items from both world wars, including actual unexploded ordinance (dealt with a few years ago- but what a story!) and a massive bayonet from the early 1900’s that Aidan was astounded by.   It was all just amazing- and what was even more amazing to Andrea and I was how entranced the kids were to hear about the history, both alive and buried, which was all around us.  

Needless to say, Caitlin is now keenly focused on becoming an architect! 

We explained that it was “archeologist” she was looking for- but that architect would be great too!

Our historical theme continued today as we made our way up to a site known as La Roque Saint-Christophe.  Now, I generalised the fact that we “made our way up to” this site.  In reality, pretty much every trip out from our gite has turned into an epic, world-rally stage with points on the line! My trusty navigator always seems to find the twistiest, hilliest, most bowel-churning single lane roads.  Don’t get me wrong- we love them- and I’m getting better at these stages- although I still need more work when faced with any oncoming lorries!   

At any rate, upon arrival at La Roque Saint-Christophe, we were greeted by an absolutely stunning series of cliff-side dwellings that have been occupied by successive generations since cro-magnon people over 25,000 years ago!  We had a blast exploring the site, which is perched precariously 80 metres above the La Vezere river.  They have even re-created some of the machinery used in the medieval era to construct and fortify such structures.  

After this very tactile experience, we headed to Lascaux II to explore how primitive man unleashed their inner DeVinci.  These caves are re-creations of the original caves discovered 80 years ago.  Unfortunately the original Lascaux was closed in 1963 as the humidity and other contaminants introduced by the many visitors began to destroy the cave art (which is one of only 3 sites of this kind in the world).   What amazed us was the detail and creativity of these early people.  Not only did they possess the desire to communicate beyond their corporal existence; but they were incredibly creative, intelligent, and artistic; even attempting to display perspective as well as the movement of the animals.  

It was all pretty amazing, but by the end of a long day Aidan’s perspective was this:

“Dad, I thought Lascaux was cool but I know you’re going to want to know how we “feel” about all this.  Well, I’m feeling like I’m really starving right now- so can we please grab a bite to eat?!”  

Well- needless to say our next rally stage was to the nearest town to ingest  some energy!

I’ve attached a few more photos from today and will get some video up soon.  Aidan has really taking to being our videographer and I’m sure took some great footage that we will put together shortly…     

 

The Magic of the Dordogne

It’s very late- but I felt the need to write again and share a bit of what we’ve been up to.  We’re now in the Dordogne region of France, just outside the small village of Daglan.  

The past few days have been so peaceful; a massive change from the dizzying pace and noise of Paris.  That’s not to say that we didn’t love Paris.  Some members of the DACA clan; namely the shortest members, and in particular a spirited, beret-wearing member, faced teary, soliloquy-laden struggles in having to leave the City of Light.  But that changed quickly when we first turned off the main highway onto the small, winding roads of the Dordogne.  

It’s hard to describe the magic and beauty of this region.  There is history here around every nerve-wracking, hairpin twist of the road.  It’s like stepping back in time in the most wonderful, modern sense.  

Our new rental property is, quite honestly, one of the most beautiful places we’ve ever had the privilege of staying.  The owners- Steve; a very grounded, helpful and hard-working American, and Elizabeth (Liz), an honest and warm Englishwoman, bought this working farm fourteen years ago.  At that point, it needed a lot of work to say the least.  It is 45 acres (yes 45!)- perched on the edge of a peaceful hillside surrounded by forest.  It is absolutely gorgeous here thanks to all their hard work.  Our house was originally the bakery for the little hamlet, then a pig-pen and chicken coop!  It dates from the early 1600’s and still retains some original features.  Steve and Liz have lovingly rejuvenated these buildings and gardens into an oasis, complete with a gorgeous spa-worthy pool area. 

When we first arrived, there was a commotion of piercing birdsong coming from the woods just behind us.  Steve explained that there is a family of Kestrels here!  Long story short (and we are happy to share more) the Kestrels have come back for many years- likely as a result of kindness shown to the birds one winter by Steve and Liz. The five are amazing to watch- and help to ground the entire place with nature.  

