Trekkin

Day 47 – 25 August 2023 – San Sebastian, Spain

A wonderful location for breakfast this morning, sitting out on the patio looking out over the well-manicured garden with Norm & Christine. The food was excellent, a great selection, fresh & very tasty. I indulged in the fresh local meats again, more Iberico ham plus local salamis. The selection in cheeses was also very good.

We are off in the bus at 9am to Bilbao & the Guggenheim Museum. We pass through a lot of green hills with lots of trees & some green farms, so different to the Madrid area. The Guggenheim Museum is an amazingly impressive building, the architecture is stunning. As we approach the front entrance we are met by a giant dog made from living flower plants, it is certainly very impressive. From the entrance the museum is impressive as well & we go inside & pay our senior discount fee, strange, they didn’t even ask our age.

The top floor is our destination to start with so that we make our way down, that way there should be less people. What a disappointment, our grandchildren can paint better than these, some of the paintings are rubbish, the architecture is great. One thing we did like was a room filled with lights & mirrors that we were shut into, that was a great experience & we liked it, it was beautiful.

The middle floor was a little better, there was a collection of what looked like giant flower buds in different colours that appealed. There were some coloured geometric designs that brought a little life to some of the walls.  Again, we didn’t think much of the paintings & other artwork. Some of the highlights were looking down onto the art installations on the ground floor. One of these was a collection of massive sheet steel shapes laid out on the ground floor that you could walk into.

The ground floor had a little more interest with some colour & more sculpture work. We walked through the giant steel sheets, it was amazing the feeling we got whilst walking through them, it was a strange sensation. I noticed one man afterwards was crouching against a wall trying to get his bearings again, he got that dizzy from the experience.

Outside was a large pool with large red circles floating like lily pads, plus a few other artworks, such as a giant spider.  We both felt the museum itself was the best work of art from the whole experience, it is a stunning building.

Another drive along the northern coast of Spain, more rolling green hills, small beaches, rocky headlands & the Atlantic Ocean. We stop at a small seaside town, Getaria, notable as being the birth place of the navigator that went with Ferdinand Magellan on his circumnavigation of the globe, Juan Sebastian Elkano. We walk down into the port area towards the church & past the old fort, the street is full of restaurants & we can smell the fish cooking. As we walk past we see the fish being cooked over hot coals on the street outside the restaurants, it smells delicious with the fish, the smoke & the aroma of the hot coals. As tempting as it smelled we did not have any fish lunch because we were going out tonight for a big dinner. We are in the Basque region of Spain now & the locals speak the Basque language, not Spanish.

San Sebastian is the capital of the Basque region & is our stop tonight. Our hotel is nice & we have a little time before we head off again with a local guide to explore the city of San Sebastian. We drive past a large park overlooking the beach, this has the old summer palace of the former Queen of Spain, very nice spot. We drive up a large headland overlooking San Sebastian, this has an old amusement park on the top, it is packed with children, parents & grandparents as it is still the school holidays. The views are fantastic, the bay that San Sebastian is built around is pretty, with a large island in the middle of the bay. There are lots of boats at anchor sheltered behind the island. Apparently San Sebastian was the home port of pirates in years past.

Next the bus takes us down to the old town area & we have a short drive around with our local guide explaining the highlights & the history of the city, it is all very interesting. We then get off the bus & are taken on a walking tour of the old town, no cars allowed in any of the streets. The place is busy, so many bars & restaurants, most people standing up, hardly a chair in sight, mostly younger people. We walk past the harbour, packed full of fishing boats, past the old church, down the narrow streets. It is a great experience, all the while our guide happily chatting away telling us all about her Basque city.

We stop at the Jatetxea Restaurant (Basque spelling) & split up, only 9 of us are having dinner, plus Sonia our Tour Director. The restaurant is empty, except for us, the Spanish eat late. Our 3 course meal is delicious, I had the black squid & Tereza the lamb shanks, all washed down with local wine & finished with desert & coffee. We had a great chat at the table with our companions & the service from all the staff was extraordinary, we could not have asked for more. As we finished our meal some of the locals started to trickle in at around 10 pm. Another great day with 7.5 kilometres under our feet.

Day 46 – 24 August 2023 – Santander, Spain

Another nice breakfast with some delicious Iberico ham this time as well as most of the usual nice food. Interestingly though, no cheeses. We are away early this morning as we want to get to our first destination before all the tourists do. Santa Cueva de Covadonga is a holy site that is very important in Christian history & is located in a cave above a pool high in the mountains of Picos de Europa. The roads are narrow & along the way we pass lots of adventure businesses with lots of canoes for tourists to hire & paddle down the shallow river. We also pass lots of eucalyptus tree plantations stretching across the sides of hills & mountains.

