I was admittedly feeling that my passport was beginning to rust from lack of use, and 2015 was a long year for us. As I looked ahead to the holiday season, I decided that this would be a good year to “go big”. So “go big” the kids and I did -- two weeks in Iceland and England!
On the last day of classes before Christmas break, I picked the kids up from school at lunchtime and we began the hurry-up-and-wait part of travelling with a drive to the airport. We had a lovely flight on Jet Blue to Boston, where we enjoyed a dinner at Legal Seafood and had time to relax before our overnight flight to Reykjavik. The mysteries of time zones and jet travel meant that we left America at 8pm and landed in Iceland at almost 7am the next morning, after a five-hour flight. It was a pleasant flight, and we hit the ground running. We rented a car, drove into Keflavik, and ate a wonderful breakfast smorgasbord before heading to the Blue Lagoon. I have lived in cold and snowy climates, and I know that winters are dark, but being in a place where the sun rises at 10:30am and sets at 4pm is a bit gloomy. It's a good thing Iceland has so many wonderful features to make up for the sky color!
Our time in the water at the Blue Lagoon was all in darkness, which definitely added to the drama and adventure. As we left, dawn was beginning to break. It was still pretty gray, but I was thankful to be able to drive in daylight for a few hours. Following our swim/spa experience, we made our way into Reykjavik to Whales of Iceland, a small but informative museum which bills itself as “perhaps the largest whale exhibit in the world”. From there, we toured the Icelandic Saga Museum (a Viking Museum) where the kids got to dress up in chain-mail. It’s heavy! We also visited the Hallgrimskirjka cathedral where we admired the pipe organ and went up into the tower to look out over the city before we made our way to our hostel, went out for a quick pizza, and finally collapsed into bed.
Sunday was our only full day in Iceland, and we made the most of our time by joining a tour. First thing in the morning, we went out to a horse farm where we rode Icelandic horses (not ponies, the locals are quick to remind everyone!) around the countryside for a few hours, through rain, snow, and sleet. These little horses are so sure-footed, even on the icy hills, and have the smoothest gait and were a joy to ride...although we were cold enough at the end that we were ready to head inside. After a lunch of hot soup and hearty breads, we left on a bus tour around Iceland’s Golden Triangle where we saw the tectonic plates (the divide between North America and Europe) at Thinvellir National Park, and then went to Geysir where we watched the Strokkur geysir erupt several times, and posed in front of a hot pot. They last time we were in Iceland was 2005, and we weren’t the only ones who have changed since then. The area around Geysir is much more touristy now, although still a great place to visit, and definitely a “must see”. From there, our bus continued to Gullfoss, Gold Falls.
By then, the sun was setting, and it was time for us to get back on the bus and back to Reykjavik. That night we ate at a hearty Icelandic cafe where Hans enjoyed whale steak for dinner!
The following morning we returned our rental car and flew onward to England. One particularly nice touch that Icelandic Air offered was that since the plane was an older one that did not offer in-flight entertainment, they handed out iPads pre-loaded with games and movies for use during the flight.
While both kids were born in Europe and have technically seen a great deal of England, they have no memories of it, since we left there so long ago. Also, Miriam has written several essays and done projects about England and Stonehenge over the past couple school years, and every time, we’ve pulled out the pictures from when she was 6 weeks old and tried to convince her that she had really been there (twice, if you include the time in utero). It was very exciting on this trip to introduce them to the continent of their birth, and on the shortest day of the year, I got to fulfill their dreams by taking them to Stonehenge. As amazing as it may sound to say about a place almost 5,000 years old, Stonehenge has also changed over the past 10 years. The visitor’s center received a fantastic make-over in 2013, and it now includes many hands-on activities, including cottages built in the Neolithic style of 4,500 years ago.
On the 27th, we said good-bye to our friends, returned our rental car, and boarded a train to London. The following day dawned bright and sunny, for which I was particularly grateful since we had pre-purchased tickets to the London Eye. After our “flight”, we toured Shakespeare’s Globe Theatre, and watched the buskers in Covent Garden. We wandered around London, found a few playgrounds and took pictures with some favorite English characters -- Paddington Bear and Mr Bean.
We began the next day by attending a service at Westminster Abby (note that while many churches including Westminster Abby charge admission to look around they are free to worshippers, which also allows a better feel for the place), and then took a boat-bus out to Greenwich, where the weather thankfully (and intermittently) cooperated for us to tour the Cutty Sark, a 19th Century sailing ship. We also enjoyed the British Maritime Museum, and then managed to get to the Prime Meridian at the Royal Observatory right at noon, as shown on the sundial. After taking the bus back to London, we toured the works at the Tower Bridge, climbed up to the top, and took our time standing on the glass floor. That evening we purchased our dinner from the Selfridges Food Hall, which we preferred to the one at Harrod’s that we had visited the day before. Wednesday was an exciting day for my young Harry Potter fans, as that was the day we finally visited Platform 9 3/4 at King’s Cross train station. (An important note about the platform photo op at King's Cross: this never closes, so while there may be hours long lines in the afternoons and evenings, you can walk right up to the front early in the morning. Plan to have breakfast in or around the station.) The kids wanted to head off to Hogwarts boarding school like Harry and Hermione, but did eventually consent to come home with me afterall. After seeing Buckingham Palace, Hyde Park, the Animal War Memorial, and Marble Arch, we headed for the incomparable British Museum. That afternoon the kids spent at Kidzania, an indoor theme-park built to be a miniature city where kids role-play adult activities from shopping to learning various professions, from athlete to actor to physician to building inspector, while I wandered around a mall that was much too expensive for me to purchase anything in. The kids had a great time, though.
Our last day in London, New Year’s Eve, was designated a museum day, with a start at Kensington Gardens, where we enjoyed the swans in the lake and looking at the Fairy Tree. We went to the Natural History Museum next, a fantastic place, surpassed only by its next-door neighbor, the Science Museum. Our day, and our trip, culminated with dinner at Dans le Noir?, a restaurant that is kept in complete darkness and where the servers are blind. While we have no pictures of it, this was one of our favorite experiences of our entire adventure. After stowing our things in lockers in the entry-way, we were introduced to our waiter, John. We lined up with our hands on each other’s shoulders, and followed John into the dining room, where he seated us at our table. The dining room was literally in complete darkness, and we could not see each other across the table, our hands in front of our faces, or most importantly, the plates in front of us. After clarifying our menu choices (fish for Hans and vegetarian for Miriam and me), and being advised to tuck our napkins into our collars, we were left to figure out how to get the water from the pitcher into our glasses, or even to find the pitcher on the table in the first place! When the food arrived, we had no idea what it was, and getting it from the plates to our mouths was an adventure in itself (we admit we did not always use our knives and forks!). The food was excellent and we enjoyed pretty much everything on our plates. Once we were done and back out in the lobby, they showed us pictures of what we had been served, along with the menu descriptions...our guesses were mostly correct. There are not very many of these “blind restaurants” in the world, but we heartily recommend going to one if you ever get a chance!
On New Year’s Day, we left jolly olde England for home, after a stop at Paddington Station to visit it’s most famous passenger. We flew from Heathrow to Reykjavik, then to Toronto, and finally back to North Carolina, and made it home around 2:30 in the morning, exhausted, but very happy from our holiday adventure.
It was quite the adventure! I trust the forthcoming one - especially 'Down Under' is just as exciting!
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