Iceland Southeast coast June 27, 2024

 After a comfortable night in Vik, we had breakfast at the hotel ( a nice buffet), and set off. The weather was actually delightful- sunny ad cool, no need for a parka- yet.

The road east of Vik had light traffic, and for a 55mph limit, narrow. Our first stop was at Skatafell in Vatnajokull National Park. This area was one of Iceland's most isolated areas until the early 70s when the last glacial river at the sands of this area was bridged in order to complete the Ring Road (the road that circles Iceland). At Skaftafell, we took a hike that took us to the edge of the Vatnajokull glacier. In a couple of places, we noted a path through the brush to our left, and followed those paths to areas crowded with wildflowers at the base of small waterfalls. What a great surprise! Half the trail followed the edge of the mountain, the return loop went over some rocky terrain. I was personally delighted to find wildflowers all along the route, many of them tiny, but still beautiful.

Lupines are everywhere in this area. We found out that in 1945, a committee was set up to revegetate areas of Iceland.  A representative of the committee went to Alaska and brought back seeds. Now lupines have taken over the landscape, and in some areas are crowding out native vegetation. Some Icelanders love them, others,  not so much. 

We continued along the coast to Jokulsarlon and Fjallsarlon glacial lagoons. In Jokulsarlon, gigantic icebergs float in the lagoon. A short distance away, we walked to Diamond beach, where small icebergs had washed up on the black sand beach.

Glacial lagoon

Diamond Beach

From there, we continued on to our stop for the day at a guesthouse about 40 minutes from the next town, Hofn. In following directions to this place, we thought Google must be joking. We couldn't see anything at all from the main road, just an empty barn. Hmm. I KNOW I vetted all these places. But a few minutes down a gravel road brought us to our quiet (!!) accommodations for the evening. We were greeted by a few sheep.

Dinner was at the guesthouse.

Photos here: https://photos.app.goo.gl/xcoePKexzkRJD4VSA

Iceland day 2, June 26, 2024

 

After a 10 hour sleep, we hustled to get to breakfast ( serving stopped at 10 am). Today's journey would take us a short distance,  but to several places. The names of all these places are all tongue twisters, so I'll just call them by placeholder names. 

But before we went too far down the road, Ray asked me to look in the car manual to find out what the warning light was that popped up on the dashboard.  It turns out it's for the tpms (tire pressure monitoring system). One or more of the tires had an issue. Of course, we were miles from any place that could help by then. So I called the car rental company,  and their pleasant service person told me not to worry, that happens to lots of cars in Iceland.  What? She recommended we take the car to a tire shop when we could and they would check it out. Any expense would be reimbursed. 

Well, we really had no alternatives, and the tires all LOOKED OK,  so we just went along our way.

First stop was at Waterfall 1. We could see it from the parking lot (pay $7 for parking please). We decided against taking the walk to it.

Second stop was at a man-made cave. It was cool-looking from the outside and dug into a hillside. We parked a bit down the road and walked up to it to avoid paying the $7 parking fee.

Next up was Waterfall 2. This one was more impressive, and parking here was free. A stairway climbs up to the top (500 steps), and gives you a different perspective of the falls. We took the stairs, and enjoyed some beautiful views over the plain and out to the ocean.

Near the falls was the Skogar folk museum, an interesting look at Icelandic life. It had everything from an 1855 fishing boat, to a whale vertebra made into a bucket to beautiful embroidered tapestries. We really enjoyed this. In addition to the inside museum, there was an assemblage of buildings, some original, some recreated, including a home built entirely of driftwood. As a matter of fact, because imported lumber was so expensive,  and there were no trees, Icelanders used driftwood for most wooden construction. 

Heading east, we stopped at Dyrholaey, a promontory with fantastic views of the Atlantic southern coast, and north to the mountains. 

Then we stopped at a black beach presided over by an enormous basalt formation--splintered columns of hexagonal volcanic rock. That reminded us of the Giant's Causeway in northern Ireland. The beach isn't really sand, but more like tiny black pebbles. 

It was getting late, so we headed for our hotel. After dinner, we stopped at a gas station to add air to the tires.

Pictures are here: 

https://photos.app.goo.gl/xcoePKexzkRJD4VSA

Iceland day 1, June 24, 2024

 

We left from Rochester's airport at what was supposed to be 6:25 pm (turned out to be more like 7 pm) and flew to JFK, where we got to cool our heels for what was supposed to be 3 1/2 hours, but turned out to be 4 1/2 hours. 

