This Heart Was Made for Traveling

Today was the earliest of all my mornings this trip. I gathered up my belongings and headed to the airport. After waiting for security to open and then to get a gate assigned I headed to my gate the bored the plane. The plane ride to Lisbon was uneventful. I got through boarder control shortly after getting to the airport. I tried to find a locker to put my bag in but was unsuccessful. I decided to take it with me and got an Uber. After a long ride to downtown Lisbon, lots of morning traffic, I got to Parce de Figurera where I caught a hop-on-hop-off bus. I decided this was the best way to see the city in the little time I had.  I enjoyed the tour. I made sure to get a spot on the top of the bus and we started driving around. The tour took us around for 2 hours before circling back to the starting spot. There were lots of great things to see along the way. I hope to come back and explore them more in the future. After getting off the bus I did some postcard shopping and...

I was very tired last night so I slept well. I got up a little before 7. After. Getting ready I headed back to Calton Hill so I could explore it in the daylight. The walk was quick and nice, even through it rained a little on the way. The hill was nice and better in some ways since I could see more of the monuments on the walk, and the city, it was also cool to see the city in the dark with all the lights.  I spent an hour wandering around the grounds for an hour. After that I started a slow walk back to my hostel. I made a few stops along the way and enjoyed watching the city hustle, so much different in the morning before all the tourists are up.  Once my hostel mate was up we headed to breakfast at The Edinburgh Cafe. I wanted English bacon so I got eggs Benedict which was great. The coffee was also good. We ate and planned our day.  We decided to explore after breakfast. Our first stop was St. Gile's Cathedral. It is beautiful inside and outside. We also w...

Last night I slept poorly but I still feel pretty good. I was up early, especially since I could not sleep. After once more packing up our things we were off. It was about a 20 minute walk from our hostel to the Euston-London station.  Once we got there we noticed that our original train information was not listed on the boards for departure. We thought something like this might happen as there was a planned strike for London's trains. We got in line and found an alternative train to Edinburgh. On the train we had reserved seats with a table to work at. I really enjoy being on the train. It's one of my favorite modes of transportation, especially in Europe. This train was comfortable and not overcrowded. However, usually I write on the train and this time I didn't. Today we met a lovely British couple who chatted and joked with us the entire rest of the way to Edinburgh. There was also a lovely British woman who was there on the train for a while. We all chatted...

A very early morning had us climbing out of our bunks at 5am. We had mostly packed up the night before so it was just a matter of getting ready and then stashing what we did need in the bags.  We caught a shuttle to the bus station and then took the 45 minute bus ride to the airport. Not many people were in the airport that early. I breezed through security and passport control.  Our flight was slightly delayed due to the incoming plane being late. However, we got on the plane and set off shortly after our scheduled time so it wasn't an issue.  The plane ride was pretty comfortable. I was able to get a little extra sleep on it. It wasn't overly crowded either so that was nice. Plus the crew was British so I enjoyed listening to them and the pilot talk. Getting to downtown London was a bit of a challenge. We caught a shuttle, then the train, and then walked to our hostel to drop our bags. Overall it went fine it was just a bit confusing at first.  Once we ...

Today Mom and Tom headed home. They got up early and we all went for pastries and coffee at the bakery down the road from the hostel. They dropped me back off at the hostel after and left. Back at the hostel I spent a lazy morning getting ready. It was rainy and windy outside so it was not inviting. Around 10 we put our bags in the storage room and headed to the center of the main part of the town. We went up I'm the tower of the church in the center square. From there you can see all of the city. It was pretty cool. It was also very windy. We stayed up there and listened to the bells toll. Then descended down. From there we walked down some of the main Shopping and tourists streets. There is a street that was painted with a rainbow and there were lots of shops along the way. We made it to the Icelandic Phallic Museum. It houses over 200 members of various species on the planet. It is filled with lots of facts and other weird things. It was interesting and fun to say we...

On the road again today I drove through the rain. It was on and off throughout the morning. It can make for an interesting drive, especially on roads where I was unsure of where I was going and not sure of every road sign. Our first stop was the troll garden. It is pretty cool. There is a river and falls that legend says that the trolls created. Around the field were other troll myths and stories. It was fun to walk around. There was lots to see there. After that we made our way to a small village along the ocean edge. We wandered along the coastal path there. We then ate a lovely lunch inside a museum and checked out some local shops. It was beautiful. Back in the car we got. We drove through a 6km tunnel that went over one section of water which was pretty cool. Then we went into downtown Reykjavík where we drove past some of the major sights. We dropped the car and bags off at the hostel. Then we wandered around on foot. We got in some souvenirs shopping and window shopp...

Another day another early morning. We got ready and packed up the car. Then it was back on the road we go. We wound our way through the mountains along another fjord. Up in the mountains there was snow. The roads were winding but fortunately not slippery. The roD views were beautiful. We continued on to a western peninsula where I got to see one of the waterfalls I had most wanted to see. It is the waterfall Kirkjufellsfoss. It's an amazing waterfall with two small sets of falls and then a huge mountain that makes a very dynamic scene. We went out and had lunch after walking around the falls. Then we wound along the coastline some more. We made it into Snæfellsjökull National Park. It's very beautiful. There is a glacier sitting on top of an inactive volcano.  We climbed to the top of a large crater . The stairs around it were very interesting and looking inside the crater was neat. From the tope of the crater you could see a 360* view of the national park and then ...