We are back to an area that is steeped in beauty, nature and history; with a similar kind of peacefulness to Iceland, but with stone-age and medieval history in place of Vikings and volcanoes!   It feels displaced in the most wonderful way from the madness and pace of our modern world.        

I will leave it up to the kids (who made some short videos of our new abode and Castelnaud) to describe where we are now: dacaseuropeanvacation.wordpress.com/kids-thoughts

We have a bit of catch-up to do for our blog- but needless to say, we are having an incredible time here!  In the past few days, we’ve visited a “war” castle (Castelnaud) as well as a gorgeous, fairy-tale like “residential” castle (Milandes) that was home to the late Josephine Baker.  

Our first adventure was to Sarlat’s famous Market, which is a feast for the eyes and warmth in the stomach for food lovers. All year long, depending on the season, you can find foie gras, confit (conserves of duck or goose), truffles, walnuts, strawberries and countless other delicious local products to tempt your taste buds.  That said, we were mostly into the lovely produce and wicked locally made knives (Aidan).  The kids were quite concerned about some of the smells and oddities with the meats and cheeses as well as the huge number of hovering flies (it was about 30+ degrees C when we finally made it to the market!) so we did not indulge in any of those!   But one of our purchases (local strawberries) where literally the best strawberries the DACA clan has ever consumed!    

The old village of Sarlat-la-Caneda is like a living museum. As we approached buildings from the 1500s and earlier, the kids had a very hard time working accurately how old some of the buildings were.  Medieval buildings dating from the fourteenth century were everywhere!  The vibrant market only added to the atmosphere and provided an incredible opportunity to step back in time while nibbling on some tasty local cuisine!

There is a lot more to say- and we’ve had several other adventures here, but we will hopefully have more time to update everyone in the next few days!  Until then, here are some photos (more video to come shortly!)…

Tour Eiffel, Arc de Triumph, and the Champs-Élysées…all in one day!

Well, today was our last day in Paris and we decided to play tourist for real and hit all the truly touristy places in Paris. Unfortunately, I (Andrea) have to write this blog as Dave was arrested for trying to fly his drone off the Eiffel Tower (KIDDING!!).

We did, however, start with a hike up the Eiffel Tower (and really did think what a neat drone shot we’d get flying it straight up the middle!).  We opted to take the 700 stairs to the 2nd floor to really get a feel for the place and were very glad we did.  I was the most tentative about the stairs but it was actually a relatively easy climb.  You’re able to see the inner workings of the tower and giggle at all the people standing in line for hours to catch the elevator. I also learned that Dave is really afraid of heights! Oddly, the mountain on our last day in Iceland was fine for him but made me queasy, but Dave was feeling uncharacteristically nauseous today until his feet were safely back on the ground. It would seem he trusts mother nature more than Gustave Eiffel’s engineering skills!  I for one, prefer the security of an enclosed metal structure rather than the image of rolling off the side of a mountain.  But, to each their own and I’ve learned a little something about both myself and my husband on this adventure. The kids of course were both immune to any risk and Aidan happily demonstrated this by lying down on the glass floor and Caitlin daring daddy to stand on the glass floor for 5 seconds (which pride of course forced him to do!)

Following our morning at the tower we walked up to the Arc de Triumph.  While we were aware of the chaos of the traffic circle around the arch, it really is something to watch it in person. I have no idea why we did not witness 10+ accidents, it was clearly more organised chaos than in first appeared. Watching the dizzying number of car all criss-crossing each other in a mimed game of bumper cars did reinforce for us just why we did not rent a car in Paris.

Finally, on our way home we hit Avenue des Champs-Élysées for about 20 minutes.  The crowds there, however, were just insane so we hightailed it out of there pretty quickly to spend our last bit of time in the apartment playing games and reading our books all while eating baguettes, cheese, and dried sausage. 

Well, that’s it for our last blog from Paris and we’ll connect back in a couple of days from the Dordogne!! 