Our bus driver again does a marvellous job getting us up the very narrow road with other traffic. As we get to the top we spot the chapel tucked into the cave in the hillside & then we see the old large church on top of the hill associated with the chapel (the chapel is the important site). As soon as we are dropped off we head along the path to the chapel, passing through a large tunnel cut through the cliff that has been cut to allow tourists to visit the chapel easily. There are only a handful of tourists at the small chapel, plus two nuns. The chapel is special, it has a simple alter stuck inside this short cave looking out at some magnificent mountains, one can feel closer to God here than in those gold gilded churches. Apparently later during the day it gets very crowded.

Next we visit the church, the Basilica de Santa Maria la Real de Covadonga. This is a nice church in a great location on the end of a high ridge overlooking the valley. Inside is simple & we have a short look around.  We walk over to the other end of the site, past the museum & notice that more & more people are coming up. They are not allowed to drive their cars so they are coming up from the nearby towns by the busload. Police are directing traffic to enable the buses to get up & down the mountain road safely.

After we get off the mountain we are held up & stopped on the road for a long time, it is a big traffic jam from all the people wanting to visit. There are hundreds & hundreds of people in canoes on the river. When the bus is stopped we get to see how the canoes are launched from the bank. There is a slide the canoes are put on, people get in, then pushed down the slide. They get up a lot of speed & hit the water with a big splash. I wonder how many go for a swim at that point.

We finally clear the traffic jam & go to a small town called Cangas de Onis (in honour of the King is the translation). The highlight here is a stone arched bridge called the Roman Bridge, built originally in the 14^th or 15^th century over the River Sella. We go for a walk over it, the surface is rough as it is made from rounded river stones & the bridge is steep to walk up. The views up & down the river are good. Afterwards we go for a short walk exploring the old town before heading off again.

We stop for lunch at another old town, Santilliana del Mar. This is a walking only town, full of beautiful old stone buildings & narrow streets, with small balconies out over the road. Again the streets are rough as they are lined with stones. We stop for a gelato as we walk to the end of town to see the old church from the 11^th century, the Colegiata de Santa Juliana. It was formerly a monastery dating back to the year 870 & shows its age, it is an old church.

On the way back we stopped at El Jardin, a restaurant with an amazing looking old façade, inside there is a huge stone courtyard with large shady trees growing. We get a table readily enough & order a paella & a prawn salad, (they are both delicious) with a local beer & a 7 up lemonade. Everywhere, from now for Tereza, it is beer or wine, it is much cheaper than lemonade or water. My goodness cannot believe how much less we pay for food here than in Iceland. It is nice sitting in the shade as it is another hot day. After lunch we explore a little more before getting back on the bus for Santander.

Our hotel is an old building in a beautiful location on a beachfront. The building was originally built in 1917 when the King of Spain wanted a place for his guests to stay when visiting him at his summer palace on the headland overlooking the river & sea. It is a beautiful old building with polished marble floors & large comfortable guest areas, plus a large balcony overlooking the sea. We always stay in really nice hotels, but yesterday & today it is 5 star, today’s is very posh indeed.  Old time exquisite decorations, quality furniture, they still have the old lift, like Agatha Christie’s stories. After settling in we decide on a walk.

We walk out of the gardens of the hotel & turn right down the street & took an easy stroll downhill to the beach. My goodness there are some very nice & doubtless very expensive beachfront houses along this road, all with high fences & security gates & cameras. The beach is packed & we walk down & catch the red tourist train up the hill to the Palacio de la Magdalena. It is a beautiful style large house overlooking the ocean. We walk around then catch the next red tourist train back down before slowly walking back uphill to our hotel. We walked 8.5 kilometres today, another great day.

Day 45 – 23 August 2023 – Oviedo, Spain

After another good breakfast in Santiago de Compostela it was in the bus & off again towards Oviedo, another city on the northern Atlantic Ocean coastline of Spain. The scenery changes as we drive along, now there are more mountains & forests of plantations of eucalyptus trees. Later the scenery changes to cleared farming land, then fruit orchards.

Our first stop today is at Casa Trabanco, a cider producer established in 1925 and is up in the hills south of a city called Gijon. Our bus driver is very skilful threading his way along the narrow lanes & finding a parking spot outside the factory/cider house/restaurant. We are taken downstairs into a very large reception room with tables set up & very large chestnut wood barrels lining the walls.

