Adventures in Iceland

We're back in Sweden now after a great week in Iceland with Pelle, Åsa and Vendela. Just under 300,000 people live in this country, which has about the same amount of land as England. It is still pretty modern although it's a small country. One Icelander described their culture to us as "The best in the world - it's a mix of the American and European cultures." We don't know if it's the best in the world but it's definitely a mix.

The middle of Iceland is similar to the middle of Australia in terms of not being habitable but for different reasons - the middle of Iceland is full of glaciers, ice fields, and lava and ash deserts from volcano eruptions while the middle of Australia is desert (or "The Outback"). We visited the south and west sides of Iceland, driving on the Ring Road that follows the coast line. We stayed in the larger cities of Reykjavik and Keflavik and the smaller country towns of Anarstapi and Vik.

While there weren't many buildings to tour, there were many beautiful natural sites to see. We saw Þingvellir (where the tectonic plates are separating causing a rift), waterfalls, cliffs, black beaches, geysirs and hot springs, and lagoons. And the highlights - besides spending time with our family of course - were going horse trekking on Icelanding horses down to a beach, dog sledding on the Myrdalsjökull glacier, and relaxing in the heated Blue Lagoon.


Þingvellir


Þingvellir


Kerid Crater


Western peninsula

Arnarstapi

Horse trekking on Icelandic horses


Horse trekking


Skogarfoss waterfall


Skogarfoss waterfall


Vendela provided entertainment in the car


Dog sledding on the Myrdalsjökull glacier


Our dog sled team - they were featured in the movie Tomb Raider

Relaxing in Sweden

We've been relaxing in Sweden for just over two weeks. We've spent a lot of time with family in Linköping and Stockholm as well as preparing for our travels starting in September. Below are some family pictures, mostly from Klas's brother Erik's 18th birthday celebration.

Tomorrow we leave with Pelle, Åsa and Vendela to go to Iceland for one week so we're pretty excited.


With Åsa and Karin for our 'girls' day' at a spa


Pappa Lars and Lotta


Pelle, Åsa and Vendela - Vendela's grown so much since we saw her in May


Happy 18th Birthday Erik


18th Birthday Celebration Dinner for Erik


Brunskog Bros - Carl, Pelle, Klas and Erik


With mamma Kerstin and Bosse

Guinness is Good For You

Probably Klas's highlight on the trip so far was visiting Old Trafford, home of Manchester United. Here Klas happily sits in manager Sir Alex's chair.


Thatched roof cottage, Chipping Campden in the Cotswolds, England


Quick bite to eat with our friend Leo in West Bromwich, England


Hiking the Catbells mountain in Keswick, England


Loch Ness but no Loch Ness Monster, Scotland


Kilmainham Gaol, Dublin, Republic of Ireland


"Guinness is Good For You" at the Guinness Gravity Bar, Dublin, Republic of Ireland

Cliffs of Moher, Republic of Ireland

We've been driving through Great Britain and the Republic of Ireland the past three weeks. With trying to cover so much ground in a short period of time, we haven't had a chance to update our blog until now.

Driving through these countries has been a nice change of pace as we weren't tied to train schedules but could stop at smaller towns along the way to our next place to stay. We toured historical venues and enjoyed the beautiful countryside. We stayed at bed and breakfast guest houses, which was also a nice change as we could meet more people and eat hearty breakfasts. Thanks to Aunty Lisa (she became our travel agent and was excellent at it) for booking many great places for us and saving us from spending a lot of time at internet cafes!

Since we left London, one of the highlights was being able to meet up with our friend Leo (see posting on March 30 where we visited Leo, Nikki, Amelia and Lainey in Florida) in West Bromwich, England, since Leo was on a business trip. And we were able to tour Old Trafford, the home ground for Klas's favourite football - soccer for the Aussies and Americans reading this - team, Manchester United.

We appreciated being able to communicate in English all of the time and understanding how the cultures are different even though everyone speaks English. In the Republic of Ireland, it seems that many people really do believe the slogan in the advertisement "Guinness is Good For You."

We visited the following cities/areas:

• England - London, Bath, Avebury, Lacock, Cotswolds villages, Keswick and the North Lake District, York
• Wales - Cardiff, Conwy and North Wales
• Scotland - Oban, Loch Ness and the Highlands (we didn't see the Loch Ness Monster), Inverness, Edinburgh
• Republic of Ireland - Dublin, Kilkenny, Cashel, Dingle and the Dingle Peninsula, Galway, Connemara and County Mayo
• Northern Ireland - Belfast

Now we're back in Sweden until early September. It feels nice to be back 'home' with family and to take a break from the traveling - yes, we know, life is tough. We've really enjoyed the past thirteen weeks of sightseeing and visiting new places. However, we've been looking forward to being with family, having home-cooked meals, and just relaxing in a house without feeling like we should be out and about. We've realised while traveling that we've taken things like having a routine and sitting on our couch to watch tv for granted...but, we're also not ready yet to give up these experiences...