THE SUN IS SHY

Readers:
  
To read the adventure in the order of the Day by Day Trip Report click HERE. 

To see all the photos of ICELAND'S BLUE LAGOON click HERE.

Becky to the masseuse, while lying on a floating 'table' in the milky Blue Lagoon:  I think this place must be even more beautiful when the sun is shining.

Her reply: It is very beautiful.  Today, the sun is shy.

The Blue Lagoon
It's a fur piece out of town, accessible on a big group tour bus departing from central station at 10 am.  Our voucher promised us a ride directly from our hotel -- the Marina Hotel.

Already a problem -- original voucher from travel agent says, "Pick up at Borg Hotel."  So lots of confirming.  Several explanations at hotel reception and finally a "yes."  We will be picked up at Marina Hotel.  "He will park at the end of the drive and will come into the lobby and call your name."

"Hello, I am Borg."  Yes, it's not a hotel.  HE is a bus driver -- tho how the agency knew the name of the driver when we booked in May. . .  Borg had a wonderful, deep, resonant laugh from the heart and we managed to be rewarded with hearing it several more times from hotel to central station.

The Blue Lagoon is in the middle of lava beds.  We think it's a man made structure, having something to do with the geo-thermal heating used by the entire country.  The water is milky blue like opals, with steam rising in a wet fog.  

Entrance to the Blue Lagoon

There is a huge, but orderly, complex of showers and shops and bars and restaurants.  We paid at reception, scheduled massages (in the water!), and received a bright white robe and a large fluffy dark green towel.  As the lava is all covered with moss and lichen the towel is a perfect coordinate.

Rest and relaxation

The Massage
"After you enter the lagoon, 'swim' all the way to the left where the chain divides the general pool from the massage pool."  The bottom of the lagoon is, of course, not visible but our feet could tell it was an irregular surface, like lava rock honed by either man-made tools or the working of the water and minerals.

The masseuse met us at our appointed time and instructed us how to lie onto the blue floating mat with contours matching the shape of a body at relaxed rest.  The massage technique is unusual -- a back massage from under the water.  The masseuse's hands slip between your back and the mat and massage the entire area of your back.

Then your arms and hands and fingers.  Then your shoulders and finally your head.

"I will dip you now and then to keep you warm."  It's not a dance; it's a break in the massage so your body on the mat (and covererd by a towel) can be gently dipped into the warm lagoon pool.  Never cold, never.  Timing is everything, you know.

We took a break after the massage and ate our sammiches and drank lots of pure, cold, Iceland water.  Very nice.

After more exploring into the really really warm side of the lagoon -- like a hot tub -- we decided to shower, dress, and meet the return ride to town.  

The Weather

It's been quite rainy and very wet.  The shy sun stayed hidden as we swam in what must have been a low-hanging cloud.  The rain was pelting and sideways on our walk back out the path thru the lava bed, to the bus.  Rain flew at the bus all the way back into town.

That "shy" sun must be in Norway continuing the heat wave there?

BRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRR

Readers:
  
To read the adventure in the order of the Day by Day Trip Report click HERE. 

To see all the photos of ICELAND click HERE.

Great flight from Stockholm, tho we were awake at the 3:30 am sunrise to have coffee, pack last minute items, and meet the taxi at 5:15 am.  We’ve arrived in Reykjavik to the rain and gray and gloom of Iceland’s summer.  It’s 53 degrees.  We are actually celebrating as – finally – we are able to wear the fleece and warm socks we expected to need in Norway.  (Remember: there was a heat wave while we were in Norway.)

Bus to the hotel

Two busses actually – a big one, tour size and then a mini van from central station to the hotel.  Lots of incredible raw, rough scenery.  Lava rocks coated in lichen and moss.  Lava land reaching right into the ocean, where surely it was cooled millennia ago as it rushed and slid from a volcano.

This is the longest name we have seen so far for a street.

Becky has a friend that was here recently and she and her travel friend divided the street names in half. Each one remembering one half of the name. So Kringlumyrarbraut would become the KR Street.

 Well, wouldn’t you know, here we are in our last days listening to a pile driver in the Marina Hotel in Reykjavik. We are right on the harbor looking directly at the gigantic fishing boats. However, it might be that our hotel is sinking and they are trying to right the building as there is a deep hole right beside the wall facing the harbor.

We are hoping they don’t start working too early in the morning.  The project seems to be a hotel expansion.  On the harborside wall, where our room windows give us a ‘view’ of a working shipyard, is a deep, deep hole, half filled with muddy yucky stuff.  Meanwhile we are being serenaded by a pile driver.   Dut dut dut dut dut. . .

