Sweden is 6 hours ahead of EST.
Currency: Swedish Kroner. $1 is about 6.5 Kr.
Weather today is partly cloudy with occasional shower. High 34, low 27.
I think I'm going to talk like the Swedish Chef until I find some meatballs. Will they get mad?
Friday, March 4, 2011
Location: 59*38'57"N, 17*55'47"E
Arlanda Airport
Sweden
We ended our stay in Iceland with a stop at the Blue Lagoon. It is a geothermal spa known for it's mesmerizing blue color and the water's relaxing and medicinal qualities. They have stations along the lagoon where you can apply a special silica mud to your face and body to sooth and clarify your skin. The best part was the steam room, sauna, and waterfall massage area. It's a must-do when you are in Iceland and definitely when you spent the prior day driving all over the country and seeing the sights. What a relaxing way to end the Icelandic leg of our trip.
A quick 2.5 hour flight and we are here at the hotel in Arlanda Airport for the night. We leave for Kiruna, within the Artic Circle, tomorrow morning. I can't imagine that there is any communication service up there. So my next post may not be until we return from the Ice Hotel. The weather looks favorable for our 2 night stay. Highs in the 20's!!
Arlanda Airport
Sweden
We ended our stay in Iceland with a stop at the Blue Lagoon. It is a geothermal spa known for it's mesmerizing blue color and the water's relaxing and medicinal qualities. They have stations along the lagoon where you can apply a special silica mud to your face and body to sooth and clarify your skin. The best part was the steam room, sauna, and waterfall massage area. It's a must-do when you are in Iceland and definitely when you spent the prior day driving all over the country and seeing the sights. What a relaxing way to end the Icelandic leg of our trip.
A quick 2.5 hour flight and we are here at the hotel in Arlanda Airport for the night. We leave for Kiruna, within the Artic Circle, tomorrow morning. I can't imagine that there is any communication service up there. So my next post may not be until we return from the Ice Hotel. The weather looks favorable for our 2 night stay. Highs in the 20's!!
Wednesday, March 2, 2011
Looks Amazing. Smells Even More Amazing!
We saw a bunch of hot springs and geysers on our trip. They all have signs marked that the hot springs are, well, hot. The steam and hot water can burn you. And the sulphurous smell is real, like rotten eggs out in the middle of nature.
But all smells aside, the sights we've seen can be jaw dropping. Like these waterfalls.
Today we walked up to a glacier, Solheimajokull. Just like in the magazines, this glacier had a sublime blue tinge. Remember in the movie, Into The Wild, where you got towards the end and you feel like your eyes just opened for the first time? I swear I had that moment when I saw and touched the glacier with my own two hands. The whole landscape is like you're at the edge of the world, cold white ice against the black ash that had fallen from last year's volcano eruption. Its really wild. What is most striking is how much the glacier has receded. A tour group or school group marked where the edge of the glacier was in October 2010. I'm not as good at judging distance, but I think we walked 10 minutes from the mark to the actual edge of the glacier. It was shocking to realize how quickly the ice melts.
Tuesday, March 1, 2011
Local foods we have eaten
Joe has commented that this is the most un-foreign country we've visited. Strange for a European country, huh? Most people here speak English as a second language and everything here is modern. Our hotel room, although small by American standard, is comfortable and incredibly clean. The bathroom has a towel warmer, which I quite enjoy. So far we've had the comforts of home during mealtimes, including fried chicken and pizza, but we've enjoyed the local foods too.
The most popular hotdog joint in town serves a beef/lamb/pork hotdog with fried onions, mustard and a remoulade of some kind. It's good! Last night we had boiled haddock, potatoes, peas, and red cabbage. All served with sweet rye bread. Seems bland but you slather everything in a rich Icelandic butter and you are all set. One delicacy we've quickly latched onto is Skyr (skeer). The process to make skyr is similar to cheese making, but it tastes and looks like yogurt. It's high in protein and is eaten at all times of day- bfast, dessert, snack, etc.- with cream and fruit.