One of the staff is tapping apple cider from the barrels & demonstrating how she pours cider into a glass with a drop of over a metre to get bubbles into the cider. We are each given a taste & then the tapas style food comes out. My goodness, is this ever a delicious feast, we think we are close to finished & then more platters of delicious food comes out. Followed by dessert, we are that full we can hardly walk. We are then asked to come & try our hand using water from a bottle to pour from a height, most people are not very good & there are lots of laughs. The young lady said that Ron was good, having long monkey arms helped to get the praise.

We are guided outside & shown where the apples come in by truck & are weighed before being dumped down large chutes for processing, then by being washed, sorted, then crushed. There are huge mechanical presses that crush the apples & the juice is stored temporarily in very large vats before being pumped into other vats for fermentation. The underground shed next door is full of very large chestnut wood barrels used for storing the cider until being bottled. This cider factory is a large operation & they source apples not only from the local area & the broader Spain, but also they truck in apples from countries such as Czechoslovakia.

It is only a short drive now to Oviedo & we stop near the main square & meet our local guide Renee. We walk a little around the old town, there is hardly anyone on the streets as it is now afternoon & siesta time in Spain & nearly all the shops are closed. The shops open about 3 pm & close at 9 pm. We can understand why as it is very hot. There are lots of beautiful old buildings in town, as well as a striking new architectural masterpiece, the Cultural Centre. This is a very modern & striking looking large building, made from steel & glass.

There are brass scallop shell symbols here & there on the footpath, these are to show the pilgrims the direction of Santiago de Compostela after they leave the Cathedral in Oviedo. Renee then takes us in to the Cathedral de San Salvador & shows us the huge gold storyboard behind the altar. It isn’t a design I have seen before in a Catholic church & Renee explains what the story is all about & how to read the story. He tells the story in a really interesting way. He tells us a little bit more about the history of the church, more than 1,000 years old & then takes us into the church museum.

The church museum is off to the side & has some extremely important relics. Number one is the shroud that covered the face of Jesus & Renee explained the results of the scientific tests, very interesting, a small piece of cloth has been cut off for the scientists to verify that it is authentic.  The result – the cloth is about 2000 years old, a Jewish person, because the blood came from the head & the blood type was AB (most Jews had that blood type at that time) so the conclusion is that there is a strong possibility that it was Jesus’s shroud. There are some holy crosses there as well, the Cross of Saint James, the Cross of the Angels, donated to the church in the year 808 plus the cross of Christ of Nicodemus.

Afterwards we looked a little more at the old town & came across some of the small squares that used to be market places & were used to sell foods & goods. The fish seller square had a statue of a woman & man fish seller in brass. The milk seller square had a statue of a woman & donkey loaded up with milk & water.

More walking & more interesting streetscapes in the old town with hardly any locals around during siesta. There are lots of beautiful old buildings, most of them restored. An interesting thing about the squares is that most of them are laid with red Spanish marble, the same as we have in our bathroom at home.  Back to our hotel, check in & relax after a long day. The hotel is a beautiful old building, however, the bathroom looks good, but has a poor design. There are glass doors on both the shower & toilet that open inwards. First world problems. Another great day.

Day 44 – 22 August 2023 – Santiago, Spain

A sleep in this morning with breakfast at 8am then off at 9am to explore the Cathedral of Santiago del Compostela. Our local guide Manuel, takes us to the main square in front of the Cathedral where all the pilgrims arrive & we see a fair number of pilgrims arriving & taking photos & celebrating their arrival with their walking companions. Lots of them have the pilgrim walking sticks plus the symbolic scallop shell.

Manuel explains the buildings around the square, when they were built, what they were used for & what they are used for now. One of the buildings was the original university in Santiago. One of the buildings was a convent, but now a part of it is a hotel. He also explains the different pilgrim paths & the various starting points in different countries. Around 30 years ago there were less than 100 people doing the pilgrimage per year, but then it started to grow slowly & has begun growing exponentially. This morning many hundreds of pilgrims have arrived already & there are thousands expected today.

The museum at the side of the church is very interesting, unfortunately we cannot take any photos, there are various religious relics on display plus old statues & religious paintings. The attached library has thousands of books on the surrounding shelves. The ceiling in the library is a work of art, carved from granite & painted to highlight the features, it is amazing. One piece of granite is not painted, just to show that all the ceiling is carved granite.

Outside in the courtyard the carved stonework is extraordinary, these stone artisans were extraordinary craftsmen. The archways & adornment of the bell towers is amazing. There are some very old cracked bells that were in the belltowers but have been replaced by identical new bells, made in the Netherlands. The biggest bell weighs many tons.