This last hotel is our first disappointment.  We’ve managed a ship with fold down berths and a bathroom less than 3 feet by 3 feet.  Now we are on land and have beds so close to the wall that you have to sidle in side-ways just to get to the bed. 

To avoid the "dut dut dut dut dut", we walked in the rain to the Hallgrimskirkja Lutheran Church named after an Icelandic poet and clergyman (1974).

Statue of Leif Ericksson right in front

We walked up Skolavoredustigur Street (the SD street)

and back down Laugavegur Street (LV Street) doing plenty of people watching. 

Factoid:

Ms. Pétursdóttir or Ms. Guðrún?
 

Iceland maintains another Norse tradition: the custom of using patronyms rather than surnames. An Icelander's given name is followed by his or her parent's first name (usually the father's), in the genitive case, and the suffix -son or -dóttir, e.g. Guðrún Pétursdóttir (Guðrún, Pétur's daughter). Members of the same family can therefore have many different "surnames", which can sometimes create confusion for visitors. Because of the patronymic last names Icelanders use first names, e.g. phone books are alphabetized by first name rather than last name. This also applies when addressing an individual. Icelanders would never expect to be addressed as Mr. or Ms. Jónsson/-dóttir no matter how important they might be.

So. if you are a guy you would.....

FACTOID: “THE HIDDEN PEOPLE”

Some Icelanders believe in the hidden people — called huldufólk — and a few claim to have seen them. They are analogous to elves, but are often considered separate. There is even a museum in Reykjavík devoted to the hidden people. This is an ancient Icelandic belief and most Icelanders respect the tradition. Skepticism thus can appear rude.

The hidden people will surely arrive later and silence the jackhammer.  

GUSTO WITH GUSTAF - MORE WALKING, MORE MUSEUMS

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To read the adventure in the order of the Day by Day Trip Report click HERE. 

To see all the photos of STOCKHOLM click HERE.

Reminiscing

Becky reminded us that we have not had a soft drink of any kind since we left. No toxins in these bodies!

Must be on the downhill slope of the trip as we have been talking about missing things; 

Up and Down, All Around

Today the sun is shinning again and we had a walking guide (Eva Johnnson) for Beth and Becky. She met us at 10:00ish and off we went walking...thank goodness we had walking shoes. We walked around the Navy base, saw many house boats (not like ours) that are working boats with many from the 1800's, beautiful Navy base which has been turned into state or private buildings with the navy moved off somewhere else further out of town. And finally on this small island we saw the Museum of Modern Art Sculpture Garden with a magnificent Calder at the entrance.

Orion, House Boat

Grace Kelly's Yacht

Wooden Boat Construction School

More Walking, More Museums

Eva took us off the island and around to the next island and the Storkyrkan Lutheran Cathedral built in 1279. We were able to enjoy part of a service while we were there. (No photos allowed).

Out that door and over to The Nobel Museum which brought us up to date on the latest nobel laureates and the history of the prize. Sweden takes great pride in their hosting of this event where the King of Sweden presents each prize. (No photos allowed again).

Zip, Zip, Zoom right next door is The Royal Palace built in the 1800's and serves as the official residence of the King of Sweden. In the cellar, otherwise known as the Treasury, are the crown jewels. Since the royal family serves in name only, they do not wear the jewels but leave them on display for their citizens. (NO I told you NO PHOTOS)!!!

Coffee with Eva

After all the walking and viewing we were ready to sit and visit. Eva negotiated a coffee spot at an outdoor table.  

One of three phone booths left in Stockholm

We learned a bit more about conservative Sweden, shared books we all liked to read, and relaxed our tired feet.  We had all agreed that Palaces and Museums require lots of staff to maintain; we were grateful for coffee shop staff to serve us at the midday rest. 

Today is our last real day in Stockholm. We have enjoyed it immensely, loved the buildings, the people and the prices. Tomorrow very early in the morning we head to the airport and Iceland.

ABBA AND THE 30 OTHER MUSEUMS OF STOCKHOLM

Readers:
  
To read the adventure in the order of the Day by Day Trip Report click HERE. 
To see all the photos of STOCKHOLM click HERE.


Alta to Stockholm

Three flights, three airports, an hour's delay for luggage to appear on "the belt," an hour on the airport bus and finally a room at the Radisson Blu Strand.  Right where we need to be to explore using our Stockholm card -- the plastic pre-paid that gets us on to canal boats and into museums.  

Radisson Blu on the Strand -- nice hotel, two great helpful service guys who helped us set up wifi and later gave us our own router when they found out we have 2 macs, 2 iPhones, and an ipad.  We didn't mention the two Kindle Paperwhites.

