Home again

Here's an impressionistic sketch of the last couple of days, as viewed through English rain.
August 18th
Flew back to London. Dined with an OEDILF friend.
August 19th
Wandered around Greenwich and got a brief history of English time.

Went to Stomp in the Vaudeville theatre.
August 20th
Final packing for the trip home. About to step out of hotel room. Zipper broke on Lyn's suitcase. Bought packing tape from newsagent and bound up suitcase (in the street). Caught the Heathrow express. Got case gladwrapped at the airport.
Flew home.
Flew home.
Flew home.
Flew home.
...

Where are you, Brooke?

August 17th

We splashed around in the Blue Lagoon this morning and rubbed its mud on our faces. (No photos, sorry.) Where else in the world can you bathe in the effluent from a power station and expect your health to improve?

This afternoon we drove around some more of Reykjavik, then walked around some of the old town, ending up in a forest--well, one of Iceland's approximations to the concept of "forest".

Back to London tomorrow morning.

Plains, mountains, waterfalls

August 16th

Þingvellir is where the Icelandic parliament was established in the year 930. That's so long ago that they don't know the exact location of the Law Rock where the Lawspeaker recited the law. It's Lyn's opinion that Australian taxation law would be a lot simpler if the tax commissioner had to recite it as its main mode of communication.

Hafnarfjall is a majestic heap of black stuff. It broods between two fjords just north of Reykjavík.

Hraunfossar flow out from under a lava field. This photo shows only some of the falls. They go on and on.

The best thing today was one we couldn't photograph. In Borgarnes there was a cultural centre with an exhibition of Egil's Saga. An audio guide provided the story and various scenes were depicted in wood carvings and models.

I blame the trolls

August 15th

"so go ahead and talk about your bad day...
i want all the details of the pain and misery"
-Amanda Palmer

This is what happens when a Yaris wheel hits a rough hole on the edge of a sealed highway.
Of course, it doesn't happen immediately. At first there is the thump of the shock absorber as the wheel hits the hard bitumen crust of the hole edge. At that stage, there's no indication that anything is wrong. Several kilometers further along the road, the car seems to be pulling a little to the right. It's time to stop and check why. One tries to get out of the car. The door is difficult to open. Pushing harder, the door opens, but the wind keeps blowing it shut. This is an Icelandic wind.

Aha! That's why the car keeps pulling to the right. It's a city-driving bubble car. It's being severely buffeted. No need to wander round the car and be sand-blasted. One drives on.

Several kilometers further, and now onto a gravel road with gut shaking corrugations, the pull to the right has worsened and a flapping noise has started. Time to inspect. The magnitude of the error in the previous paragraph becomes apparent.

Here, have some soothing happy images.

Chasing Waterfalls

August 14th

An alternate end to Njál's saga:
Kári, keen to apply the newly adopted Christian faith, decided to emulate St Cuthbert and take an extra head with him.


Seljalandsfoss is is only 40 metres high, but fun because you can get behind it.

From behind:


Skógafoss. I guess someone else had already grabbed the pot of gold. We had to content ourselves with admiring the view.


Beach, beach, the beach is black.
(There were lots of puffins on the cliffs.)

Icelandic Immersion (tourist style)

August 13th

We arrived in Iceland at about 10am this morning. We wandered around enjoying the beautiful sunny weather.

Just near our hotel we could see the Sun Voyager.

We walked to the pond.

Up the hill to Hallgrims Church to see the view from the tower.

Inside the church there was an organ fitted with a phalanx style defense system.

And not far from the church was an Einar Jonsson sculpture garden. This one is called "sleep". I need some.


We finished off the day by saturating ourselves with Icelandic culture in the Idnó Theatre. We were treated to folk dancing, chanting of old Icelandic rhymes (with rap interludes), Glíma (Viking wrestling), and acted out folk tales. To top it off, we bought a tub of Skyr (with vanilla) and a can of Maltextrakt for supper.