We are then taken inside the Cathedral, my goodness, what an amazing gilded alter & surrounds. There are not too many people inside at this early hour, however there is a long line-up of people wanting to walk past the covered casket of Saint James the Apostle. We marvel at the huge amount of work that has gone into creating all of this. Manuel explains that this is the third church on this site & the last one has been enlarged after it was built. We explore the different side chapels behind the altar with more stunning artwork on display. Everywhere is the symbolic scallop shell with the cross of Saint James embellished on it.

Then we walk outside, via the gift shop, yes, even the Cathedral has a huge gift shop for all the pilgrims & visitors, religion is a big business. There is a massive line of people out the door, down the steps, across the square & down the street now waiting to enter the Cathedral, so glad we were here early. We walk back to the main square in the heat, yes, it is very hot again, then board the bus for our next excursion to the coast. Manuel is a very good guide, so full of knowledge & simple to understand, plus a sense of humour.

The small farms we pass are now all growing grapes and corn, so many grape vines & all well kept. Lots of the old houses are made from stone with roofs of terracotta tiles. There are lots of large trees plus we notice lots of Australian eucalyptus trees growing large & tall. Monks visiting Australia brought back eucalyptus seeds & they adapted well to this climate.  They make wood pulp for paper manufacture from the eucalypt trees.

When we reach the coast we stop at Ria de Arousa (a large bay) at a large boat ramp next to where some large floating platforms are being built out of eucalyptus wood, because they are oily & last well in the water. These floating platforms are for growing mussels out in the bay & there are 2,500 mussel growing platforms anchored in the bay. The mussels are grown on ropes suspended in the water under the platforms, 25 meters deep & left for a number of years to grow out. Most of the mussel farms are family businesses.

Next we drive down to the coastal town of Cambados & stop at the Pazo de Fefinans (Fefinans Palace). It is time for lunch so we walk along the street to some nearby cafes then sit down for a seafood lunch. We sit in the shade but it is very hot, we are sweating in the shade. We order steamed mussels & crumbed prawns wrapped in vermicelli noodles with a beer to wash it down, instead of their local white wine, all delicious.

After lunch we walk back over to the old palace & Maria, the local guide, takes us through some of the furnished rooms of the old palace & explains the family who built the palace, when it was extended & the same family still owns it 400 years later. The rooms all have interesting furniture, paintings & decorations from the 1700s & 1800s. It is very hot inside the rooms. After the inside tour we go outside to have a brief look at the gardens & are then taken out to the distillery.

The family that still live in the old palace also distil & sell the local Grappa, with different flavourings to make liqueurs. We are shown the stills then offered some chairs under two giant & very old magnolia trees to sample the grappa. There are six different flavours as well as a couple of samples of straight grappa. Our choices were the coffee & the blueberry liqueur, the blueberry one still had all the fruit in the bottle.

The walk back to the bus was hot & the journey back to Santiago was very quiet, I think we all slept, a combination of the heat, walking & grappa. Back to Santiago & our air conditioned hotel, another great day.

Day 43 – 21 August 2023 – Madrid to Santiago, Spain

Awake at 6 am as we have to sort our bags, re-pack & leave them outside the door to be loaded on the bus. Another great breakfast then onto the bus at 8.30 am for our drive to Santiago de Compostela, around 600 kilometres away.

As we travel Sonia explains some of the history of Spain, how the country has a number of different autonomous states & the relationship with Portugal, France & the outlying Spanish territories. Sonia is very knowledgeable & the talk is very interesting. As we pass through different towns & there are highlights such as a church or castle she lets us know what they are.

Our first stop this morning is at a winery, over 350 years old & originally set up by Dominican monks. It is now owned by Alberto Wines & we are taken on a tour underground of the wine cellars dug by hand by the monks. We can see the tool marks in the rock from when the monks dug the cellars. There is a labyrinth of tunnels around 10 metres underground & the temperature is a constant 15 degrees C year round. Our guide, Ruth, says that there are around 1.5 kilometres of tunnels under the old monastery & countless wine storage areas. After we exit the cellars Tereza manages to lock herself in the toilets & I had to help her to get out. Thank heavens Ron came looking for me & with a coin he somehow opened the door from outside. I started to worry that I will miss out on the cheese & wine tasting (haha). 