Dave put some photos and a little video together of our tower climb…

 

 

 

From constant light to the city of light…

We arrived in La Ville Lumière just three days ago.  To say it has been an adjustment is a major understatement.  On the taxi ride from the airport; the kids sat almost motionless, their eyes cool blue saucers taking in the city-scape that flew past our windows.  I’m unsure if their shell-shock could be attributed to the mad activity of the world we had arrived in, or had more to do with the 2:30am wake up in Iceland and the lack of sleep since then.

Our apartment is also a world apart.  It’s a typical one bedroom Parisian flat with huge shuttered windows, old stone walls and questionable plumbing.  It is situated perfectly in the 12th Arrondissement.  It’s very cute and quirky, with lots of memorabilia from the owner- Francois- who was nice enough to meet us and show us around when we arrived.  

It has been hard to get used to the noise and movement of a big city again.  Even more than Toronto, the street below us is constantly alive with the sounds of racing scooters, vans, pigeons and people that combine into a cacophony of noise that is at once irritating and yet familiar.   This is in stark contrast to the calm breath of Iceland, with its icy winds and baying sheep.  

The kids find Paris amazing.  Aidan really likes it here, except for all the French!   Caitlin seems a bit overwhelmed but is very impressed by the city, and fashion in particular.  On the street yesterday, we passed a little girl wearing a beret.  Caitlin’s head swung around like she’d seen Ed Sheeran riding an elephant!  After that, we never heard the end of her needing a beret “that basically goes with everything and that I will wear all the time and for the rest of time.”  

No way we’re falling for any of that though- we’re above commercialism… 

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But, I digress, I really should start from the beginning of our time here!  

We spent our first day in Paris visiting the Catacombs of Paris.  The Catacombs are really amazing- but have gained popularity since we first visited them well before kids. At that time (over twenty years ago), they were not much of a tourist attraction and we basically walked around on our own.  This time, we arrived fifteen minutes before opening (at 9am) and needed to queue up for almost 2 hours to get in!  That said, they were still really unique and eye opening for the kids.    

They are essentially an underground labyrinth that have become the final resting place of many thousands of early Parisians.  They were formerly building quarries, which were excavated deep underground and used for the construction of many of the buildings in the city.  By 1785, Parisian cemeteries were becoming very overcrowded and a bit of a public health nightmare so the city decided to “relocate” many of the decomposing residents.  The kids were a bit reticent- and Aidan in particular was quite creeped out and wanted to essentially jog through the exhibit.

Our trip to the catacombs was followed by a long walk to the Jardin de Luxembourg.  This is an amazing park in the middle of Paris.  We grabbed a quick picnic lunch to eat in the park, but Aidan quickly became obsessed with a bunch of little sail boats operating in the pond behind us.  He’s written his own piece on this but in short, the kids really enjoyed sailing these little boats in the pond!

Eventually, we made our way to the Louvre with a horde of other tourists- both solo peeps and those with bright, baton-wielding guides in 75-person tour groups more obnoxious than a million buzzing mosquitos at your favourite campfire.  Yes- we did see the Mona Lisa but it was a battle to do so!

After our first day blitz of Paris, we were feeling a bit frazzled and exhausted so the past two days have been spent relaxing in parks, visiting Notre Dame, and finding the perfect cafe for a late day meal and drink on a Parisian patio.   

We are winding down our evening now.  Aidan is preparing for bed.  Caitlin is sitting on the couch, freshly showered, wearing her PJ’s and reading a book before bed.  Of course, her beret is perched perfectly upon her head at the obligatory angle.  Andrea and I think she may have worn it in her bath and we’re not sure if it will be coming off for the rest of the trip!  

   

Saying good-bye is never easy…

It’s 4:45pm on Wednesday, June 20, our last day in Iceland.  The quality of sunlight is incredible right now; golden, bright, and warm after the chill and wind of the past few days.   I am watching the kids on some rickety old teeter totters.  Icelandic horses and sheep with their newborn lambs look on as our kids laugh and play with no care in the world. 

We’ve just returned from a drive that was way more than expected, followed by a hike that was way more than expected.  

Andrea did some amazing recon to find a hike that would be perfect for our last day.  After a bit of a restless “night,” we headed out to find Husafell.  Of course, our trusty navigator couldn’t take us on normal roads but (as she often does) decided to take the ‘road less travelled’.  

