Author Archives: Fletch

Jokulsarlon, Iceland

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We had debated on whether or not we should drive the extra two and half hours to see Jokulsarlon. I’m so happy I did drive the extra hours because it was spectacular. One benefit of traveling in Iceland in the middle of summer, is you really don’t have to worry about driving in the dark on the way back. None of the roads have lights and most of them don’t even have a center lane but since it is daylight for so long, I wasn’t worried that I would have a five hour drive back after visiting the lagoon.

The parking lot was pretty full when we arrived at the glacier lagoon, and of course there was a line for the bathroom. After waiting in line to go the bathroom, we went and bought tickets to do a 40 minute boat tour around the lagoon. You can get great views from the shore line but we still opted to do the tour since we drove that far. The first tour available was at 5 so I knew we wouldn’t be returning to Reykavik very early.

The boat was one of those that drives on land and then goes into the water. The guide was from Italy and the boat was pretty full. We all had to wear life jackets and then they have another boat follow us that I think was to pick anyone up that fell in the water. They had everyone stand on the boat which was a first for me. I can’t imagine how cold the water must be if you do fall in.

The blue part of the ice is because that part of the ice used to be under water. The black part of the ice is from various volcano eruptions in the past. They made sure to tell us it wasn’t pollution. They do bring a block of ice in the boat and the guide talked about the ice and then he cuts it up and gives a piece to each of us for a souvenir or for a snack 🙂

I really had to try hard to pick my favorite pictures because I really enjoyed this place. It was worth the 5 hour drive back, missing dinner and getting back at 11:30 PM. We left at 8 in the morning so it was a very long and full day.

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I do wonder if these people ever made it out of the sand:

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Dyrhólaey and Reynisfjara, Iceland

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After seeing a couple of waterfalls, we drove further south to the North Atlantic where they have black beaches and puffins. The puffins were pretty hard to see since most of them were in cliffs but occasionally a couple of would come out. The black sand was more like gravel but it was still different that the beaches at home. They had a lot of warnings about sneaker waves and there were a couple of waves that definitely did come in a lot further than normal. There really isn’t a lot of places to stop between these stops to go the bathroom so we opted eat at the cafeteria there. I had a bowl of turnip soup which turned out to be my lunch and dinner. We decided at this point that we would drive another 2 and half hours to visit a lagoon.

Here are some pictures from Dyrhólaey and Reynisfjara.

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If you look closely at one picture, you will spot a crazy guy swimming in the ocean.

Skogafoss, Iceland

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The next stop on the drive was Skogafoss, Iceland. We had a little blue sky at this stop but it was very windy. People can camp pretty much right in front of the waterfall. I’m not entirely sure how they can handle the wind and cold weather but there are some very brave people in Iceland. We see many bikers and campers all over Iceland. The pictures make it look warm but really it was around 50 degrees and I’m pretty sure the wind chill puts it more in the 40’s. We did see one tent fall over because of the wind.

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Seljalandsfoss, Iceland

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We made it to Iceland and it was pretty decent weather when we landed. Reykjavik is about a 40 minute drive from the airport but it is pretty simple. The speed limit here is a lot slower than anywhere else in Europe that I have been to.

We knew we were in for a long full day of sightseeing the first full day so we got some dinner and then made sure we were ready for Friday sightseeing on the southern coast. We figured that we wanted to leave by 8:00 so we could try to beat the majority of the tour busses to the sights.

Our first stop was Seljalandsfoss which was a beautiful but very cold waterfall. The weather here feels like a cold January day in Troutdale. Yes, the wind here is very bad. We opted to not walk behind the waterfall since the trail is very slippery and I really didn’t want to be wet and cold to start the day.

This was just our first stop of many.

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München

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We went for a quick walk around Vienna this morning before leaving the city. Vienna is never a city I would want to drive in regularly, but it actually wasn’t too bad this time due to the location of the parking garage and hotel we stayed in. The worst part of the drive was probably trying to get the car out of the garage since European garages are very narrow and steep.

We dropped the car off at the Munich airport and then took a taxi to the city center. We arrived to the city in enough time to have a good walk around the city. I’m glad I decided to just use my phone as my camera as the streets were busy and bikes are everywhere. I think they might have more bikes here than in Amsterdam. It was pretty stressful crossing streets even though they are pedestrian streets because of all the bikes.

It was a perfect day for weather, but I know Iceland will be at least 30 degrees colder tomorrow. Not sure I’m ready for that!

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You know you are in Munich, when the hotel provides only beer products in each room. Also the rooms have booths in the room to sit and drink beer. This is the first hotel I have ever had a booth in the room.

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Another Great Time in Vienna

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Vienna will always be a special place to me and I’m always amazed at how many new places I can explore but still make sure I visit some of my favorites spots. Staying in the center of the city and really knowing how to use the transportation makes the city so easy to explore. We had very warm weather followed by a day of rain and clouds and then back to warm weather. I have never spent a lot of time on the Danube Island, but it really is a great place to walk around. I may have found some pull-up bars there to do a little workout as well.

We are leaving Vienna tomorrow morning and driving back to Munich. Should be about a 4 and half hour drive. On Thursday we will leave Germany and fly back to Iceland where we will have almost 5 days. So far, I have only been using my camera phone to take pictures, and it has been really nice not walking around with a giant camera.

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Vienna

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Vienna has been very warm our first two days here. Summer in Vienna means they have a lot of things going on. Yesterday, we walked to a surfing wave put up near the center of the city where people can learn to surf. We spent the majority of this morning walking around a park where there are plenty of locals running, biking and playing soccer. It has been so hot here that in the center of the city, there are long lines of tourists waiting to fill their water bottles.

I’m happy to have another 3 full days in this city as I’m always happy walking around exploring new streets.

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Ach, Austria

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After arriving in Munich, we rented a car and drove to Ach, Austria which is right across the river from Burghausen, Germany. This was about an hour and twenty minute drive which is about the max drive I can probably do after staying awake on the plane for hours. It probably took us ten minutes to figure out how to get out of the Munich airport and then it was mainly country roads with a lot of tractors for the next hour. We stayed in Ach, Austria before so we knew we didn’t need a lot of time there but it is a charming town to stay in with a great view. You can walk across the bridge from Austria to Germany and there are great walking paths on both sides of the river. This is a great town to start the trip in. The only downside was the hotel didn’t have air conditioning and the room faced the west. The hotel has shades that they control to try to keep the rooms cool. They apparently raise the shades at some point during the night because when I woke up in the morning, I could see everything.

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Europe 2016

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With not a lot of time to plan a trip this year, we needed to keep it pretty simple. There is a new flight from Portland to Reykjavik, Iceland so it seemed kind of perfect to explore a new country with the benefit of having a direct flight. The first part of the trip will be in sunny Austria before heading back to cold Iceland.

The flight to Reykjavik was pretty easy and the flight crew were very excited that their soccer team just advanced in a major tournament for the first time on that day.

We landed in Iceland around 6:30 AM and it was 45 outside. It always seems very common in Europe to have planes not pull-up to a gate which forces the people get off outside and take a bus to a terminal. This was the case in Reykjavik so I could feel how cold it was. We then flew to Munich where it was over 90 degrees.

Based on the scenery I saw from the plane window, I’m pretty excited to get back to Iceland and explore the countryside. I’m just hoping the clouds aren’t so low when we get back there.

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