Wine tasting is in a large room & we each get a generous glass of white wine to try, this wine is the speciality of the vineyard & is very tasty, especially when tasted with the slices of local cheese. The local Rose wine is next, this is made using a tempranillo grape with the skins only left in for 8 hours. It is very nice & most of the ladies prefer this wine over the white. A few people from our group buy some wine for consuming during our trip.

Our bus driver takes us comfortably past many towns whilst we sit back & relax watching the farms pass by. There is an odd ruin of a church or farmhouse, sometimes a castle or church on top of a hill. The trees get larger & greener the further north we go. Around 2 pm we stop at a roadside fuel stop & café for a bite to eat, Tereza has a tuna salad & I have a Serrano ham roll bigger than you can imagine.

We are very impressed with Sonia, not only is she knowledgeable, she works very hard to keep our group harmonious. She told us about herself & after each one of us took the microphone & told a brief history about ourselves.  It is amazing all the different lives we have, yet in so many ways we have a lot in common.  Out of the 17 of us, there are 3 from USA, 2 from South Africa, 1 from Malaysia & the rest of us are Ozzies.  Sonia & the driver, Norberto are Portuguese.

We reach our destination in Santiago de Compostela around 5 pm & after we check in & get our bags in the room we go out for a walk to the nearby Cathedral of Santiago de Compostela, the apparent burial site of Saint James the Apostle. The Cathedral is huge & there are a number of tour groups outside plus lots of others. We take a few photos then walk back as we will be going inside the Cathedral on a tour tomorrow.  This place is only 32C, cooler than yesterdays 40C but we were hot & sweaty by the time we got back to the hotel.

A freshen up in our room before drinks at 7.30 pm followed by a delicious 3 course dinner with drinks at 8 pm. We sit & chat with a tour companions for a while before heading back to our room & bed. A long & tiring, but good day.

Day 42 – 20 August 2023 – Madrid Day 3

A wake up call at 6.30am & another good breakfast at 7am before we meet & join the bus at 8am for our trip to Segovia. Segovia was the old capital of Spain & is around 90 km away so the bus drives through the dry Spanish countryside for around 90 minutes, passing through a tunnel under the mountains before reaching old Segovia. Sonia is very knowledgeable about Spain & tells us all about it along the way.

The bus parks near the ancient Roman Aqueduct of old Segovia, an amazing stone structure around 2,000 years old built by the Romans to supply water to the old city of Segovia. The Aqueduct is over 16 kilometres long & over 28 metres high, imposing itself on the landscape. Even more amazing is that no concrete is used in the construction, it is all dry rock, perfectly fitted together.  

We walk up through the old town, with lots of the buildings dating from the 1400s. Lots of buildings have the old Arabic Moor stucco designs on the walls. We walk past the old Jewish quarter, apparently the Jewish people were kicked out of Segovia by the king unless they converted to Christianity.  King was OK about the Moors keeping their religion (they were good builders, which could have helped). One of the old synagogues is now a Christian church. We pass lots of shops in the narrow street before we reach the main square & then see the Cathedral, my goodness, what an amazing huge building. The turrets have carved stonework & the rainwater drains through carved winged lions with a dragon headed pipe in its mouth.

More walking through narrow streets surrounded by very old buildings before we reach the Alcazar. The Alcazar is the old fortress & the royal palace. This is a beautiful old building that has been restored amazingly well. It is a stunning piece of architecture. we walk over the drawbridge to enter the Alcazar. The moat is a very long way down.

The ceilings in each of the rooms we enter in the Alcazar are amazing works of art in themselves. The windows have beautiful stained glass windows & old paintings of the kings & families adorn the walls. There is lots of metal armour on display plus swords, pikes & crossbows. The crossbow belonging to a former king is an elaborate example inlaid with ivory. There are lots of old cannons on display, the Alcazar was also an artillery school after the king moved to Madrid. Our guide, Claudia, was very knowledgeable about all aspects of the Alcazar & the different generations of royal family that lived there.

Back past the Cathedral, we couldn’t go inside as a church service was being held, it is Sunday. In the city square outside the building of the Mayor a large TV screen has been set up & the women’s World Cup soccer final between Spain & England is being televised live. There are lots of Spanish supporters watching & the game starts just as we walk past. We buy some gelatos & after Spain scores the first goal we finish our gelatos (very tasty) & continue walking back down to the Aqueduct to meet our tour group.