In Dublin's fair city

August 12th

Back in Dublin with a flight out to Gatwick scheduled for the evening, we joined a literary pub crawl at noon. (Lyn won a t-shirt in the end of tour quiz.)

Dublin is a fun city. We ran into Molly Malone (aka 'The Tart With The Cart', 'The Dish With The Fish' and 'The Trollop With The Scallops') selling cockles and mussels.

We also ran into Oscar Wilde, who noted that work is the curse of the drinking classes.

Shamrocker Day 8

August 11th

I posted a Bogside mural a couple of days ago. There are murals in Belfast too. Here's one on the unionist side.

Violence has been renounced by the major power groups in Ireland, but there is still a stubborn grudge at the interface between unionist and nationalist communities. The desire for peace is evident but some grievances will continue to fester.

This is what is known as a Peace Wall.

Here's the other side of the wall (the attractive wire cage back veranda predates the high wire fence recently erected above the solid wall).


On to more pleasant subjects. Monasterboice was a late 5th century Christian settlement. Most of it is in ruins now, but the celtic crosses have survived particularly well against the elements. (I list this as more pleasant only because we didn't hear any of the stories of brutality and political strife that no doubt occurred back in the 5th century. Perhaps we should naively assume that the celtic cross with its merging of Christian and Pagan mythologies was a symbol of tolerance... Okay. Joke time over now.)


We're back in Dublin now. Hope to do a literary pub crawl tomorrow before we fly to Gatwick.

Shamrocker Day 7

August 10th

Dunluce Castle.
They built a bigger kitchen out the back, but it broke off and fell into the sea.

At the Giant's Causeway.

(Special note to Finn McCool: If you put down a good foundation of screenings and a level layer of sand under your giant hexagonal pavers, you can get all your tesselation flat.)

On the way to Carrick-a-Rede.

"We will fight for bovine freedom
And hold our large heads high
We will run free with the buffalo, or die
Cows with guns"
--Dana Lyons

At Carrick-a-Rede. Final score
Lyn:2, Acrophobia:0

Shamrocker Day 6

August 9th

We had scattered showers today. Fortunately there were old shelters available in some places.

Murals in Derry's Bogside. The war is over.

Shamrocker Day 5

August 8th

We had a bus driving day with occasional stops.
Aasleagh falls (included more as an example of Irish countryside views than for geographic or historic significance).

A sculpture to commemorate those who died in the famine.

The Scots seem to revel in their country's grisly brutal history. The Irish I've met don't.

Shamrocker Day 4

August 7th

Took bus and ferry form Galway to Inis Mór (Aran Islands).

"The secret is to bang the rocks together, guys."
--Douglas Adams, The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy.

3000 miles of stone walls on about 20 square miles of land.

This is obviously where they breed horses for use on merry-go-rounds.

Strong silent types--not so keen to chat with the tourists.

The hill was steep. Fortunately there were blackberries to soften the fall.

Shamrocker Day 3

August 6th

We walked along the cliffs of Moher. These precipices have been tamed by tourism. You can't get to the edge, at least not without climbing up from the 4 foot stone-clad tourist trench and onto the grass on the verge. Anyone who does climb up to the grass gets a severe whistle blast from the park rangers.

Sorry Westley and Inigo, you may not sword-fight close to the edge. Please keep to the designated safe walkways.

There are miles and miles of limestone covered undulating fields. No use to man or beast.

A pleasant summer's day at the beach in Ireland. The locals peeled off. We rugged up. (Note the sky. I think we're losing our touch.)

Shamrocker Day 2

August 5th

It rained last night.
Quite a lot.

We got a ferry out to Great Blasket Island.

The houses there are not well maintained.

But the permanent residents were very approachable.

Shamrocker Day 1

August 4th

We've started our 8 day tour of Ireland.
First castle-stop for the tour: The Rock of Cashel

Second castle-stop: Blarney Castle.

Of course, we had to pay our respects by romancing the stone.

Yes, we kissed it. No, they didn't disinfect the stone between kissers.
And I didn't wax eloquent after flirting with the notoriously promiscuous Blarney Stone.