England 2018

Thames River Walk
Daytime and nighttime views of the Shard and Tower Bridge.



Curiosities of London Walking Tour
Walking along some of London's hidden sights, off the beaten path.

Children of Kindertransport -Jewish kids Britain saved from Nazi persecution; Victorian Bath House; Korea style home on bridge


The Gherkin; Crocodylius Philodendrus sculpture; St Andrew Undershaft Church with The Gherkin in the background


Leadenhall Market; site of first London coffee house; Bank of England


Royal Exchange with towers in the background (historical and future London meet here); No 1 Poultry; Guildhall


Gold State Coach, an eight-horse-drawn carriage used by the British Royal Family; view from the rooftop of a multi-story foodcourt


Gala at Andaz Hotel
Multi-course dinner in the beautiful Temple at the hotel


Tower Bridge
Visit to the upper level walkways of Tower Bridge. The walkways have glass bottom floors with views of the lower level road and river, for those brave enough to walk on them. Great views of the London skyline along the Thames River.


Also visited the engine room, where the wheels, pistons, and motors operate the bridge. Prior to 1976, the bridge engine was powered by coal and driven by steam; today the electricity operates the engine.


Bath
Bath Abbey, including climbing 251 steps to the top of the tower. Also visited the bell clock chambers.


Roman Baths, which consists of a temple, bathhouse, spas, and a restaurant. Natural hot springs keep the water around 90-95F (30-33C). Construction started around 60AD and was built up over the next few centuries. Romans came here to worship, to relax in the spas, cleanse themselves, and socialize. At the Baths themselves, the water is not suitable for public use. There is a modern spa nearby, at Thermae Bath Spa.



Dinner at Sally Lunn's house. It was named after a baker who invented Bath Bunn - a local specialty. Bath Bunns are bread based and can be shaped into plates or bowls and people eat meals out of Bath Bunns, including the bun itself.

Iceland 2018

The name is misleading: Iceland has lots of green (by contrast, Greenland is mostly ice and not much green). Iceland has a diverse landscape: volcanoes, black sand beaches, lava caves, ice caves, glaciers, dramatic cliffs, hot springs, geysers, and waterfalls. Iceland weather is also diverse: one can see rain, snow, ice pellets (called hail), heavy wind, and sunshine in the same day, if not the same hour.

Here is the menu on my flight to Iceland, in English and Icelandic. Good luck trying to pronounce the Icelandic words.


First look at Iceland as the flight was landing.


Reykjavik
The capital of Iceland as well as its largest city. Iceland has 350,000+ people and 2/3 of them live in Reykjavik.

Reykjavik is great for walking around - very helpful in managing jet lag. The Harpa Concert Hall (beautiful glass building), Solfar Sun Voyager (steel sculpture which resembles a Viking ship), and Hofdi House are worth a quick visit. The Hofdi House was where presidents Ronald Reagan and Mikhail Gorbatsjov met, an event that marked the beginning of the end of the Cold War. For those who like shopping, Reykjavik has many small stores all of which sell stuffed puffins (real puffins can be seen in Iceland during the summer months).

Reykjavik also has many museums. I visited the National Museum of Iceland (artifacts from Iceland's history), Volcano House (volcanic history as well as different rocks produced by volcanoes), and Aurora Reykjavík (about the Northern Lights).


Hallgrímskirkja Church
Hallgrímskirkja is an Evangelical-Lutheran church in Iceland. The steps in its architecture symbolizes Icelands diverse landscape, and also remind me of the exterior of Hálsanefshellir Cave in Reynisfjara Beach. People can go up to the top of the church tower, for panoramic views of Reykjavík.



Lava Cave and Icelandic Horse Riding
Tour of Lava cave Leiđarendi. These lava caves are formed after a volcano eruption. The lava cave tour included some tight spots, where you need to crawl to get through.



After the lava cave tour, I rode an Icelandic Horse.