Back to Madrid, the bus is nicely air-conditioned thankfully as it is now 40 C outside. We are given around half an hour to freshen up & then we are back on the bus to the Prada Museum. This is the best art museum in Madrid, full of paintings by the old masters such as Rubens, Goya & El Greco. Our guide is very knowledgeable & guides us through the museum, explaining the classic works of art that we only usually see in books. The tour is fascinating & at the end I want to explore more. On the way out we walk past a marble sculpture of a woman with a veil over her face. It is unbelievable that an artist can carve this masterpiece from stone. The illusion of the veil is extraordinary & it looks like someone has thrown a real veil over the head, extraordinarily exquisite. Unfortunately we are not allowed to take pictures in the art gallery.

At the hotel we have around an hour to rest & freshen up, still no luggage. Then out to dinner at 7pm, this time to a restaurant with singing waiters. One of the ladies in our group sits down & plays the piano masterfully, we discover that she is a concert pianist. We have Sangria, red & white wine (local), then the first of our four course meal, some traditional potato & egg omelette with a slice of Iberico ham on toast. Next is a prawn salad with four of the waiters singing accompanied by a pianist. They have very good voices. Our main meals are delicious as well as dessert, singing continues throughout all these courses. It is fabulous.

Absolutely full & happy we dance out of the restaurant & back onto our bus for the short drive back to our hotel. Our luggage has finally arrived. Thank goodness. Another good day.

Day 41 – 19 August 2023- Madrid Day 2

A late, really good breakfast, everything you could want & really good quality. Still no luggage so we decided to go for a walk to a nearby shopping mall to buy some cool clothes. My goodness, this is the high end of town, we walk past Gucci, Versace, Prada & Armani, the mall is full of these & more high end shops. They don’t have anything that we need so we continue walking past some amazing looking buildings, including some embassies. Our motel is in the embassy area, the US Embassy is only about 100 metres from our motel & surrounded by security police.

We are hot & disappointed, we walk down some side ally to get out of the heat & get back to the Hotel.  Eventually we found a shop & bought a new cotton shirt each, we wear the new shirts out of the shop as the shirts we had on were far too hot. We walk a long way & explore a little more of this part of Madrid, it is a beautiful city.

Back to the hotel & a bite to eat then we have a look at the rooftop infinity pool, we can’t use this as we have no luggage & hence no swimming costumes. We go for another walk in the 40 degree C heat exploring a little more then come back for a shower before meeting our tour group at 6.30 pm. There are only a total of 17 on this tour so it will be a small group & should be more pleasant. At 7 pm we head out for a welcome dinner & our Tour Director, Sonia, explains some of the sights we pass by on the way to dinner.  The restaurant is behind Parliament House so the bus has to drop us off a little way from the restaurant & we walk the rest. The sun is still up & it is very hot walking.

The restaurant is nice & the food is good as we sit & chat getting to know each other better. Sonia is very good & has offered to chase our luggage for us. After a very pleasant Spanish meal it is a quicker walk back past the Parliament House to the bus & then a pleasant drive back to our hotel.

Still no luggage.

Day 40 – 18 August 2023- Reykjavik to Madrid

Early rise this morning, 5 am.  Suitcases were ready, only needed to pack the few things we used last night.  We were in the lobby by 5.50 am, the driver just arrived to take us to the airport.  We shared the mini bus with an American couple, they were going home.

Our flight didn’t leave for Helsinki until 9 am so we had Airport breakfast. Our luggage was booked through to Madrid. When the gate opened we were amazed at the number of people lined up to get onto the plane.  The Finnish Airbus was comfortable, Ron & I slept most of the 3 hour 10 minutes.  The flight was uneventful, only as we were getting closer to Helsinki we experienced some air turbulence.  Once again the sheer number of people waiting to get on to the plane in Helsinki to travel to Madrid is unbelievable.  Our gate to the Iberian airline luckily was next to where we got off the other plane.  This gave us the opportunity to have a light airport lunch.  Once again the flight was uneventful, we slept for most of the 4 hour flight. 

Just as we landed Ron got a message that our luggage has not been confirmed on Iberia airlines.  GREAT, sure enough they didn’t arrive.  At the luggage lost counter they told us that our luggage is in Helsinki & they should be here in 24 hours’ time, there is only one flight a day from Helsinki to Madrid.  We arrived in winter clothes, the temperature here in Madrid is still in the 30s C.  We got a taxi to our hotel, taxi drivers are only allowed to charge 30 Euros to the hotel no matter how far it is in Madrid.  Our taxi driver dropped us off at the hotel.  

