Update #33 - Iceland - the land of fire and ice

April 10th, 2011 -

Hi there folks....i know, i know...its been almost two months since this trip and i am finally getting around to sending out the update....sorry about that, but we have now come barreling into the fourth quarter and time is flying past....this is actually my first full weekend in zagreb since the beginning of march...and it is the last one i am here until the beginning of may....i love this time of year....it's sunny...i am hitting the road....i am eating dark chocolate ice cream and did i say its sunny.....so much better and spring break is just around the corner, when i am off to edinburgh, scotland....a new spot in my life.....woot!!!!

but let's talk about this amazing trip to this incredible place of iceland.....all i can really say is wowowowowowowow and that my pictures do not do it justice....i will return to this part of the world when i can get all the way around the island and check out some of the interior....many people have asked if it was a crazy idea to go there in february....and i, and my friend catherine who traveled with me would say NO WAY!!!! it was named iceland, but we discovered they got the name wrong....they (the vikings that is) mixed it up with greenland....iceland is green and greenland is ice....so we didn't even have snow while we were there....it was mainly sunny and beautiful....we did have a day of rain....but that's it.....

we stayed in the town of Reykjavik and really enjoyed it....iceland has a total of 300,00o people on it and about 200,00 are in reykjavik....yes...you did not read that wrong.....2/3 of them live in the capital city and its cute and quaint and has absolutely amazing food....the other big question we got from people was about the prices of things.....yes - its expensive....but is it doable....i think so....yes....and if you are a camper and hiker and rock climber, then it would be cheaper than the route we took....although you would have to go in spring/summer/fall.....and the final question people asked was did you see the northern lights - and the answer is yes...but my camera was not good enough to capture them on film.....sorry about that....but it was amazing and mostly green and it looked like an artist had swiped a paintbrush with green across the sky....it was stunning....

which brings us to the pictures....and again....my camera did not do it justice.....i thought i would start with the quirky road crossing signs....don't you love the smiley and not smiley faces....very creative....which is what icelanders are....creative....they have come up with ways to use geothermal energy and they have greenhouses that are so big and bright you can see them from space (if you haven't figured it out yet - i LOVED this place!).....

this next shot was taken from the city hall building...feeding the ducks and geese is a favorite past time of families here in reykjavik....we even saw a little kid fall in while feeding the ducks and then get rescued by some guy who was there taking pictures....it was incredible & scary....if you look at the shot close enough you can see the the ice is partially gone...and the swans are hanging out on the ice on one foot....all of them were doing this....it was wild....in the background are some buildings along the lake....iceland is a conglomeration of architecture....a real mish-mash....especially the churches....more to come on that....

they also take they art seriously and have it everywhere....i loved this "block-head" statue....it was down behind some buildings, just kind of standing there....

and here is what i meant by the churches....this is the hallgrimskikja....you can actually climb to the top of the middle tower, but unfortunately every time we walked up to the church we either just missed opening hours or there was a funeral....it just was not meant to be and is a great reason for me to go back....
i even loved this church from the back as you can see - and check out that blue sky - wowowow... i guess its a lutheran church....but we never got inside....and was named for a poet/clergyman...i just thought it was an amazing piece of architecture....as were most of the churches we saw here...and all of them were different from each other....
the next shot is of a viking ship - called the solar craft....it is along the waterway that surrounds reykjavik....it is an amazing piece of art that you can walk around and climb on and fits perfectly with the past and present of this part of the world....i love that the mountains are in the background as well....they had snow, but there was none where we were....love it!!!!!!

we wandered around all of reykjavik....and we even tried to find the harbor....but this is all we could find....it was crazy....i did find a place that i was told sold the best lobster soup and had been selling the best lobster soup for 47 years....let me tell you....it was tasty....i didn't try many of the specialties of iceland while in town....many of them i just couldn't do....but i did have lobster and a drink called black death (vodka infused with caraway seeds - yucky!!!) i did not have reindeer or whale or seal or lamb.....so maybe when i go back i will need to do that...maybe

the shot below is some more of the cool art around reykjavik....this guy is just relaxing and looking back over the lake to city hall....the picture close to the beginning of the lake - this is the same one....just a different angle.....very cool....we actually were on our way to the national museum of reykjavik....which i have to say was a very cool place, with an interesting layout....the history of this place is just amazing....it started with all of the ruffians that were kicked out of norway....and they stopped in the UK along the way and picked up women and slaves to take with them into exile.....and that's just the beginning....just crazy.....

