Home

We got up extremely early this morning to catch our first flight, but it wasn't too bad because we were still on Reykjavik time.The flights were short and uneventful, and thankfully our bags were the first ones on the claim! It was odd to finally get home after so long- 3.5 weeks, almost a month! We immediately began doing laundry, and our estimate is that it will take 8 loads to get it done... Anyway, this is it for the blog at least until the next trip (don't know when that will be, this one was pretty major). Bye for now!

Flying to Minneapolis (Mon 8/2)

Sascha left for the airport VERY early this morning. After we had said goodbye to him, we went back to bed and got up a few hours later. Once we were all packed and ready, we took a shuttle to the Keflavik Airport, where we said our goodbyes to Edith and Juergen. It was difficult to say goodbye not knowing when we would see each other again.

After saying goodbye, we went through security and ate some lunch. Our flight was running a little late, but it was smooth and uneventful. The best part was that when we flew over the east coast of Greenland, there were no clouds. We could see the glaciers, frozen ocean, icebergs, etc. The clouds were really pretty as we descended into Minneapolis, too.

Customs was surprisingly pleasant (we didn't have a very good experience returning from Switzerland), and after checking into our hotel, we walked to Granite City for dinner. It felt very weird to be back and almost like our other half was missing. As my dad put it, we felt like the Hobbits (from Lord of the Rings) sitting in the Shire's pub after their journey (of course on a much less epic scale). By the time we got back to the hotel room, it was around 10 p.m., or 3 a.m. Reykjavik time- we all crashed pretty quickly.

Whale/Puffin Watching and Blue Lagoon (Sun 8/1)

Today was our last day together in Iceland. We got a slow start to the day and left for a whale/puffin watching tour around 1. 

The first thing we did on the boat was to go past "Puffin Island", where puffins come to nest once a year. There were so many of them on the island and flying around! They were a lot smaller than I had expected, but still extremely cute! 

Then we went much further out into the bay to watch for whales. For about an hour, we followed 2 or 3 whales around and watched as they surfaced and dove. 

After returning to land, we stopped for a short lunch before my mom, James, Sascha, Edith, and Juergen hopped on a bus to the Blue Lagoon. 

 

 

My dad and I had had enough with touristy things after the Golden Circle Tour, so we decided to stay behind. While they were gone, we took a long walk along the bay. The lighting and color of the water was amazing!   

 

We also stopped at the site where the Cold War was ended.Then we went back to the house and got everything organized and packed. 

 

When they got home, we stayed up late talking, taking pictures, and enjoying our last night together.

Golden Circle Tour (Sat 7/31)

Today we went on the Golden Circle Tour  on a tour bus with a big group. We stopped at a bunch of places, and there is not a ton to say about each one so this entry will be mostly pictures.

The first place we stopped was a geothermic power plant that heats a lot of Reykjavik. Next we stopped at a very small crater lake. Our tour guide had a pretty heavy Icelandic accent and at first he kept saying "we are going to go see the creator (instead of crater)." That said, see the picture of my dad to the right.

After the crater, we made two short stops, one at a church with a view of the valley. Inside the church there was a string quartet practicing- the music was really pretty.  The other stop was at a small waterfall. 

We stopped for much longer at our next stop- the Grand Geyser- for walking around and eating lunch.

Our next place was Gullfoss, also known as Golden Falls. The last stop on our trip was Thingvellir National Park, where there are remains of one of the first parliaments in the world. The view and the clear glacial waters were spectacular, too.

 
 

Bicycling Rekyjavik and Icelandic Horse Ride (Fri 7/30)

Today my dad and I started out by renting mountain bikes!!! When we dropped by home before starting our ride, we invited Sascha along, too. After getting him a bike, we set out around the city. We rode along the bay, through a park, in and around downtown, to a geyser, etc. It was so much fun! We ate lunch halfway through our ride at an American Style restaurant- another burger (and WAY too many fries)! 

When we got home, Sascha and I had about 15 minutes to get ready in order to catch the shuttle that would take us to ride Icelandic horses. Once we got to the barn, we were fitted with helmets, boots, and a horse (according to our skill level). We took a well maintained gravel/dirt trail through lava fields and grassy land. The speed was mostly walking and trotting. At one point there was an option to gallop, but I decided not to. Of course, the minute it was too late I regretted it. Oh well, it was still really fun! 

After getting cleaned up, we all headed out for dinner at a fish and chips restaurant. When we finished with that, we walked around the harbor and watched the beautiful sunset. It was amazing!

