"Lovely sunshine!"

There's been a bit of a lull here as we've been coping with some sad times and I havn't felt able to share them here, although I did talk about it on Facebook.  On 21 September our beautiful Mum, who you've met here from time to time, passed away after a serious stroke.  We were in Cornwall when the stroke happened and got back as quickly as we could and were able to see Mum before she passed.   I believe she knew we were with her before she went.

 I think I am in a bit of denial although I do know she's gone.  We've had the necessary offices and next week her friends in Essex will be able to say their goodbyes too at a service in mum's church.

Our service here was, as much as we could make it, a celebration of mum's long life and I am so grateful for my beautiful mum who always gave my brother and I her best.  She had the most beautiful smile despite her difficulties and was a brave and courageous lady.  She was kind, warm, generous, thoughtful, adventurous, sometimes very frustrating, loving, creative, an elegant ballroom dancer and I am so proud that she was my mum.  I have lots of lovely memories to take along with me and when I guffaw outloud I can hear her.

I Blame Facebook!

I seem to spend more time on there and then get drawn into following links and by the time I've caught up with the blogs I read, another evening has gone and I havn't blogged.  Even when I go through the day thinking 'I must blog this when I get home' it slips through my fingers and another day passes.  So, where were we?  

I seem to remember I was telling you about our trip to Iceland and Norway.  Iceland was an experience all round, such a different exotic country (not in the tropical sense but in the 'I've never experienced this before' sense).  We have visited Norway before but went to some new places this time.

First on the agenda was the city of Alesund on a very wet and breezy day.  We took refuge in the beautiful parish church which has a wonderful fresco.  Our visit was perfectly timed to enjoy a short organ concert which sadly I can't show you as it won't upload.  If you click on the link to the organist's page you can select several snippets from his CD, not least Bach's Toccata, one of my all time favourite pieces.

Our second port of call was Olden which we had visited several years ago.  This time we took a trip out to the Briksdal Glacier and were extremely thankful that we had chosen to take a tractor/gator ride for part of the trip up the mountain rather than attempting to walk.

 The Gaters were manufactured by John Deere, a company we are very familiar with in our rural part of the country. 

 After we left the transport we had a not inconsiderable walk to reach the viewpoint for the glacier and were treated to the sight of some impressive rocks that had been left behind as the glacier shrunk.

This is still quite a distant shot of the glacier which was still impressive.  It has many colours within it and many wonderful cracks and shapes.

The glacier used to extend way down the mountain but is now reduced to this restricted size although it does go back further into the mist.

You can see why we didn't walk up, although some from the ship did!

 And yes, we got very wet going past the waterfall!

Our last port of call in Norway was the beautiful Stavanger.  Adjacent to the berth where we docked we could see the Stavanger Konserthus.  This modern building created fascinating shapes and reflections.

The most beautiful part of Stavanger is the old town where people still live and work.  

 

The town is almost dwarfed by the close proximity of cruise ships.

Back on board ship the cruise winds down with the traditional march of the chefs which gives everyone the chance to thank the guys who provide the excellent food during the holiday.

On a personal level I had to thank one particular crew member for saving my life.  

It sounds dramatic and it was very frightening but this wonderful man, Clay, the headwaiter, appeared out of nowhere to help me when I made the mistake of talking and laughing while I was eating and started to choke.  A colleague had already tried to help and failed and Clay took over and swiftly and calmly freed me of the obstruction.  Not only that but he gave me good advice to help me through the next few hours while my throat calmed down.  I am eternally grateful and would love to meet him again at some time in the future.  Thank you, Clay.

Iceland 3

Our last port of call in Iceland was Akureyri which is Iceland's unofficial northern capital.   We didn't see much of the town but took a guided tour further afield to experience the scenery in the surrounding area.  Our tour was romantically called 'Jewels of the North' and began at the high temperature thermal field of Namaskard.

Did I say romantic?  Phooooor!  Nothing could be further from the truth.

This high temperature landscape gives rise to hot mudpools and jets of steam pouring out from the ground.  The noise and the colours are amazing but the smell!  