we also made it outside of the capital city....we hit the blue lagoon...a stunning waterway that is a geothermal spa, where the water has a combination of sulfur, calcium, salt and silica....people climb into the hot water and just soak for hours (or at least that is what we did)....it is amazing and you can see from the shot below that the water is truly blue....not artificially either....it comes this way.....simply stunning,...

on the way to the blue lagoon the landscape looks like something from the side of a volcano...i have never seen anything like this except for in hawaii and the galapagos....its incredible landscape....although instead of just being lava rocks....it is lava rocks coated in green moss and lichen....just incredible....i kept trying to get pictures of this, but they just didn't turn out as i wanted them to....another reason to go back with a better camera......
on our last full day in iceland, we rented a car and drove the golden circle and then some....and it was stunning....we went to the place of the first parliament on this planet....it was founded in the place below in 930.....yep....you read that correctly.....just amazing....and this is where two continental plates slam into each other so the cliff faces and upwelling and geology of this place is incredible......
from parliament we went to these enormous falls...gullfoss waterfall...which sometimes freeze in the winter (which i wish we had seen)......so much water, but it was not frozen....because of the slush and ice here and there, we were not allowed to go down close to the waterfall (another reason to go back)....the amount of water falling was incredible....it is a two tiered waterfall and stunning....

along this route we also saw the icelandic horses that live all over iceland....as you can see they were wearing their winter coats....and i guess they were specifically bred for iceland and are found nowhere else in the world....i loved that this one stared me in the eye as i was taking the shot :)

from waterfalls, continental rifts and horses to geysers.....this was one of my favorite things we did in iceland....we stopped in this national park and you just get to walk along the edge of the geysers as they are bubbling and erupting....nothing like the strict rules and walkways of yellowstone....didn't really have the microbial colors either....but amazing to listen to, smell and watch erupt none-the-less....below you can see one of the bubbling pools....this was around 100 degrees celsius....hot, hot, hot.....

i took this shot so you could see how close people were allowed to get to the geysers....this is stokkur before it erupts....which is does every 8-9 minutes.....you can stand this close and watch it bubble and hiss.....

and when it erupts, some of the liquid may even land on you....there were a bunch of kids there when we were there (they were brits)....and they stood right where it was the wettest and then complained that the water was hot and made their clothes smell.....hmmmmmm....smart kids, that group......

while we were in town one night we went to comedy show about the history of iceland and how it all began....when we got there there was a crown on the chair to be used in the show....if any of you know catherine, you know how much she loves being a princess and because she was so good during the show as an audience member, she got to perform in it and wear the crown....all hail princess catherine!!!!!
and of course there had to be a traditional shot of me here too....of course with the viking beer....the food and drink of iceland was amazing....from the tasty lattes to the gourmet and incredibly expensive pizzas, to the homemade thai food at the best place in town and the incredible lobster soup tradition.....and of course the beer....as you can see from my smile....

so there you have it....iceland in a nutshell....i really, really , really loved this trip and i will go back there again....just not sure when....i highly recommend this place for a visit....but rest assured, it will cost a bit of money once you get there....even though the locals say everything has dropped by an enormous amount.....but it is totally worth it in my book....a beautiful land of ice and fire....i hope to see volcanoes next time around and make it all the way around the island....get there if you can....you will not be disappointed....

okay....that's it for this update.....the next one will be about a trip i took to italy with my friend wendy from the ice....and then i went to a robotics competition in romania....where my kids won...i will probably just include a cool shot of the robot....it was a blast and sooooooo cool to see past students, friends and colleagues and get to say goodbye.....my last big trip during this school year is to scotland for part of spring break....more on that, after it happens.....

hope all is well with you and your families....drop a line if you wish and i will try and get back to you....life is on full speed though, so please do not hate me if i don't get back to you quickly....the end of the year is approaching fast....yahoo!!!! enjoy spring and talk soon.....