Today was another long day of driving. We hopped in the car early in the morning and headed out. We wound our way through the West Fjords.  The first part of the drive we were on the road by the ocean. Then we drove higher into the mountains. Up there we had both snow and rain as we drove.  The drive was very pretty. There was so much to see our our windows. We stopped and had lunch at a little cafe in a small town we passed through. We continued on and continued to explore. We also drove through two tunnels as well, one 5km long and one 6km long. We then made it to Dynjandi waterfalls. It is much larger than it looks in pictures. It was. Fantastic hike up past the 7 falls that make up the park. There is so much water gushing through the falls and mountain. The scenery is overwhelming and stunning. After our hike we headed down the other side of the fjords. It was even more impressive. We were driving along cliff edges and through beautiful mountains. Several of th...

Today was a day of mostly driving. We slept in and ate breakfast before packing up the car again. The morning was cold, cloudy and gloomy. On the road we wound our way down route 1. It started to snow and rain through out the morning. We wound our way along the coast. It is very beautiful even with the snow and rain. There are lots of mountains along the coastline. We headed towards the West fjords in the afternoon. Here the road alternated between paved and stone roads. It was fun to drive down. Here the sheep and even a horse roamed free. There was even a few sheep in the actual road. Don't worry we didn't hit them.  We continued on until we came to the small town Holmavik. Here we went to the Icelandic Museum of Sorcery and Witchcraft. It was pretty interesting. I learned that more men were accused of witchcraft than any females. It was both a cool and creepy museum. After the museum we wandered around the town. There wasn't a lot to see but it was good to ge...

Today was a relaxing day. We had another slow start to the day and enjoyed breakfast before heading back on the road. It is still raining here. I am hoping for some sunnier weather soon. Back in the car we traversed more of route one and headed northward in Iceland. Here the landscape changed drastically. It seemed like something out of another world. It looked like we were in space. Lava flow has clearly impacted the landscape lot. We drove up a dirt road with lots of rocks and puddles to dodge. After a short, fun, and interesting walk we made it to Dettifoss Falls. They are the second strongest falls in Europe. They are pretty fantastic. We walked a bit more of the path before turning back for the car.  Back on the road we wound our way through more of the roadways and over the mountains. There was snow in some places. We made it to our next spot which was Myvatn Geothermic area where we wandered around the small geothermal pools and holes. One had to be careful where...

Today was a slow start to the day. I got to sleep in this morning then ambled my way downstairs. In the dining area of the hostel I found cereal. We were going to have coffee but the power went out. Once the hostel manager came she fixed it. We had coffee and ate breakfast before packing up for the day.  We hopped in the car and headed on our way. Our only real goal was to get to our next town which was Egilsstaoir, where our hostel was for tonight. We wound our way through the fjords.  There were many beautiful sights along the way. There were dozens of waterfalls. The shores had rocks and cliffs. There were some snow capped mountains too. Some of the mountains had almost terrace-like edges to them.  We stopped and had lunch at a really good cafe that was in a small town just off route 1. I had a delish pasta dish. We also walked around the waters edge after lunch and enjoyed the mountains in the distance. We continued to wind our way around the fjords and mo...

This was another early morning. We headed out to a beach that was near the hostel. We stayed in a hostel in Vik and there are several magnificent beaches there. The beach we went to had wonderful rock formations in the ocean and hexagon rocks along the cliff edge. We watch the waves crash and the sunrise from the beach. This is one of the black sand beaches and is called Reynisdranger Beach. Then it was on to the main adventure of our day. We were going glacier hiking. It was part of Vaynajokull National Park and Skaftafell. We met our guide and got all our equipment. We had to wear harnesses, helmets, carry pick axes and we also had crampons to bring with us. We talked with our guide and hopped on the bus. The bus ride to the glacier was on a rough and wild road but it was fun. Once we got to the glacier, known as Falljökull, we got more of our gear on and started the hike. Along the way the guides explained lots of information about the glacier here and others. There are ...

Today was a rainy start to the day. My friend and I got up and made breakfast and got ourselves ready for the day. We also went on a quick adventure because my friend had discovered a place that had good cinnamon rolls and good coffee. It was a windy day walking around. When we got back to the hostel we got the car a 9am. From there we were off. The drive was rainy but beautiful. It was hard to see some of the mountains. Our first stop was Pingvellir National Park. I spent the first few minutes wandering around trying to find a bathroom. It seemed like I went on a random scavenger hunt. In the end I at least saw some beautiful sights while I saw searching.  The first part of our hike was to the fissure where we could stand between the North American and Eurasian tectonic plates. If you were brave enough to swim or scuba dive you could do that but we opted for the warmer option and watched and walked around. It was pretty neat. The next part of this hike was to the overl...