Arrival in Iceland (Thurs 7/29)

Today we flew to Iceland! It was sad to leave Freigericht, but we were excited for Iceland. Our flight was running a little late, and we arrived about 40 minutes later than we were supposed to. Then we spent a while trying to get Icelandic Krona.

Once we left security, we quickly found our taxi driver and began the task of trying to fit all of our luggage into his car. It was a challenge and he was about to call another taxi, but we got it all to fit by putting one of our big suitcases stretched across the back seat on the laps of the people in the back. It was a tight fit, but it worked!

When we arrived at the house we are renting, we were shown around by the owner. Then we headed out to walk around downtown Reykjavik and find dinner. We ate at a really cool hole-in-the-wall type local burger joint. Following dinner, James and my mom headed back to the house and my dad and I walked around a little more.

Rothenberg (Wed 7/28)

Today we got up very early and my mom, dad, James, Sascha, and I took a few trains to Rothenberg. We arrived there around 10 a.m. and the town was pretty much empty. We walked around for a while, through the town and along the wall of the city. We also went up into a tower in the wall that overlooked the city.

At one point we let my mom do some shopping and the rest of us continued to walk around the town. It was good that it was kind of rainy all day because it kept a lot of the tourists away. We finished in Rothenberg around 4 p.m. and took the train back home. We had originally planned to go home at 5, and didn't realize that one of our trains was only every other hour, so we ended up getting home at the same time as if we had left at 5. When we got home, we finished our evening off with cocktails with a couple neighbors.

Gang Car and Rhine River

Today we did a fun activity called a "gang car." I think that pictures will describe it a lot better, but I will do my best. A gang car is a vehicle that is mounted on a railroad track and is human powered by bicycle-style peddlers. Ours had seats for three peddlers in the front and seats for four people to sit in the back. The track we took was 20 km long and took us a few hours. We switched out drivers frequently and at one point we stopped in a town to get drinks. It was so fun!!!

When we reached the end of the track, we had lunch and rode a bus back to the car. On our way home, we stopped in a town next to the Rhine and did some walking around and shopping. It had been raining most of the time during the drive, but thankfully it cleared up a little while we were there. We could have gone up on a gondola to a hilltop to look over the vineyards and the river, but it got too late to go up.

Gelnhausen (Sun 7/25)

Today we slept in late and started the day off slowly. Then we headed to Gelnhausen. We'd been there before, but we wanted my dad to see it, too. We walked around the markets, a tower, and a playground. It was so different from before because there were a lot more people out. At one point we split up so some people could shop and some could walk around some more. 

While walking around, my dad noticed something that we hadn't- "tripping stones." They are put in the ground, usually in front of a house, and they are in memory of someone who had lived there who had died in the Holocaust. Some of the information on the "stones" included their name, where they died, date of death, date of deportation, etc. For example, in the picture at right, the lower right stone reads: "Lived here Kurt Hecht, born 1924, deported 1944 to Auschwitz, 1945 to Buchenwald, murdered February 8, 1945." And these stones were everywhere.

We reconvened for a candle light dinner in a nice restaurant. We had our own little cove in the restaurant and took a lot of pleasure from putting the napkins on our heads. They made very nice hats.

Bicycling and Barbecue with Neighbors

Today my dad and I we able to go on a bike ride with Juergen's son, Tim. He got bikes rented for us from a local bike shop, and they were really good bikes! (see pictures). Mine is the yellow one and my dad's is the black and red one.

Around noon we headed out from his house, but first we had to stop at the bike shop to get a longer seat post for my dad's bike (we purchased bottles from the shop, too) and we had to stop to get water. THEN began the ride up the Feldberg. At the beginning it wasn't so bad, although I could definitely feel my lack of exercise for the past two weeks and the hikes from the past two days. As the road turned up, it got harder and harder. I was afraid I wouldn't make it to the top because the road just seemed to keep going and going. Finally we did, though! It felt so good to have conquered that since it was my first real climb (no mountains in Kansas!). 

At the restaurant we had drinks and a bite to eat. Then we headed down! It was chilly up top, so we bundled up for the way down. It was really steep at first but it gradually got less steep. The landscapes and little towns we rode through were amazing and it was so nice to ride on downhill/flat for so long. The weather cleared up, too, making it just about perfect.

We realized when we got to Tim's flat that the next train was in about 20 minutes and we needed to get all of our stuff and drive to the train station really fast. It all might have worked out except we kept hitting all the red lights. We didn't make that train, so we had to get on the next one. We arrived home a tiny bit late and everyone was already here for the barbecue. Our friends were worried because we had been unreachable by cell phone during the ride- Tim's battery was dead and we left ours at his flat... oops.

The rest of the evening we spent with the neighbors, eating, drinking, and having a good time.