Update #32 - Amsterdam & London

March 6th, 2011

hey there folks....well, i am trying to catch back up and many folks have said they wanted to see iceland stuff as soon as possible....and although that was my most recent trip, i still need to get amsterdam in here....so i have combined my january trip to the dam and the end of my feb break stop in london for this update and iceland will be the next one sent....and what a trip that was....more on that soon....

my trip in january to amsterdam was for work....a middle school teacher conference....always a great place to see old friends and learn new strategies to handle the hormonal years of middle school....and this year i was lucky enough to get to go to amsterdam....if you haven't been here, you have missed a rare gem....i LOVE this town....from the amazing food, to the beautiful train station, to the lights and the incredible canals....of course the red light district is interesting to walk through and vapors in the air let you know you are in a place with interesting rules that differ from most places.....and the bicycles....watch out!!!!!! they will run you down and have the right of way....well, at least they seem to....what a place....

in the shot the below you see what one of the main squares was looking like all dressed up with holiday lights still....i took this shot as we were forever searching for a really good indian restaurant we had been told about....never found the place and settled with mediocre instead....but it was fun to jump the trams, walk around the small streets and see the leaning buildings (more on that later)....

i figured i would include a picture of the bicycles and how prevalent they in amsterdam....they have places for bike parking only....this is one of the biggest ones i saw, while dodging bikes of course....its right outside of the train station....so well organized and green is this town....love it....
the shot below is one that was taken across a canal....as you can see the buildings here are very tall and narrow....matter of fact at the top of most of these buildings you will find a pulley system so people who live int he buildings can haul their purchases up outside of the stairwells, which are usually super narrow!!!! the buildings on the edges of canals are running into problems these days, with sinking foundations....you can see the brick building is sagging pretty hard on the right hand side....incredible....and these leaning/sinking/sagging buildings can be found all over...i love the way the buildings look squished and that they are so narrow....makes for cool architectural views.....
of course most people know about the red light district in amsterdam....and yes, i did walk down the main canal and caught some window dressing in other parts of the city....but in most spots the women in the windows do not want you to take pictures....which was fine with me....but as i came across the window below, i had to laugh....who knew there were so many different kinds of crazy condoms....yes, these are all condoms....i actually shared this picture with my 8th graders as we were studying contraception in wellness/health....they were just as amazed....who knew???? oh, and some of these are female condoms....not male....if you need to know more....just ask....heck, if i can teach this stuff to 8th graders, i can teach it to anybody :)

one of the other cool stores i came across was this one....it was a dutch souvenir shop....and yes, the cows are on the ceiling....as i am sure you are aware, this area of the world has some of the best cheese ever....and of course i sampled some and brought some back to be shared....yummy....but this shop was definitely the winner for most creative ceiling in my book....

i have to say, one of my favorite things about amsterdam is all of the water....and the houseboats along the canals are amazing....people really take care of them.....maybe some day that will be where i will need to live for a little bit....obviously not in the near future....but you never know....

this is the train station....an amazing building and i have to say, very efficient, but always under construction....well, at least every time i have been here...i still have never seen the main museum of the city without scaffolding....beautiful, but crazy construction....

this last shot was taken at the heineken factory, as that is housed in amsterdam....and the conference where i was had our last party in this particular factory....the coolest thing is that they card you and if you are not of age in your home country, you may not partake in this adult disney world....imagine our surprise when we got to the end of the tour and were directed to the bar on the top floor....where we had an open bar with seven different types of beer to choose from and a DJ.....i sampled each beer....and was on the dance floor for a turn or two ;)

from amsterdam to london....where i spent two days at the end of my feb break.....we actually had sunny skies the first day and did the hop-on hop-off bus....it was an amazing way to see the sunshine and sunset in london....the place we stayed was right around the corner from the sherlock holmes pub....so of course we had a few drinks in there and thought about solving a crime or two.....

on the open air bus we saw all the highlights of london....including the gruesome tower of london....so much death happened here in the past....even if it is a beautiful building....

and of course i was blown away again by the stunningness of big ben and the parliament building....these are two of my favorite structures in this incredible town.....

our second day in town we actually went outside of town to greenwich, someplace neither cat nor i had been to....so close and free boat trip convinced us to go....and what a great stop for a pair of science geeks....this is one of the official time keepers in greenwich, where the prime meridian is located....so this is where longitude starts and official worldwide time is kept....

the red ball is also a time keeper....it rises to the top of the pole everyday and falls at precisely 1pm in the afternoon....why 1pm???? i have no idea....but its the same time every day and its how time was announced visually.....pretty cool.....

here you see the electronic version of the time keeper and the the line that separates east from west....

and of course, just like i did at the equator (north and south line), i had to stand over the line with one foot in the west and one in the east....very cool if you ask me....plus, we got to see all the clock inventions that had been part of the longitude race....i actually got to see the H1, H2, and H4....i know, geeky stuff....but way cool if you are into it....

on our way back into town i had to take a picture of another one of my favorite buildings....this is city hall...many londoners hate this building....i really like it....it adds a flash of modern in a rather architecturally older styled city....i know many will disagree with me...but i think this gives the thames its own flair.....nicknamed the pineapple....