Steaks

Since our hotel is very close to the old city, we took an evening walk after a bit of unpacking.  You know, the "turn left, turn left, cross the bridge" thing.  Walked past the palace where no royalty still reside -- they have homes out of Stockholm.  (Factoid:  Crown Princess married her trainer Daniel and he became an instant Prince.)

Found a dinner spot down one of the side alleys -- a Texas Steak House.  Where does the wonderful steak come from?  Holland.  The lamb?  New Zealand.  Any way you bite into it, twas wonderful.  Ribeye steak for Becky; ribs for Beth.  Beers for both.

Royal Canal Boat

Becky doing verification that the left, right left was the way to go.

Stockholm card (for which we had already paid) gave us tickets for a 1 hour narrated boat ride around the big garden island.  We saw the tv towers, the homes of the rich and famous, the no-longer-in-use toll booth where in earlier days the farmers and merchants brought their goods into the city, the re-fit of manufacturing into upscale city living, the site of the sunken Vasa ship (more later.)

Museums

Walking the famous Strand, with buildings from an earlier and more decorative era, built to mimic the French and other European capital richness.  This is the walking area along the waterfront and we loved it:  houseboats, 2-masted sailing boats, even a small cruise boat. 


By now we're hungry and waterfronts always offer food, if not of the gourmet variety at least of the 'feed me now' style.  A hot dog in a bun that was actually a sealed tube, with mustard squeezed into the tube before the hot dog was inserted.  Important detail:  no dripping mustard!

Then a stroll to the Swedish National Museum( Nordiska Museet), originally designed to represent all of the Nordic regions, but later re-fitted to show Swedish daily life thru the centuries.  Quite fun:  clothing, textiles, furniture, dishes, snuff boxes, pen nibs, doll clothees, toys, etc.  You get the idea.

Rest please

Coffee.  Very special for the following reasons:
As many refills as we wanted;
Stay as long as we like.
Outdoors, with a breeze, in the shade.

Vasa -- sunken ship

"Between four and five o'clock, the great new warship VASA keeled over and sank." (in the Stockholm Harbor August 10, 1628) The king built it to show Europe he was capable, strong, and stylish.  It sank on the day of its launching while the entire town watched.  It stayed in the harbor for 300 years until it was resurrected.  It is now the Vasa Museum fully restored. It truly is a fascinating story.

CLICK FOR MORE ON THE VASA

Tonight we go looking for a quick and quiet and close dinner. Then to rest our little feets from the many steps we climbed and the many steps we took! More tomorrow...

ON THE ROAD AGAIN - GOODBYE NORWAY - HELLO SWEDEN

Readers:  

To read the adventure in the order of the Day by Day Trip Report click HERE. 
To see MORE photos click HERE.

Hitting the Road.

Up at dawn (since it has been dawn all night.) Remember Midnight sun. We have spent all this week above the Arctic Circle enjoying continuous daylight. Today at 7:30am, we leave Alta and head for Tromso, Oslo and the Glorious Sweden. We said goodbye to Inger and Vikki with a celebratory dinner at the Rica Hotel in Alta. Today and for the rest of the trip we will be on our own while missing them as they have fun in other places.


As we got into the clouds we saw how really beautiful Alta is. Located on the fjord/lake it offers cross-country skiing with beautiful lodges along the way, Gene says it has some of the greatest powder skiing anywhere, and golfer, Anika Sorenstamm.

Lutheran Northern Lights Cathedral

New walking downtown Alta, Norway

Celebrating Stockholm

We have three days and loads of activities to complete. We are in our first Radisson Blu Hotel (Iceland will be also). This hotel is right on the Strand. We overlook the water, boats, and beautiful buildings. Stockholm at first glance is huge. Well we have been in villages of 3K - 6K folks in the High North Norway so any city is going to be overwhelming.

The city has been preserved as there was no bombing during the war (they stayed neutral) and the tops of the buildings are mostly mansard roofs with a French twist. Cobbled stone narrow streets and tiny shops are along the way. The churches are marvelous and soar into the sky. Be prepared for loads of photos.

The Strand

The Strand

The Old Town

The Old Town

We are looking forward to a few hours of dark for sleeping.  The 24/7 daylight is so seductive, tempting you to awaken at 2:15 am for yet another adventure.  We are a bit sleep deprived so tonight's 5 hours between sun down at 10 and sun rise at 4 promise to be hours of delightful serious sleep.

We hope that wherever you are your dreams are sweet and your rest is peaceful.