As I engaged 4×4 low to cross a rusty old exposed culvert, I suggested that there was a reason such roads were less travelled!  That said, rough, high mountain roads on sheer cliffs with no guard-rails make for some interesting driving and issues with underwear.  Aidan was in heaven, but we did not take any video/ photo footage of this particular part of the adventure to spare the worry of grandparents!  Needless to say Iceland does seem to have a fair share of challenging roads; and when they say “4×4 only;” they really do mean it!

Eventually, we made it to Husafell for our big hike.  The tourist info centre was out of maps for the hike, so a nice young chap walked us through the directions for an “easy” hike up some hills and down the other side- ideal for kids aged 10 and 12.  “Sounds perfect” Andrea says.  “That’s exactly what we need- and sounds easy for us!”   “Yup” I say, “but remember, he is Icelandic.”  

Over the past few days, we’ve seen this a couple of times with the native Icelanders.…  Just yesterday, at the Borganes Sports Centre- I was put to shame by a local.  I dared the kids to “submerge” into a polar-ice dip then jump into the 40 degree C hot tub… and then I would do it.  Caitlin basically did it straight away but while we were trying to coax Aidan into the task for several minutes, a local Icelander hoped into the ice-cold water for literally 5 minutes.  Well, that got Aidan to do it.  Damnit- really??  I was hoping at least one of the kids would balk but perhaps my belligerent Scottish ancestry or just sheer stupidity compelled me to complete the task!   At any rate, I swear I hit the water and launched straight back into the hot tub.  Short story long, Icelandic people are really tough!  So- whenever we get advice from them now from now on, we will take it with an immense grain of salt!

Which is what we should have done today!  An amazing, easy, and gorgeous hike, in surroundings akin to the opening scenes of the Sound of Music (which was sung often and loudly for the first 60 minutes or so) soon turned into: “are we sure this is right?” Our helpful Icelander gave us the following directions:  “follow the path up the right, past the waterfall, across the top, and down the other side.”  Sounds easy enough right?  Well, that all depends on your interpretation of “top”… top of the waterfall or top of the mountain? 

Our climb quickly turned from Sound of Music to “#$*%*$ @*” coming from Andrea!!!  While I went to scope things out at the top of the mountain, the kids and Andrea watched a few people cross the mountain quite a bit further down from where we had currently climbed.  We seemed to have missed the turn-off markers by a few hundred (or thousand) metres and climbed way past where we were supposed to turn off!  When I got back from my 25min reconnaissance mission to the summit I provided my extensive overview: “Hon- I can’t see a clear path per se- and it’s a bit dicey for kids, but man it’s really cool up there.”   Following this, a quick executive decision was made by Andrea to back-track and cross the mountain further down.   

We were happy we did!  We found the right turn-off and descended safely down the mountain on the original “easy” trail.  All in all, we made it safely back down and hiked well over 6km+ to the summit and back.  It was a fantastic hike and despite the worries, was (mostly) safe and offered us some amazing vistas of the glacier and surrounding mountains.  Another short video with some of the highlights…

Our day was capped off with the kids saying good-bye to the horses and cats they had adopted these past few days.  We’re not sure of their real names but we will sure miss Fabio, Grumpy, Scout, Snow, Shaggy, Beyonce, and Chocolate.  I will not however miss the two cats who continued to find impressive new ways to infiltrate our house.  It’s hilarious for the kids who snuggle, feed and fawn over them, but less cute for those of us allergic to the furry interlopers! 

The kids are now done with the teeter totters and running down the long driveway, racing their favourite horse, Scout.  The farm has added many laughs and new discoveries to our experience here and we will truly miss this place.  

While we’ve only seen a small piece of this fabulous island, it was absolutely stunning and leaves us eager to come back and continue exploring.  We will be in bed soon for a much needed rest before our 2am wake up to start the next leg of our big trip.  It’s sad to leave, but we’re taking with us innumerable fond memories from this incredible land of fire and ice….