the last shot i got before heading to see the show wicked - which is incredible and if you have not seen it, you really should.....was of this colorful building next to the london eye....we were amazed at how many tourists were hanging in london....so it made for crowded times, but also fun times to see all of the diversity....simply amazing....

my last shot for better or for worse, is in a british pub....this place had some tasty treats, including cider on tap.....yea strongbow!!!! yummy!!!! and how could you not stop in a pub for some chips and a beer.....perfect end to a perfect day!

so there's my update for amsterdam and london....both very cool towns, with lots to do and lots to see, every time i go back :) my next update will be out soon....i promise....it's going to cover my recent trip to iceland....wowowowowowowow.....

things here in croatia are fine.....you may see something on the news about protests, and yes, they have started here against the government....seems to be the thing going on worldwide....they have been peaceful and on the smallish side....but it's true....we are having them too....school is fine....people are stopping by from the ice in the coming months and i am excited and i have started organizing visa stuff for china....so life is rollin' on....

i hope you and your families are well and have a fun mardi gras/fat tuesday/fasnik.....and be sure to have a doughnut....that's what they eat here to celebrate (i found out poland does too)....drop a line if you wish and hopefully i will get back to you sooner rather than later....peace out.....

Update #31 - Thailand for the Holidays

February 13th, 2011

Hey there folks....sorry it has taken me so long to get another update out, but life has been crazy busy since i got back from bangkok...this past week was the school-wide science day that i organize...it went well, but kept me busy...plus i was in amsterdam for a conference and have tried to stay on top of my classes....but enough excuses....sorry

this update is for the holidays - xmas and new years - in thailand - a country i love for the friendly people, warm weather in december and january, multiple chances for swimming, the islands and of course thai food....yummy!!! this trip originally was for the job fair, but i didn't have to have that stress during my break due to already having a job....i did stay at the swanky hotel where the job fair was held and ran into many a stressed out person ...i met my new director while i was there, met up with a past student of mine and hung with one of my favorite families on the planet....

most of my time was in bangkok proper, but i did make it to one of the islands for some fun at the beach....koh samui...it was a bit rainy, but oh so nice to hit the waves and i even found a bar on the beach that had swings....

so let's move into the pictures....below is one of a tuk-tuk...i rarely traveled by tuk-tuk this trip, because they are notorious for ripping tourists off...and cabs and the sky train fit my budget and schedule...plus they were close by....however, i love tuk-tuks for some odd reason...there is no other travel like this in the world....exhaust smoke and all...love em....

on one of our daily wanderings we found a 100 yen shop, the japanese version of the american style $1 shop....it was amazing what you could find for 100 yen or less...i got some amazing postcards of kittens and pasta with really messed up english on them....love it....here are di and greg with some of their finds...definitely a fun shop with interesting things....

we also took a boat on the river - not a long tail, but kind of like a ferry for people up and down bangkok's main river - the chao praya river - this river is used by many and is a good way to see parts of the city....a lot of folks live right by the edge and i wonder what happens when the flooding season happens...i guess first floors flood...they are stilt houses and are found up and down the river bank....also in the picture below is a long tailed boat....i was on one of these at the floating market, but not on this day...i love the colors and all of them say long live the king....thai people love their king....his picture is everywhere...

one of my favorite spots in bangkok is wat pho...you will see pictures from inside the temple with the reclining buddha below, but this is shot of the temple complex from the river....we did get out and wander through the amulet market....and of course we were wondering how all of these sellers stay in business as most of the amulets were of the same thing...but i guess amulet buyers know what they are looking for...we didn't....

this was my second xmas celebration with the watts (the first was with them in ghana)...wasn't it nice that they gave me a stocking...those watts sure take care of me...here i am with alysha and kelsey....smiles all around...the coolest thing about most of my gifts from this family was that they were for china next year....planning ahead for me...it's so good to have friends where you are headed....

the day after xmas i headed to koh samui....where i stayed a place right on the beach that had its own swimming pool....i read and swam and ate and drank and read and swam....i am sure you get the idea....it was a slice of heaven...below is a shot just down the beach from where i stayed...loved the big rocks and had dinner looking over them on the beach at a cute place.... i even found a bar that had swings for seats...one of the dreams of mine if i ever own a bar...loved it and the cute bartender lady-boi who had much better hair, nails and style than me....he was a sweetheart and made a wicked capiroshka....

