Europe
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Iceland – Snorkeling between Tectonic Plates
Hello!!! Here we are at the Thingvellir National Park again! This time we came with the Scuba Iceland Dive Team to dive in the lake, more precisely at the Silfra crack, where the melted glacier water joins the lake, a 50km journey through lava fields that gives this water an all year around temperature of 2 to 3ºC, no matter the water or the season of the year!!
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Laugavegur Hiking Trail – Last Day
Good morning! Breakfast time (yeyyy! -.-‘): oats with hot water, but this time the Russian boys have cinnamon to add on to this mixture. And… wait for it…. aaah it is so much tastier! If I only would have known it earlier… So, today is the last day of this hiking trail… we only have left 15km till the last hut! wwoo hooo! As we are lucky girls we have our sleeping bags and the tent taken in the truck of another Icelandic guide. He explained that he won’t stay in same hut as us… but it is only 3km away from each other… so we thought it is just 3km,…
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Laugavegur Hiking Trail – Day Three
Today, I am in a such good mood that I even try to eat oats mixed with fruity tea… the truth is: it’s slightly better then plain water, slightly! haha Between today and tomorrow we are going to do 30km, 15km each day! As usual, we are one of the last ones to leave the hut! And finally we start our walking through beautiful green mountains… 20 minutes later we have to cross the first river of today… it is not as deep as the one we crossed yesterday, but it’s larger, and of course I go barefoot: s-l-oooo-w-l-yyy stepping on p-a-i-n-f-u-l little stones. Back on dry shoes we carry…
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Laugavegur Hiking Trail – Day two
This day starts in a way I will never forget: eating oats!!!! Plain oats with hot water is disgusting! Back in Reykjavik, when we were shopping the groceries to bring to the trail, Verena had promised me that oats are the best you can eat because it is light, tasty, lasts longer, and it’s full of nutrients to give us the energy for a whole day walking in the mountains. So I was bought by all those arguments and now breakfast became a nighmare for next few mornings! Just because I still had the “full of nutrients” part echoing in my head, I managed to force myself to just eat and not throw up the whole bowel of…
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Laugavegur Hiking Trail – Day one
8h00 – it’s time to catch the 4 hours coach to Landmannalaugar. The further we are taken away from Reykjavik, the rougher the landscape is: it’s lava and more lava for kilometers. The view is indescribable and just the ride is amazing! Nearly at the end, the driver does a quick stop so we can go out and take some pictures from the top of the mountain, facing a big lake and other green mountains. 10 minutes later we arrive at Landmannalaugar: our starting point of a 4 days hiking trail – Laugavegur, a 55 km trail! I must admit I feel a bit nervous now that we are actually…
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Golden Circle
8am, time to join the Dutchies: Tijmen, Johan and Jeroen, who is driving. Our first stop is Þingvellir (Thingvellir) National Park, a UNESCO World Heritage. It was here that after the settlement of Iceland, plans were made for a formal government structure, commenced about 870 AD. The wind and rain does not stop us from walking around the park. Other excursions just arrived too, and we all have a good laugh by watching how a cute chinese couple fight against the wind with 1/4 of an umbrella 🙂 -> Walking down the path, we cross the river and there is like sort of a little village with: a little church, 4 little houses…
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Reykjavik, Iceland
23h30, we landed in Reykjavik, Iceland’s capital! Verena travelled from Netherlands to London to meet me, so we got the same flight. We haven’t got much planned yet and we only know where we are going to sleep the first 2 nights, out of 10. Still at the airport, several companies provide transport to city center and prices are about 2400ISK (no idea how much is it in €/£…). But we found a return ticket for only 4000ISK and we head to the coach. They asked us which hostel we are going to stay and dropped us right at the hostel! Nice! It’s already after 1am when we check-in!…
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Roadtrip in Scotland – waterproof tent?!
Day 3 Drop, Drop, Drop… I wake up with water dropping on my head. Without moving I look around, what is happening?! It’s raining outside and also inside our tent! hahaha, so good! -.-‘ As I sit up, so Marie and Thibaud wake up. We have to get out of here as soon as possible… but first shake the laziness from the body and get the courage to face the Midges! That’s right, they are back, and they are just outside looking for a little hole to get in! Rain does not scare them away! Ready, steady, go! In few minutes everything is taken back to the car! What to do next?! We need fuel……
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Road Trip in Scotland – Sheep on the Road
Day 2 The heat inside the tent wakes us up shortly after 7am… as we open the tent the sun blinds us briefly and as we regain our vision, we come across this amazing view: Wowww! There are no Midges! So it’s true, they don’t like the sun. We climb the mountain, following the sound of the water running and we end up finding the perfect place for a bath, well a sort of bath! With our bikini, towels and our nature-friendly-soap, here we go! The water is nicely cold and refreshes our body and soul. …………………………………….. After a lovely breakfast – picnic mode – we get back on the road with…
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Road Trip in Scotland – Driving on the left
Day 1 I have to admit: for the last couple of weeks I couldn’t stop thinking on the adventure we were about to start now: Road Trip in Scotland and wild camping for 6 days!! Marie and Thibaud came from France to London to visit me and last night we got the National Express coach from London to Glasgow – a 10 hours journey that we’ve got for as little as £22. 7:20 am, we arrived in Glasgow… the city is slowly awaking up for another day. The downtown of Glasgow is not that big and there is not that much to see, but we found people from here very…
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Bonfires, spells and traditions in Spain
We are running late! As usual.. After washing off the salt from a day at the beach, me and Nuria leave the house in a hurry to meet other friends. In the air there is a smell of bonfires, it reminds me so much of the winters in my childhood at my grandparents village. Tonight, families and friends gather together to celebrate the Saint John’s night around a bonfire. We head to the beach, Cangas, north of Vigo in Galicia. It’s nearly midnight and we arrived! The scenery we see is heartwarming… The beach has a bonfire every few meters, some wilder than others. Around the fire friends happily gather chatting, singing, drinking,…
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Tapas in Santiago de Compostela
10 am, just arrived in Santiago de Compostela, the capital of Galicia, in the north of Spain! After completing 101 rounds to the big University Campus (no, I’m not exaggerating!) we found a place to park the car. I have been looking forward to this trip, the start of the summer (London’s sun hasn’t been very generous lately). It’s such a beautiful day! The sun is shining… owh but it is still cold! Jackets will have to stay on!
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A year ago today (I moved to London)…
After almost 1h in the underground from the airport till the city center of London, I realized how little I know about this city! Between buying the one way flight ticket on an impulse and landing in the lands of Her Majesty, it has only passed 1 week. The only research I’ve done was about finding a nursing job and a room to rent. In my suitcase I have the papers to take to the Nursing Council, the directions of how to get to the hostel and the hope to start a new life. A voice reports the next stop is PICCADILLY CIRCUS, my final destination. Out of the underground, I…
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Paris by the riverside
Looking at the map: “well, we are here, we want to go there, it’s 3 little squares… it’s fine to walk!” And after walking by the Seine river for 2hours with a few stops for photographs, we understand that every little square is equivalent to 2km! I lost count on how many bridges we passed, but the following one is special: it’s a footbridge, it is not the famous Pont des Arts – known for the lovers padlocks. It is the Passerelle Solférino, which also has some padlocks. Lovers come here to lock their padlock and throw the key in the river as a symbol of eternal love. One looking-old padlock has written: Sophie…
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Moulin Rouge
It’s getting dark and after another adventure in the underground of Paris, we come out to the streets to be welcomed with fluorescent colors, appealing, twinkling slogans in the shops that we can read: SEX STORE, CRAZY SEXY TOYS, FANTASY…