The hotel clerk informed us that we are in the wrong hotel.  He said no worries it is only about a 10 minute walk away.  Off we went in our winter clothes, Ron carrying his heavy back pack, we arrived this time at the right hotel.  Checked in, the lovely desk clerk told us we can go for a swim in the pool to cool down, we decided not to because we weren’t sure nude swimming is acceptable here.  It is about 9.30 pm, we were starving, luckily they eat late here, so we had a very late, lovely dinner at the hotel.  Tomorrow I think summer clothes shopping will be in order. By the way, the shops open at 10 am here.  It is a 2 hour time difference here in Madrid from Reykjavik. We have had some adventure, but really it has been a good day.

Day 39 – 17 August 2023 – Reykholt to Reykjavik, Iceland

A great homemade Icelandic breakfast this morning in the old farmhouse, it was a real treat with five different types of herring plus some home smoked Arctic Char (fish). The local cheeses, homemade jam, local salami, homemade breads, etc. Our farm hosts were very friendly & it was a great experience staying in the old family home.

It was only a short drive to Geysir, the original bubbling hot spring that all other exploding hot springs were named after. There were not that many others around as it was still early so we had a pleasant walk around the hot spring park with various size hot springs bubbling away & steam being released. The big original Geysir is now dormant, only becoming active when some significant volcanic activity is occurring nearby. It is a very large pool of steaming hot water. The active exploding hot spring is called Strokkur & this is spectacular erupting every 8 to 10 minutes blasting a spray of water with steam around 25 to 30 metres in the air. It was wise to stay up wind as the people standing watching downwind got drenched with the water. We stood watching for a while & could predict when it was going to erupt with the water surging & bubbling. It is spectacular when it erupts & the noise adds to the experience. We could see on the mountains in the distance another glacier, the Langjokull, it is again another massive icecap & must be feeding all the fast flowing streams we crossed over to get to Geysir. It was a good experience to see the original Geysir, however we expected more with the hot spring complex. The hot spring complexes that we have visited in New Zealand are significantly better.

Not far further along is Gullfoss, we can see the spray in the air from a distance & when we get to the carpark, we can hear the roar of the falls. It must be a big waterfall. As we walk from the carpark we start feeling the spray from the falls & the noise gets louder, then we see it. This waterfall is huge. There are people standing on the rocks near the falls & they look like ants next to the falls. The roar of the water is very loud & as people walk along the track to get close to the falls they are getting drenched by the spray. This is truly amazingly awesome to see. We walk back out through the souvenir shop, which is where the toilets are as well. Very important when travelling.

There is a lot of farmland on the road to Laugarvatn, a huge volcanic lake (everything is somehow volcanic related in Iceland). After that we start driving through a really, really large lava field, we are getting closer to recent volcanic activity as our next destination is Pingvellir.

Pingvellir is in a rift valley where the American & Eurasian tectonic plates meet & are slowly separating. This is evident by the distinct cliff line running along the valley, on one side you are standing on the American tectonic plate, on the other side you are standing on the Eurasian tectonic plate.  The tectonic plates are moving apart at the rate of 2.5 cm per year & earthquakes are felt every day in Pingvellir. This is the reason that Iceland is so volcanically active & another volcanic eruption could occur at any time. Today the weather isn’t all that cold but overcast.  Being near to the tectonic plates looks dark & foreboding, we didn’t spend very much time here, just relieved when we left.

Pingvellir is also historically significant as it is the site of the first democratic government in the world with the first assembly of over 30 ruling chiefs of Iceland held in 930 AD to discuss common law & to create a commonwealth. This institution was called the Alpingi & continued annually at Pingvellir until 1799 when the Danish colonised Iceland. After Danish colonisation finished in 1844 the Alpingi resumed in Reykjavik, where it continues today.

The rest of the journey to Reykjavik was through barren lava fields with cinder cones & old volcanoes all over the countryside. The road is very good & before long we reach Reykjavik & book into our motel. I return our rental car, thankfully not that far from the motel. Our total distance travelled during our brief stay in Iceland was 3,448 kilometres, an average of 287 kilometres per day. When I return we go for a nice walk in downtown Reykjavik again. It is a pleasant walk & we had a bite to eat at the end of town before walking back uphill to the motel.   

Iceland is an expensive place to visit, food, drinks, clothes, accommodation, fuel are all very expensive. Nearly all items have to be brought in by ship to Iceland. The only thing they have plenty of is rocks, water & volcanoes. The 2 weeks went very fast & it was very special.  We enjoyed Iceland thoroughly, it has a raw natural beauty nowhere else to be seen. Another good day.