i headed back up to meet the watts for new years in bangkok where we found the celebration in the center of town filled with blinky lights for everyone and christmas lights and amazing fireworks....the streets were filled with thais...most of whom were sober and having a great time...it was a mellow, yet exciting way to spend new years and we did have one round of drinks before the fireworks...we did not however snack on the fried bug selection we saw on the street...maybe next time....

my favorite thing for new years eve though was a temple we happened upon....here you can see it below....we walked to the edge of the entrance and asked the guy there why everyone had strings wrapped around their heads....and he told us the string came from the robe that was wrapped around the buddha in the temple for the year and everyone was meditating and sending their thoughts as one to the buddha through these strings....it was incredible and gave an amazing sense of peace and community....and through it all the four monks in the front of the temple chanted....it truly was magical...and i felt it was a perfect start to the new year....

the celebrations that occurred downtown were at the site where a bomb had exploded about a year ago in bangkok.....so there was a lot of security...but most people seemed sober and were having a good time....below you can see the colorful changing xmas tree that was in the middle of it all...

for the fireworks, we were literally right under them....it was amazing....they were intense and powerful and everywhere you looked for the time they went off....it was awesome!!!!

one of the things we all did together was go to the patpong night market, where you have to bargain hard for what you want....we stopped in this random bar to get a quick drink and watts let me take a family shot....then it was onto shopping....both alysha and kelsey have gotten quite good at bargaining since living in ghana and now china....you go girls!!!!

on new years day, greg, di and i went to wat pho to get the new years blessings from the monks there....this is where the reclining buddha is located...and here is a shot of this buddha from its feet looking towards its head...he is 46 meters long (15.3 feet) and 15 meters high (5 feet) ... and the bottom of his feet are all mother-of-pearl....its my favorite buddha....and we had a great time walking around this temple complex....

there are buddha images everywhere you turn in this complex....you need to be sure to look up and down as the ceilings and floors are incredible...as are all of the stone statues and images....just an incredible place all around....very cool to receive blessings there on new years day!

after the watts left i visited some sights i hadn't seen before, including the public shrine of erawan...this shrine was built at the hotel with the same name to remove bad karma that had been laid down in the foundations of the hotel (or so the owners believed)...it is a stop that locals make on their way home from work and is right in the middle of town....there are dancers there and many flower sellers....i was told there is a version of this in vegas....weird....

one the trips i took outside of the city included a day at the floating market north of the bangkok....we took a long tailed boat into the market itself and then we were paddled around by a flat bottomed canoe styled boat...i was amazed at all of the tourists...i wouldn't say locals shop here at all...and the other thing that was incredible was all of the food and drink vendors...they would make you lunch or serve you a coconut drink or sell you fruit....it was way cool...here is one of the coconut vendors with one of the stall vendors....the stalls are on concrete platforms and not floating...but the food and drink vendors are in their own boats....

here's a shot of all of the boats trying to move in between one another....talk about traffic jams on the water...our paddler was a very loud lady and she seemed to rule the water ways...it was interesting to be with her....she yelled at a lot of people and then yelled at us for not giving her a tip....interesting to say the least....

in one the hotels i stayed, there was a shrine to ganesha....i really like this place, it had a open wall plan with a beautiful pool and at least three days there were wedding pictures being taken in the breezy lobby....cool place, but on the outskirts of town...

while i was visiting, i got to see one my past students, salila...we had drinks and dinner one night and as you can see the city was getting ready for the chinese new year of the rabbit...so of course we had to have our picture with a rabbit for good luck....

the shot below is from my last day in bangkok...this was the sunset view from the pool of the sheraton on the riverside, where i stayed my last two days...its where the job fair was held...talk about living the life of luxury....it was incredible and had an amazing view, as you can see....

the final shot is more of my traditional...but on the swing seats at the fun bar on koh samui...i loved it here and the staff were really nice....

so there you have it....my trip to thailand over winter break....i love this country for so many reasons and there are so many cool things to see and do....one place i highly recommend and they definitely know how to treat visitors right....i know i will be back again soon due to the proximity to shanghai....woot!!!!

i hope everyone is well....has a happy valentine's day and has started the chinese new year of the rabbit off well....next stop on my update tour will be amsterdam and next weekend for my february break i am headed to....ICELAND!!!!! i am soooooo excited...a new place to be and chase some northern lights and swim in the blue lagoon there....let's hope there are no eruptions that interrupt the trip...although how cool would it be to see an eruption live and in person :) talk soon and drop a line and catch me up on your life....
peace out and have a fab day....
dani