Snæfellsnes Peninsula
Hike around Snæfellsjökull National Park. It was a sunny time here, so the Snæfellsjökull mountain was visible. We hiked around the dramatic cliffs including Londrangar, which remind me of the Cliffs of Moher in Ireland.


Next up was Djúpalónssandur, a black sand beach. There are also large stones fisherman lifted to test their strength. Lunch was at SKER restaurant - their special was a cod plate which was delicious. And their prices are reasonable too. Then we visited Kirkjufell, the Arrowhead mountain featured in Game of Thrones. The Kirkjufellsfoss waterfall and Kirkjufell mountain make for a great photo.


Golden Circle
Þingvellir National Park is where Icelanders founded their parliament, in 930. It is also where the European and North American tectonic plates meet. They have slowly drifted apart, creating a Rift Valley.


Geysir, a geothermal region filled with hot springs and geysers. Snow had fallen here the past few days. The Strokkur geyser erupts every 3 minutes, going as high as 80 feet.


Gullfoss, the Golden Falls


South Coast
Seljalandsfoss - people can walk behind this waterfall to enjoy views from both sides. One man walked up to the waterfall and got a shower.


Skógafoss - drops nearly 200 feet into a calm river. People can climb 428 steps to see this waterfall from above.


Reynisfjara, a black sand beach near Vik. The waves here are powerful and sneaky - they can knock people over and into the ocean if they get too close and are not paying attention. Within the beach is Hálsanefshellir Cave, a good place for enjoying the ocean waves at a distance.



Close Encounters with Ice
Took a jeep ride on lava fields out to the Katla volcano which has an ice cave underneath. May be the only place in the world where fire and ice meet. We hiked into the ice cave and were surrounded by ice walls with traces of blue. Almost like going to another planet!


Jökulsárlón Glacier Lagoon, filled with icebergs of many shapes and sizes, with blue tint. The icebergs slowly drift towards the Atantic Ocean.



Diamond Beach, where icebergs wash ashore. Here, the icebergs give off bright, sparkling tones like diamonds.


Hiking on the Sólheimajökull glacier, which is part of the Mýrdalsjökull ice cap. We put on crampons (to improve traction on the glacier) and hiked along the glacier which included climbing steps and hills. We got close to a cliff with a steep (as in can't see the bottom) drop-off. The glacier water here is very clean and drinkable - some of it is from ice that formed over 400 years ago!. We drank the glacier water "Viking style" - get close to the ice ground, lean on your arms, and stick your mouth in the the stream.


Northern Lights
I joined a tour to search for the Aurora Borealis, or northern lights. The tour took us to a park just outside Akranes. In order to see the Northern lights, you need: dark skies, clear skies (or at least partly cloudy), and solar activity. Green is most common color, followed by blue, then red (rare to have red in northern light displays). Aurora activity varies widely, and can't be predicted in advance. Northern lights can last between 5 minutes and 2 hours. They may appear in 30 minute intervals or not at all. The lights can be anything from faint colors to bright, dazzling displays seen in pictures. Having a good camera (DSLR or point and shoot with multiple settings) helps in seeing Northern lights as these cameras can capture displays not visible to the naked eyes. The night of my tour, we saw some faint green lights in the sky, partially covered by clouds. Stars were also visible, so also an opportunity for star gazing.



The Aurora Reykjavík museum has a short movie showing pictures of Northern lights at their best. These pictures below are clips from the movie and are not live displays.


Blue Lagoon
The Blue Lagoon is one of several geothermal spas in Iceland. It is the close to the KEF airport (Iceland's main airport) so is a popular stopover to or from the airport. The water in the lagoon is generated by a geothermal power plant and contains minerals which can be healthy for skin. The silicate minerals in the water contribute to its cloudy blue color. Everyone entering the spa gets a free drink and a free silica mask - spread the silica on your face then rinse off 10 minutes later.