Day 38 – 16 August 2023 – Napur to Reykholt, Iceland

The day started overcast & cloudy, a stark contrast to the glorious weather yesterday, however, by the time we reached our first destination, the sun was shining. Fjadrargljufur is about 100 metres deep & around one kilometre long, with the narrow canyon formed by the glacier fed river. It is visually stunning with the rocks carved into all types of shapes by the water & covered in beautiful green moss.  It is a national park so we had to pay, but my phone app wouldn’t work. They will most likely charge me when I will return the car.

Just down the road is Renisfjara or Black Sand Beach & there are crowds of people there. Warning signs tell of treacherous killer waves that can occur at any time & to stay away from the edge of the water. There are crowds on the beach, some close to the water & others climbing all over the accessible basalt column cliff areas. On the left side of the beach in the sea there are a couple of large weathered basalt columns that have stood the battering of waves for centuries. Looking in the other direction the next landmass has different but equally striking columns & large arches. The sand is black, hence the name, from the granite rocks that have been ground down to fine sand size particles by the nearby glaciers. There are seabirds nesting in the cliffs & flying everywhere plus countless others resting in the water just offshore. I spot lots of puffins flying to & from the cliffs.

The next promontory down is called Dyrholaey & has more picturesque rock formations plus another deadly small beach that has had a drowning fatality recently. These clifftops also are alive with birds & we spot lots of puffins standing close to the top of the cliff near their nests, others walking into their burrows & lots of puffins flying to & fro bringing food back for their chicks. A tall lighthouse aids sailors from the great height this cliff is.

Skogafoss is putting on a show for us this morning, the waterfall is thundering with the melt of two glaciers & the rain that fell last night, dropping 62 metres in an impressive display. To add to the show the sunlight is reflecting on the huge amount of spray & producing a rainbow for us in the sunshine. According to legends, a settler hid his chest of gold behind the Skogafoss waterfall. We don’t get too close, there is a huge volume of spray.

More amazingly beautiful scenery as we drive through countless kilometres of lava fields stretching out either side. These lava fields are covered in thick moss & the rocks are jumbled everywhere as they cooled & cracked. It has a raw beauty about it, with not a tree in sight.

We stop for lunch at a roadside rest stop with an amazing view of the towering Eyjafjoll mountains & a number of small waterfalls running down the sides, amazingly beautiful. At the rest stop is a small rock shelter with a grass roof that was used by the farmer for storing milk pails out of the sun & also for sheltering when waiting for the school bus. It is rustic & still in use.

Our next stop is the Seljalandsfoss waterfall that you can walk behind, it is a beautiful waterfall & there is a crowd of people there, but not too many walking behind the falls so we put on our wet weather coats & venture forth. The track is slippery from all the spray but we walk slowly & surely (Ron holds on to me & guides me onto safe rocks) until we are in the cavern directly behind the waterfall.  It is very special. There are at least 2 more big waterfalls that we can see. Our coats are wet so we walk to see the other waterfalls & to dry ourselves in the sun.  We cannot get over how magnificent these waterfalls are. We see another waterfall but only visible from the top & the rest is behind the rocks. Reluctantly we keep walking on to see one more water fall & then we will really have to go.  We have a long distance to drive before we will get to our accommodation. We got to this fast flowing river & see people clambering on big rocks to get into or out of (all wet) this narrow cave, so Ron the scout told me to stay while he will check out this rocky cave.  Big grin, come you cannot miss this! Wow, what a sight!  A wonderful secret hidden absolutely stunningly beautiful waterfall between the rocks. The walk was worth it to see the Gljufrabui waterfall.  We really must go.

Ron is getting tired, our daily distance is not too long, but all the walking to get to these special places is extra. Today we walked 7 & 1/2 km.  Ron is doing all the driving, planning, carting bags, writing most of the blog, he is looking after me so well.  We are driving along & Ron is trying to make sure not to miss the accommodation place.  Missed it, by 7 km, the signage in Iceland isn’t the best (still my excuse). To turn around we drove into Reykholt, a place where they had the most magnificent hot house set up, heated by lights powered by underground thermal energy, they grow a lot of their vegetables & even fruit here.

Since we have been here we have stayed in ordinary hotels, flash modern ones, & tonight is the 3^rd time in a guest house where we have to share bathrooms.  We wanted adventure, this is Iceland. Tonight it is a farm, our host are a husband & wife. Tonight we were treated to a real Iceland feast – smoked wild goose with salad & lovely fresh bread, main course – Arctic Char fish (so much at home it would be 3 meals for us 2), roast potatoes, vegetables, all very delicious.  Panna cotta followed.  We told the host that we ate too much & cannot walk upstairs, he said it is OK there are some benches downstairs we are welcome to sleep downstairs.  We had another wonderful day.