We picked up our car and set off for Thingvellir National Park. It’s the place where the North American and European tectonic plates meet. There's a spectacular gorge there, where the earth's crust is literally being torn apart. It was free to get in, but the parking costs a little over $7. Seemed a bit a a rip off. I'd almost rather pay to get in...

Anyway, we enjoyed the walk through the gorge,  and around the lake. The deepest part of the lake is below sea level.

Iceland's countryside is unique. It looks like grass covered bubbles in places, and is very green. For the most part, from what we've seen,  there are very few trees, just bushes or scraggly little trees. There are purple masses of lupines everywhere, and lots of wildflowers. 

We discovered that the fan in our rental car only works on high. So you get nothing or you get blown out. Other than that it's OK. 

We're staying in a small town in the south called Hella, at a nice small hotel. The rooms all over Iceland other than in Reykjavik are small. I made sure I booked all with a private bath. That's not a given here. All the reading I had done said that everyone speaks English here. That seems to be the case. 

We ate in the hotel's restaurant for dinner. Breakfast that was included in our room rate was there as well. Man, the price of food is ridiculous! 

We were absolutely zonked by the time we took showers and turned out the lights (it was still light out). The sun sets at 11:30ish and rises at 3:00ish.

Pictures are here: https://photos.app.goo.gl/NNVsWW2yVTLkb11h8

Tour of Ireland August 3-16

We recently returned from a 14 day driving tour of Ireland. We stayed in Dublin for 2 days, and then rented a car, armed with an international cell phone plan from Verizon (indispensable), and reservations at B &Bs and hotels provided by a wonderful tour company along the way. We pretty much did a circle tour of the country, starting in Dublin, and ending in Kells. We drove 2205 km (1370 miles) on some good and some pretty funky roads. The places we visited were beautiful and fascinating, but we both found that our greatest pleasure and surprise came from the people and culture of this country.

Here are a few impressions of the sights with links to photos with each location.

From what we could see, Dublin is dirty and not maintained. Tagging and litter is everywhere. The cathedrals are awesome, as is their history. 

Dublin: https://photos.app.goo.gl/1cd3zY1zJgHfCPX89 St. Mary's Pro (Catholic):https://photos.app.goo.gl/Z9KPgFczjtx773zu7, Christ Church (Anglican)  https://photos.app.goo.gl/j79iCBf8yTp4vEty8, St. Patrick's (Church of Ireland) https://photos.app.goo.gl/GB9mDd79qYjXLwdn7

Rock of Cashel was very cool. In the 5th century, St. Patrick reputedly converted the  local king here. The Rock was the traditional seat of power for the kings who ruled most of southern Ireland before the 11th century. In the early 12th century, the local king donated his fortress to the church. What remains are ruins, but spectacular ruins at that. Limestone to build the fortress came from 12 miles away. You can't help but be impressed by the history of this place. https://photos.app.goo.gl/9y3LTtsZMMyQnPMF8

Mizen Head in the most southwesterly point in Ireland, a cool, rocky, spit jutting into the ocean. The ride from our B&B out to Mizen Head was just as interesting as the place itself!https://photos.app.goo.gl/ME4DBx3c5S3bUyKQA

The ride to Killarney from Kinsale was on small back roads--what a ride! https://photos.app.goo.gl/ngaDqoQD52aMbT9bA

Killarney National Park, Muckross, Kissane Sheep Farm was a great day. Seeing the dogs herd those sheep and seeing the sheep sheared was great. Scenery was spectacular. https://photos.app.goo.gl/DcGwaF8m4zcgWQWN7

Cliffs of Moher https://photos.app.goo.gl/zJEz7ksUfKiU1xAG9

Kylemore Abbey was home to Benedictine nuns: https://photos.app.goo.gl/yja1q2qpRG3Ehs437

Galway Cathedral was interesting in that it was just built and consecrated in 1965. It highlights its Irish heritage with a stained glass panel that shows Mary knitting, and Jesus serving a cup of tea to Joseph. Near that is a mosaic mural of Jesus with a  side panel of the head of JFK (he was pretty much considered a saint in 1965). https://photos.app.goo.gl/scTpZJBegL9TFiW3A

Glenveagh Castle: https://photos.app.goo.gl/gwitktqPvJxKR9px9

Giant's Causeway: https://photos.app.goo.gl/Ag8TKBhntueMHByi8

Hillsborough Castle just south of Belfast is actually a country house built in the 18th century. It is the official residence of the Secretary of State for Northern Ireland, and the official residence in Northern Ireland of Queen Elizabeth II and other members of the British royal family when they visit the region, as well as a guest house for prominent international visitors. (As such, no pictures were allowed inside.) The walled garden is, to my taste, spectacular, with masses of color and texture everywhere. I also loved the airy border of flowers along the Yew Tree Walk. Just looking at it made me happy. https://photos.app.goo.gl/KXoeFNgADBYutLHP7

_____________

We had the most fun of all just getting from here to there, meeting the people, staying in the accommodations, and trying to do metric to imperial conversions on the fly! Here are some random thoughts:

--Villages are unbelievably tidy. Unlike in Dublin, there is no tagging or litter. Buildings might be old, but they did not look unkempt. 