Roaming the land of Gnomes and Elves…

The past two days have been rather- well- epic!!  

We have put on close to 1000km exploring western Iceland and pretty much gone broke paying for the gas to accomplish the task!   We have seen countless waterfalls, gorgeous mountains, volcanoes, fields of new and old lava flows, and journeyed to the furthest western tip of Iceland.

Our day yesterday was spent exploring what the kids now refer to as the Snuffleupagus peninsula.  Andrea and I began it as a joke because names here are nearly impossible for us!  The Snaefellsnes Peninsula is pronounced more like “sh-ne-fell-snes.”  It’s actually a fairly easy one as Icelandic words go but Snuffleupagus was more fun and now the kids have another useless tidbit of TV history from our childhood!

We took another rough road to explore the northern side of the peninsula with several side-journeys into small harbours and inlets like the very pretty little village of Stykkisholmur that holds a commanding view over the bay from a massive rocky outcrop.  We climbed to the top for a better view, and the kids had a blast leaning into the piercing winds whipping forcefully in off the bay.  The wind here on the north side was simply unreal, and it was one of the few days we’ve had when I was nervous about losing a car door as the kids exited in the frenetic manner they usually do!  At any rate, we made it the rest of the way around the coast with all four doors still attached.

Perhaps our favourite part of the drive was when we rounded a bend near the coast and a gorgeous moss-covered peak materialised from the low-lying clouds.  Kirkjufell mountain may be one of the most iconic landmarks in Iceland and you may recognise the site from the Game of Thrones. It’s stunning and extremely dramatic.  The green mountain rises majestically out of the sea, with a  waterfall winding it’s way to its base…

Continuing to follow the coast of the peninsula around brought us to some outstanding vantage points over the bay.  On one of the corners, we stopped the car at a lookout.  While we were rolling to a stop, Andrea noticed activity in the icy waters below.  As we all got out to look, and honed in on what she had seen, it became increasingly clear that we were watching a pod of Orcas frolicking just off shore.  It was amazing to see something like that from the coast and Andrea and I were now much less dubious about the kids contention that they’d seen a whale from the car on our first day!

All in all the land of Snuffleupagus was superb, but it left us a little road-weary.  As such, we decided to play things close to home on Tuesday and visited two sites that were literally five minutes down the road from the farm.  Our first stop was Glanni Waterfall.  When we arrived, we learned that the area was grounded in folklore and myth that included Gnomes and Elves. The falls themselves are serene, and also contain a fish ladder to assist spawning salmon and trout.  I was jealous to see a few fly fishermen cruising the opposing bank.  It was such a beautiful and calming area.

Following our early morning water theme, we went on to a fire theme and explored three volcanic craters straight out of Mordor.  The kids had a blast climbing up and circling the summit of the largest one, and it provided a unique 360 degree view of the whole area.  These volcanoes were remnants of an eruption from over 120,000 years ago; but the craters, and immense lava flows that they created are still quite clear.

Here are a couple of quick videos from Day 3 and Day 4…

It was another great day, but we are hoping the weather holds for one more adventure tomorrow!       

Father’s Day Adventures…

So, I think we had a pretty amazing Father’s Day here! 

We took some detours on rough, high mountain roads just for fun and eventually found our way to a massive glacier.  The Langjokull Glacier is the second largest ice cap in Iceland and the drive close to it’s base is absolutely spectacular.  Our day also included some dramatic waterfalls known as the “lava” falls.  These falls are named for the source of the incredible flow of water, which is not fed from rivers, but appears to blast forth straight from the earth through an uncountable number of old lava tubes…  

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All of that was fantastic, but the true highlight of our day was a family horseback ride along the mighty Hvita river.  

Caitlin was absolutely beside herself with excitement.  She loves riding and had spent a lot of time with the horses back at our borrowed farm, but now she would actually get the chance to ride one of these spirited little Icelandic horses!  

Aidan was a bit more nervous and tentative at first as he’d never ridden before but he did amazingly well, and even had his horse trotting by the end! The instructors were duly impressed because apparently Aidan’s old horse is a bit of a grump and on prior occasions has just stopped listening to whomever was holding his reins and gone to eat grass in the field with rider still mounted.  He took to Aidan really well and actually listened to him!  