We've been dared to eat boiled sheep's head and fermented shark meat. Uh...we have not gone there yet though. It's intimidating so far but perhaps we'll get brave during our stay.
The most popular hotdog joint in town serves a beef/lamb/pork hotdog with fried onions, mustard and a remoulade of some kind. It's good! Last night we had boiled haddock, potatoes, peas, and red cabbage. All served with sweet rye bread. Seems bland but you slather everything in a rich Icelandic butter and you are all set. One delicacy we've quickly latched onto is Skyr (skeer). The process to make skyr is similar to cheese making, but it tastes and looks like yogurt. It's high in protein and is eaten at all times of day- bfast, dessert, snack, etc.- with cream and fruit.
We've been dared to eat boiled sheep's head and fermented shark meat. Uh...we have not gone there yet though. It's intimidating so far but perhaps we'll get brave during our stay.
Monday, February 28, 2011
FAQs
Break out your maps, you may be surprised that Iceland is only a 5 hour flight away, similar to a flight from Baltimore to LA or Philly to Barbados. Iceland is on Greenwich Mean Time (GMT), or 5 hours ahead of Eastern Standard Time.
Currency is the kronur. USD 1 = ISK 117.
Temperature is strangely similar to York, high around 41 and low of 31, sunny with occasional snow shower.
The sun rises and sets almost at the same time in York too. The only difference is that it takes a lot longer for the sun to rise and set so it's like twilight for hours and hours.
Day 1
Location: 64*8'39" N, 22*55'48"W
Reykjavik, Iceland
Babalu Coffeeshop
We left Logan Int'l at 8:35 pm on Saturday and landed at 6:40 am on Sunday at Keflavik Airport. It's a short 5 hour flight overnight, and Kathy and Axel were so kind to pick us up at the airport. After a quick nap to re-calibrate, Kathy and Axel picked us up for our introduction to Iceland.
We visited Thingvellir, where the first Parliament met. There's a continental divide here and I guess it is constantly moving. Like a few inches a day. The visitor center is built exactly the width of 1000 years movement.
We also saw a geyser, or shall I say, the Geysir. Apparently geysers are named after this particular geyser named Geysir. The Icelandic word for geyser is actually some other word. Other things we saw: big waterfall called Gullfoss ("golden falls"), a big dormant volcano crater, and oh yeah! Axel's family cave. He apparently has ancestor's who apparently lived or were born in a cave out in the country. Strange thing, we found a geocache hidden in the family cave. So in case you are geocacher, there's one in Iceland!
Reykjavik, Iceland
Babalu Coffeeshop
We left Logan Int'l at 8:35 pm on Saturday and landed at 6:40 am on Sunday at Keflavik Airport. It's a short 5 hour flight overnight, and Kathy and Axel were so kind to pick us up at the airport. After a quick nap to re-calibrate, Kathy and Axel picked us up for our introduction to Iceland.
We visited Thingvellir, where the first Parliament met. There's a continental divide here and I guess it is constantly moving. Like a few inches a day. The visitor center is built exactly the width of 1000 years movement.
We also saw a geyser, or shall I say, the Geysir. Apparently geysers are named after this particular geyser named Geysir. The Icelandic word for geyser is actually some other word. Other things we saw: big waterfall called Gullfoss ("golden falls"), a big dormant volcano crater, and oh yeah! Axel's family cave. He apparently has ancestor's who apparently lived or were born in a cave out in the country. Strange thing, we found a geocache hidden in the family cave. So in case you are geocacher, there's one in Iceland!
Friday, February 25, 2011
Welcome Back
Oh hey, guys. Welcome back to our travel blog. We started packing our bags last night and leave for Iceland tomorrow! We will try to post as often as we can (whenever we find wifi access) about our trip and share our adventures with you. In the meantime, please enjoy our previous travels to Barbados and Vietnam in 2010 and 2008 (choose from the menu on the right).
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