Cardiff

Last night in Wales. Cardiff is known for being a big week end party for young people from near and wide. It lives up to its name. You hear partying and police/sirens at 3 AM but we still had a great sleep.

Today it's off to Cornwall.

On the Coast of Wales

Spent the night at The Links Hotel in Llandudno, Wales. UK is having a flood crisis. Thank God we were in York a week ago because right now they are asking residents to evacuate. The river Ouse is up 13 meters. It was raining here last night but now it is overcast but no rain as we start to tour the coast starting with Conwy.

Malaysian Feast with Chef Musa at Ning

Last night we had a fabulous dinner cooked by Malaysian Chef Norman Musa at Ning in Manchester.  The restaurant is not very far from Marco's house. Chef Norman joined us for dessert. He has promised to come visit and open a Malaysian restaurant in Rhode Island. After dinner we bid farewell to Eva and Nicola and Marco and Steffie.

Manchester in the Rain

Rain, rain go away. We escaped the rain in Manchester's down town shopping mall and in the cathedral. The shopping mall was a replica of ours, including a Subway and an Apple store. Manchester Cathedral was the second most bombed during WWII, but they have rebuilt it.

oooo

De rigeuer in Manchester are "brellies" and rain coats.

Hundreds of Singer sewing machines decorate this fashionable Manchester shop.

Eva and Bruce google mapping Eva's house.

Inscription in Manchester Cathedral

Fun Reunion

So much fun to see our friends. Esp Eva and Nicola whom we had not seen since 1997.

Just a few pics; more later. Off to meeti Eva and Nicola.

Eva and Steffie

Salmone alla Eva

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Manchester

Leaving Carlisle and off to Manchester where we will see Eva, Nicola, Marco and Steffie. More later.

More Good Beer and More Walking

Yesterday and today were more walking days - a repeat of Edinburgh, except this time it was from one end of Glasgow to the other through cathedral plus museum of famed Glasgow architect Charles Rennie MacKintosh. And through a horde of streets.

Tried more of the extraordinary Scottish / English ales. The Brits really know how to brew.

A few bed and breakfasts back I discovered a fascinating book by Bob Charney who found a photo album done by an unknown photographer who took gorgeous photos while touring the Highlands of Scotland in 1889. Charney found the album in an antique store. He follows the tracks and ultimately discovers who the photographer is and also the subjects. He finds the descendants! How different Scotland is today from what it was like when this Tinker Woman was peddling tin pans.

Good beer and lots of walking

Yesterday was a walking day -- like one from one end of Edinburgh to the other through castle and cathedral - a lot of up and down. The Brits have EXCELLENT beer and are very nice. The food is ok too.

Roman Britain on the left

On narrow winding roads driving on the left we managed to safely make our way to a few points on Hadrian's Wall. No Roman ruins can compare with those in the Middle East and in Italy, but if you poured through Caesar in Latin class, you will love walking the Wall and seeing the forts. The real jewel is Vindolanda and the tablets. Tonight we are in Edinburgh. I could have spent much more time around the Wall.

Hadrian's Wall stretches for 78 miles.

Welcome to the UK

Here in UK we are today on our way to York. Very little internet access.  So I will never be sure of being able to email. I will try to keep up blog.

Last Day in Cold Iceland

Tomorrow we will leave uncrowded, safe, and cold Iceland.  The blizzard they had 2 days ago was uncommon and disastrous. Icelanders do not remember such severe weather so early ever before. In the north they lost 2000 sheep! The horses can roam free, but sheep and cows must all be in barns all winter. We asked what the horses do and were told that today most "do nothing".  See more about Sunday's storm in the north of Iceland. (opens new window)

We spent the day wandering around the pretty much barren Snaefelness Peninsula. Lava fields and shore line.

Church in the fields.

Borganes Bed and Breakfast where we stayed 2 nights.

Sheep watch us. They graze in very rugged terrain.

Out of the Snow and to Borgarnes

We made it out of the snow to trek up a volcano and around the falls.

The road ahead was slippery and treacherous and we met plows.

View from the top of the volcano. 

Haunsfoss waterfall

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4 out of 4; no lake, no pool, no museum, no Thai

Well, talk about batting out zero. All 4 things we had planned today were a bust. Our trip to a nearby lake was abandoned because of the blizzard. We then decided to go to the local outdoor pool. No luck. We could not find it. We made a mistake by going into a school and the teacher sent 2 children with us to find it but once there we found that it was only open for the students. Next we decided to try to visit the aeronautical museum. That was closed. Back at our warm hotel, we came up with a fourth idea - a dinner at the Thai restaurant. We were looking out the window at the blizzard and the electricity went out. It was out for hours. Blizzard kept raging on. It was predicted that the electricity would take until next day to fix. Thankfully it was on just before dark. So we knew the Thai restaurant would not be open. So we feasted on local cheese and good breads.

What a remarkable sight seeing the kids swimming in the warm 83F pool with blizzard roaring around them. The teacher is on the left dressed in his parka.

Where we were at our hotel the snow would melt fairly soon. Further north it was deep and some travelers were delayed for quite a while.

Snow kept the tour buses home.

Thank God we stocked up on local cheese. The Icelandics produce very good baked goods and breads too.

Excellent Icelandic cheeses for sale at the supermarket..

The weather is predicted to be better tomorrow so we hope to go to Borganes.

Snow in Akureyri

In Akureyri, Iceland, which looks out over the Arctic Ocean, snow is perfectly normal for September 11. Grr So here we are looking out our hotel window at the snow/rain coming down.

View from our window.

 

Our warm hotel room smells slightly of sulfur. Bet you did not know that there are two kinds of water in Iceland. Cold water comes from a normal source, but hot water comes from one of their hot water springs. Anytime you run hot water you will smell sulfur. Dishes rinsed in hot water seem to smell of hot water too. I think the radiators have this hot water too. Cheap energy!

It's comforting to bask away in the warmth of our room viewing the photos we took in the south of Iceland a couple of days ago when it was sunny and relatively warm, like 40.

Rural Scene on the way from Gulfoss waterfall towards Borganes.

Along Route 1

Sheep

Aside from horses and fish, sheep are what you will find here. Driving along Iceland's excellent 2-lane highways, you'll be seeing sheep grazing or just sitting. Their sheep are very fat with wool which must help them survive the long cold winter.

Sunday Sheep Round Up near Akureyri

Horses

Horses are everywhere in Iceland. They are all the same kind, the Icelandic horse, which was brought in by the early Norsemen. They are noted for their gentle nature. Some of them are used for meat and they are used to round up the sheep, but I see them mostly just hanging out in the valleys, frolicking, licking one another, and coming to greet tourists who stop to see them.

Iceland is COLD and TREELESS

Iceland is COLD! Very secure and safe, peaceful, tidy, clean and, at least today, very sunny. But cold. For Icelanders it is warm today. Some of them are outside in just t-shirts.

When we first arrived all I wanted to do is catch up on sleep and be somewhere warm. Refreshed we found the landscape rather extraordinary. No trees. Valleys with sheep and horses. Vast lonely expanses with spongy mosses. More to come with geysers and waterfalls.

Some interesting facts about Iceland are: the highest literacy rate and possibly the highest longevity rate in the world. Probably the lowest crime rate. Only 350,000 people. Very few insects. No predatory animals. Pretty safe place, don't you think?
 

 It's spongy; parts of Iceland are just expanses of moss.

A few hours to pack

In the middle of packing. What a mess. Most things will not go.

I just finished and the one small suitcase has some room left over. Am wearing my heavy trekking boots. Jeez. In a half hour we'll be going to the airport.