--Every accommodation we stayed in (4 B&Bs, 3 hotels) had clean windows, no screens on the windows, no air conditioning (we could have used it in a couple of the places).

--Wildflowers were everywhere! Crocosmia (the orange flowers that were everywhere), heath, red fuschia, purple loosestrife, fireweed, yarrow, gorse, red, orange, purple, white, blue--was a feast for the eyes.

--In public places (not in the cities) you won't find any trash bins. The Irish believe in (and practice) carry-in, carry out. This is an incredibly clean country. 

In the Burren, the landscape is rocky, but spectacular. Fields are demarcated with beautiful stone walls. We loved this area and would like to come back in springtime.

--The Irish seem to have no use for street signs. Whether in city or town, you won't find signs. The streets have names, they're just not labeled!

--There were many places where we would have liked to pull off the road and snap a picture. But the vast majority of roads have no shoulder or place where you might stop, so you just have to take a picture in your head. That's why my road pictures were all taken through the windshield when the car was moving.

--We didn't find it odd that road signs were in both Gaelic and English, but since 99% of Irish people speak English, and less than 11% speak Irish, why don't they put the English at the top of the sign? As an English reader, reading from the top to the bottom, by the time you get to the English translation, you're long by the sign.

--Our hosts at the B&Bs were wonderful. We were greeted as we drove up to Rockland's House in Kinsale, by John, the owner/host, and his dog and cat. Breakfast was in a fabulous dining room with a grand view over Kinsale harbor. The owners of our B&B in Donegal drove us into town for dinner (what would have been a 10-12 minute walk). Paddy and Dorothy were helpful and welcoming. We were able to walk to and from dining places with every accommodation our tour company arranged for us. We highly recommend Irish Tours for You.

August 3, 4 2022 Dublin

 First impressions of Dublin, IR:

Dirty and unkempt. Litter everywhere, even in tourist areas. Seagulls poop on everything. Want to lean on the stone railings along the river to take in the view? Bring a blanket to spread over all the bird poop. Empty beer bottles scattered along a public promenade along the river. (Tourist area). Broken bench along the promenade.  Buildings in center city look run down and dirty as are all monuments. Apparently antique building

renovation and cleaning is not "a thing" here. Groceries seem to be cheap-- cheaper than back home anyway. Buses-- lots of buses-- double-decker buses everywhere in center city. "Tagging" (writing in marker on public spaces and surfaces) must be a Dublin city sport. It seems to be everywhere.

We started our second day with a  visit to St. Mary Pro, the primary Catholic church in Dublin. It's called Pro for provisional, as this was meant to be a temporary cathedral, with the idea that grander cathedral would be built on a more prominent spot.  We got there just in time for the morning Mass which we attended. Dedicated in 1825, St. Mary's backstreet location was the best the city's Anglo-Irish leaders would allow a Catholic cathedral. The church is neither impressive or grand, but it feels like a true community church. There are beautiful altars of Mary and the Sacred Heart

behind the main altar.

On the walk over to Christ Church, we passed a cool building that had ceramic figures all around the outside perimeter. It turns out, this is called the Sunshine building, built as the home quarters for the Lever Brothers company, who at the turn of the 19th century sold soap. The building decorations tell the history of soap. Lever Bros. became Unilever later on in the 20th century. 

We continued on to Christ Church, one of the 2 Anglican cathedrals in Dublin. Odd that the Anglicans have 2 grand cathedrals and far smaller congregations than St. Mary Pro. 94% of Dubliners are Catholic. But this cathedral has stood here for almost 1000 years, having originally been built by the Vikings. It was rebuilt and enlarged in the 13th century, partially collapsed in the 16th century, and was renovated and rebuilt in the late 19th century.

After touring Christ Church and its crypt, we headed over to the other medieval cathedral in Dublin, St. Patrick's.  It was built near the reputed place where St. Patrick baptized people. The building is impressive, but badly in need of cleaning and restoration. One area (I think it's called Lady's chapel) was recently restored and the difference is remarkable between that area and adjacent walls. Lady's chapel is almost white, and the nearby walls almost black. We thought it odd that the fighting flags of various Irish regiments were hung in one area of the church. The flags are left until they rot off their poles (and many were in an advanced sta te of decomposition.)