I'm not usually put off by smells but, dear me, I had to resort to a hanky over my mouth to be able to walk around even for a short while.  Wimp or what!

From the high temperature thermal field we were driven on to Dimmuborgir lava labyrinth.  This is a very strange landscape with contorted lava formations in columns and arches.

The guide took us round this site at a rate of knots but sadly the video I took came out in slow motion so I can't add it here.  

I'm sure this must be a troll's bridge!  Do you remember The Three Billy goats Gruff?  Trolls are an important part of Icelandic life and folklore and people are very respectful even consulting elf/troll experts before planning a road.  In fact, as we drove along I saw about a dozen little wooden doors propped up against large rocks in fields at the side of the road.  

After a short break for refreshments at a local community hall we continued on to the second waterfall of our Iceland visit.

This beautiful cascade is Godafoss and it gained its name at the time of Iceland's conversion to Christianity.  The wooden idols of the old Norse mythology were thrown into the falls in a symbolic gesture that swept away the old religion.  Godafoss literally means Waterfall of the Gods.  Again you are spared a video as they all came out in slow motion. Duh!

Iceland is the most amazing, vibrant and alive country I have yet visited.  I was fascinated when we went to Lanzarote which had a volcanic landscape but it was not alive under your feet in the same way that Iceland is.  This country is literally growing and changing every minute of the day in a very volatile way.  I have never been so close to the life of the earth before and it was amazing!

Next time, on to Norway but first Festival of Quilts!  Yay!!!!

Iceland 2

Our second port of call in Iceland was Isafjordur.  Isafjordur itself is a tiny town which took us only a short time to wander around. 

 Yarnbombing even reaches these remote shores!

 Plants and flowers must have a very short growing season here but people care enough to put a few pots in their garden.

As Isafjordur was so small we took the opportunity to take a boat ride (had we not had enough of being on the water!?) to Vigur Island which lies about 20 minutes away.  

The island is about 2km long by 400 metres wide and is home to a wide variety of birdlife which is what visitors come to see.  The importance of the island is as a home and breeding ground to eider ducks whose down provides an income along with tourism for the family whose antecedents have lived on the island for about 200 hundred years.  Arctic terns also live here and are encouraged to nest as their aggressive tactics protect the eider families.  There are also over 80000 puffins nesting and guillemots also take advantage of island habitat.

We were guided round the island by one of the family and the flag sticks were our patented arctic tern deterrent.  After the hustle and bustle and drama of the previous day this idyllic island felt very nurturing despite its wildness.

We could understand the terns being so annoyed with our intrusion when I spotted a chick in the longer grass at the side of the path.  I was hoping that our disturbance didn't disrupt their breeding too much.

Sadly most of the puffins were sitting out on the water but I did manage to capture one sitting on a rock before our group scared him off,

The puffins were carrying beaksfull of fish so were probably feeding young too.  I was entranced watching them flying around us with their lovely red feet splayed out beneath them.  Sadly no picture of that.

My DH didn't quite get the hang of fending off the terns,

He wasn't trying to hit them, honest!

Just behind the homestead on the island is a 160 year old windmill that was in use until fairly recently,

The family that lived on this island for generations farmed the eider and farmed sheep, taking them across to the mainland for the summer pasture.  You can read about their history and see photos of their hard existence in one of the former farm buildings.

Today the eider are still farmed but tourism provides a large part of their living.  What charmed me was the grandchildren visiting while we were there and playing happily and freely as we all wandered about.  

2013 marks the 350th anniversary of the birth of Arni Magnusson, the manuscript collector.  To celebrate this occasion and the many documents that were collected and saved from oblivion by Arni exhibitons have been staged in 6 locations that are associated with specific manuscripts.  Vigur is one of the locations and while we were there a replica of the Vigur Book of Poetry was on display.

(Excuse the reflections, the photograph was taken through glass)

After some welcome refreshments in the farmhouse our visit to Vigur was too quickly over and it was time for the return trip to the Arcadia waiting for us backin Isafjordur harbour.

 This 200 year old boat was used to ferry animals to the mainland and can still be called upon if necessary today.