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ten years later, in bamberg
for the occasion of my mother in law’s visit, a little bit of travel was in order. not only was it her first time in the czech republic, but her first time in europe, so she was really eager to travel west to neighboring germany (a country of her ancestry) to set foot in the vaterland. even though we are really close to austria here, nope! germany it must be. but if you know me, you know that i had no problem with that. i also knew that she isn’t a big fan of major metropolises, and because bavaria is the closest region of germany to us, a specific city…
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a year of travels: 2016
2016 was (mostly) all sunshine and rainbows over in these parts: i can’t believe (unlike previous years) that we managed some travel in every single month of the year. it really goes to show what you can find in your own backyard if you embrace it. last january, almost a year from now, we experienced highly frenetic weather: the earlier part with a cold burst of snow (the only of that winter!) and in the latter part, temps around 12ºC, which made day trips to places like třeboň (above) ideal. we dined on “carp fries” at supinka restaurant (the best fish restaurant probably in the country – highly recommended!) and marveled in…
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an (im)perfect arrival – the first day in the czech republic
sometimes, i think where you stay when you are traveling has a big effect on how you end up feeling about the place. ease of your arrival there can really set the tone, too. but what if your arrival just goes haywire? as we are nearing our fourth czechaversary now in a couple of weeks, it gets me thinking a lot about our arrival to prague on that cold, mid-november day. such a thrilling feeling to be on the road for months and then have a one-way ticket to a country that you don’t know when you’ll leave (as you might know, i never did). however, the arrival definitely did…
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first video! “one month in iceland”
i’ve been meaning to start making videos forever, and maybe this is what it will take to give me a little jump! i’ve edited together some videos i took over the four weeks in iceland + some funny moments that maybe you would enjoy seeing. the video was filmed at the following places (generally, in this order):flatey islandstykkishólmurat the farm in borgarbyggd (also again near the end) Þjórsá riverdyrhólaeyreynisfjara beachjökulsárlón glacier lagoonon the road in southeast iceland i’d love to hear your thoughts in the comments! thanks for following along. xo this post is part of wanderful wednesday.
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west is the best?
the first taste i got of how laid-back iceland is was on the way to stykkisholmur on the snaefellsnes peninsula in west iceland by bus. the bus left late from the capital because the driver was busy helping two backpackers fit their bicycles in an already packed luggage compartment. we were about fifteen minutes late, and the connection time to catch the second bus in bogarnes was a scant five minutes. after we passed akranes and started for borgarnes, i began silently freaking out. yes, i was that guy who asked the bus driver (when nobody else seemed to care) if he could radio the other driver to tell him…
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tahiti or iceland? when hiking near skaftafell (part of vatnajökull national park in southeast iceland) on a dreamy, warm summer morning, you can’t really be sure sometimes! tropical-looking plants, mountains, waterfalls, colorful wild flowers and sun like nobody’s business. what really is the difference? the waterfall there surrounded by gorgeous, black basalt columns is svartifoss, about 3km from the trail-head at the campsite, where we stayed. there are so many marvelous hiking trails from this area that one could really stay for days and be satisfied here! not to mention the beautiful glacier always looming overhead. just had to pop in with some biiiig photos to share with you my “is it…
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camping road trip, iceland style
hi all! did you have a wonderfully warm and sunny august? i’m back (home) in the czech republic and newly invigorated by this iceland trip, having unexpectedly experienced both sunny and warm weather on the trip. it was a fantastic month, but i wanted to share with you a little about our camping road trip! we spent four days crossing iceland’s south coast, from reykjavik to jökulsárlón and back, which including our interior driving near the southwest golden circle area put us at about 1,000km. why the south coast? well. i was not a newbie to iceland, but having never visited the south coast before, i felt as though it…
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little farm by the canyon
hi guys! how’s your august been? you may know that we are spending almost the entire month of august in iceland, to really do it right this time. the main thing i wanted to do this summer was work-stay (as i have missed it and travel so very much since our adventure began in scotland almost four years ago!) and really build the trip around that. we were so fortunate to be able to do our farm stay on a beautiful little farm in reykholtsdalur in western iceland. when our host picked us up, i was in awe of the landscape around us on the drive there. high, green mossy…
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don’t get lost on flatey
what trip to the north is complete without a visit to an island? (or a trip anywhere, for that matter?) we had a gorgeous first weekend of august out on flatey, an island out in the middle of the breidafjordur between the snaefellsnes peninsula and the west fjords. the island, which literally translates to “flat island”, is only oneof hundreds in this area but is the only one inhabited all year round! as soon as i got reading about it, i realized this is the island that was the setting for the first of my icelandic film series, white night wedding (2008), which is a really sweet film (but much darker than you’d…
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turning a new page on the iceland book
have you ever flown into keflavik airport? on the way into reykjavik city, there are miles and miles of nothing but volcanic rock, just like those on which i am “comfortably” perched in the photo above. it’s like a moonscape, otherworldly, like nothing you’ve ever seen anywhere else. i remember staring out at these rocks during much more uncertain days and under grayer, colder skies and started getting all of the same feelies. i wondered, will this time be different? will i learn to really like this country as i’ve always hoped i would? we were shuttled to the blue lagoon, which, say what you will, i think it is marvelous. geothermal water,…