We finaly headed back to our hotel, right in center Dublin. Our room was right over the street, and in the evening, we heard a busker (they're everywhere in the city) playing and singing Irish tunes. To be honest, it got old pretty quickly. The songs all sounded the same.  Our room was comfortable and breakfast in the morning was excellent.  The breakfast had just about everything you could imagine as a selection in a lovely setting.  Service was exceptional. 

Photos are here: https://photos.app.goo.gl/Z9KPgFczjtx773zu7

https://photos.app.goo.gl/j79iCBf8yTp4vEty8

https://photos.app.goo.gl/GB9mDd79qYjXLwdn7

Heading back north June 22, 2022

  We're headed north to visit with friends and family. Our first destination was Lumberton,  NC, after an 8+ hour drive. Weather was fine, but hot, and traffic heading out of FL was heavy. There were lots of trucks, and we passed several backups of standstill traffic on the southbound route.

Wednesday's drive took us to Fredericksburg,  VA via Lewis Ginter Botanical Garden in Henrico, VA about an hour apart.

Lewis Ginter was beautiful, with lovely and well cared-for gardens. There was a nice butterfly house that had a large selection of butterflies. The only downside was that the day was hot, and the butterfly enclosure was not air conditioned. I was melting! The flower gardens were gorgeous and more naturally arranged and not what I would call formal. We decided to take a walk into a wooded area, and then heard a rumbling. Our phones issued a weather alert: severe storms with high winds were on the way. We continued on until the wind really started to pick up. Then we decided to turn back. Thankfully we had brought umbrellas, because we needed them when it started to pour. We made our way back to the visitor center which by then had lost power. We figured we'd just wait out the storm. After about 15 minutes, once the worst of the storm seemed to have passed, we headed out again. It was still raining,  but not hard. After a few minutes, we were called back by staff. They were concerned about lingering lightning reports in the area, and decided to close the garden early.

So we left and headed to our hotel for the night. 

Fonthill Castle June 23, 2022

 

The Wikipedia entry will give the story: Fonthill Castle was the home of the archaeologist and tile maker Henry Chapman Mercer. Built between 1908 and 1912 in Henrico, VA, it is an early example of poured-in-place concrete and features 44 rooms, over 200 windows, 18 fireplaces, 10 bathrooms and one powder room. The interior was originally painted in pastel colors, but age and sunlight have all but eradicated any hint of the former hues. One room in the Terrace Pavilion (built on the site of the former home's barn), has a restored paint job so visitors can view the home's former glory. The castle contains built-in furniture and is embellished with decorative tiles, made by Mercer at the height of the Arts and Crafts movement. The castle is filled with an extensive collection of ceramics embedded in the concrete of the house, as well as other artifacts from his world travels, including cuneiform tablets discovered in Mesopotamia dating back to over 2300 BCE. The home also contains around 1,000 prints from Mercer's extensive collection, as well as over six thousand books, almost all of which were annotated by Mercer himself.

The Castle was listed on the National Register of Historic Places in 1972, and was later included in a National Historic Landmark District along with the Moravian Pottery and Tile Works and the Mercer Museum. These three structures are the only poured-in-place concrete structures built by Mercer. The walls, ceilings, roofs, floors and even some of the furniture are all poured concrete. He used no mechanized equipment in construction. He had 10 men and 1 horse throughout all the construction. The Moravian Pottery and Tile Works is located on the same property as Fonthill Castle, and the Mercer Museum is located about a mile away.

Fonthill Castle and the Mercer Museum are owned and operated by the Bucks County Historical Society, whereas the Moravian Pottery and Tile Works is operated by the County of Bucks.

This place is amazing. The approach to the house is through an Allee of sycamores. The house itself from the outside does not betray the wonders inside.

The castle was appended to a house that was already on-site when Henry Mercer bought the property with money left him by his aunt.

He designed everything inside and out. He made the castle entrance to resemble the entrance to a cave, reminiscent of the caves he accessed in his work as an archeologist. He blackened the ceiling of the entrance to complete the effect. All the 44 rooms are adorned on walls and ceilings with his tile work or art he collected. It's mind-blowing when you consider this.

Photos are here: https://photos.app.goo.gl/2pz5gGNS1gm1d1V8A

In the photos, the castle looks black. It's completely made of concrete, and the heavy rain of the day before darkened it. When dry, it's gray.