The only dicey moment of the day was actually thanks to me.  My horse had quite a feisty attitude as well and basically tried to eat everything we passed that was green.  She also had a bit of a rough gait, which seemed to increase in intensity as her speed ramped up.  Long story short: as we were speeding the horses up for a faster pace across a field (and I was distracted by my nervousness that one or both kids may be launched at any moment into the Hvita), both of my feet came out of the stirrups and I quickly began sliding off the mare’s back (while she was continuing to accelerate!)  Somewhere between gracefully sliding back into the stirrups and soiling my pants, I managed to grab a mane, stabilise, and get things back under control in a somewhat manly manner without sliding under and getting trampled!    

By the end, it was really tough to pull the kids away from this place and their beautiful horses.  Andrea had spent the night before researching and we were so happy we had chosen this small ranch (called Ashestar) for the ride.   It was our one “big” event for Iceland and it was just perfect.  Anna and Höskuldur were our guides- and this young couple were amazing with the kids and were great company for our beautiful ride along the Hvita.  It was a perfect day out, with the 6 of us cruising along an incredible glacial blue-green river.    

We’re all a bit exhausted, so I’ve put most of my energies into another video that quickly summarises the day.  Happy (belated) Father’s Day to all the Dad’s, Papa’s and Grandpa’s out there!

Also- PS (again!)  Sorry- but it appears we will be sticking to standard definition rather than High-Def as the wi-fi issues continue!!

 

 

Incredible Iceland

As I sit here and write for the first time of our European adventure, I’m astounded that we arrived at our little farm house in West Iceland only 12 hours ago…

Our day on Friday started with an overnight flight from YYZ’s “infield.”  I was unaware that Pearson; or any major airport for that matter, had an infield, but apparently some do!  Like a little island for the extra airlines the architects possibly forgot about in the original design.  The bus ride under runways and next to the thrum of waiting jumbos, followed by an impossibly long taxi to the takeoff point was enough to sustain Aidan for the entire flight, but the rest of us thought Iceland Air may have decided to drive us to the island! 

The 5 1/2 hour flight was excellent- but no one slept more than an hour or two.  Caitlin was quite impressed by the 767 however, and remarked that: “This is a nice plane Daddy,  they should make some more of these I think.”  I explained that Boeing actually had made a bunch more than the one we were on but that I’m sure they would appreciate her praise.

We left Toronto at 9pm and touched down in Iceland at 6:30am.  We left Toronto at a sunny 25 degrees and arrived to a grey, extremely wet 5 degrees. The weather, combined with the barren moonscape that surrounds Keflavik led to an immediate questioning of our stop-over decision.  What exactly were we going to do in this barren, bone-chillingly wet place for 5 days?   

Well, it turns out that the old Icelandic adage about weather is spot-on.  That is: “If you don’t like the weather, wait 5 minutes.”  It’s so true here.  The weather literally changes by the minute.  On our first day, we went from pouring rain, to intense sunshine, to drizzle, to gale winds, and back again.  Aidan says that he loves it here but could do without the “rainy parts.”

The landscape is not barren at all, but a rapidly evolving kaleidoscope of vivid colours and scenery.  The earth is truly alive here- and it is vibrant, incredible, and absolutely gorgeous. 

Our first day was spent driving around the Reykjanes peninsula from Keflavik to Selfoss.  Our goal for the day was Reykjadalur- the hot river.  While the drive took several hours, the kids spotted a whale (from the car!) and we were all absolutely amazed by the unreal landscapes that awaited each curve of the road.  Each bend revealed something new.  Areas of other-worldly massive black lava flows give way to lush green mountains, vast ocean vistas, and fields of gorgeous Lupine flowers.

There is so much to write and say; but for now, we’ve made a quick video ending with our arrival at our little rental home Hvassafell II… 

(PS- we’re currently in rural (West) Iceland and the wi-fi is spotty at best so the video is not HD quality.  We can re-load when we have a better connection!) 

 

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