Iceland

Just a few pics for now. Will write tomorrow. Tired. lb

Riding in Iceland!

We've spent the past two days here at Eld Hestar and it has been phenomenal - gorgeous and sturdy ponies, kind and intelligent Swedish young women as our guides, shooting stars, and Northern Lights! Ok - so it was a little cold on the ponies at times but nothing we NW gals can't handle. And the scenery and riding more than make up for it - plus, as you can see from the photo, they dress you in snowmobiling type suits so you are really pretty warm except for your face, hands and feet - I eventually got myself totally warm enough but Sasi suffered a bit on the last ride, "Meadows and Mountains." The last bit was sheer heaven for me, climing the green and rocky heath on a very sure-footed and strong black pony with one eye!! He was the best! So sure of himself. Lots of creeks and rivers to cross - it was an off-road Betty's dream.

Now, were are off to another farm accommodation near the glaciers!

ICELAND!!!

Coming here is the culmination of a 10-year long yearning for me. In some ways, I had built it up so much in my mind, I couldn't help but being disappointed. In others, the country has totally lived up to my expectation. The climate - yes it's gray and damp and raining some of the time, but this is punctuated by periods of brilliant blue sky and white clouds - absolutely fabulous to gaze at as i floted on my bac in a sea of hot steaming salty water surrounded by lava rock. In a word the Blue Lagoon is SUBLIME - we will take pictures when we return on Friday and spend the night in Nordic spa luxury.

Today, we are off to Eldhestar horse afrm to ride for a couple of days. Did you know that they do not allow the import of any kind of horses to Iceland? All horses here are purely Icelandic ponies. What a treat it will be to ride them.

But first, a few other images from Reykjavik - which is much sleepier and quiet than I imagined. It is scarecly the size of Spokane and feels smaller. But the streets are lined with adorable houses sided with metal and trimmed in brightly painted wood. I want to live in an Icelandic house like this is the country! Something to aspire to.

For the Grandparents: Sasi's B-Day in Wales

Sasi on new friend Erin's lap - finally a cake on her actual birthday - orchestrated by Martin and our hostel caretakers. She was speechless and shy - a rarity as we know.


This is Sas feeding grapes to chickens roaming the 17th Century Norman manor we visited.

Sas getting nibbled by our friend who lives in the fields outside our hostel.

Scotland and Wales!

I'm slipping. Life has gotten too interesting and busy now to keep up with the blog. That's a good thing. So, no deep musings this time, just some photos of the the last two weekend trips. Above, the Scotland trip. The first pic shows that Sasi has truly embraced our vagabond lifestyle. She's a great little traveler. The next is me at Arthur's seat - the highest of the 7 volcanic hills surrounding Edinburgh. For our third night, we traveled across the Firth of Forth to stay in a B&B in The Kingdom of Fife - just a few miles from Kirkaldy, the birthplace of Adam Smith. Gorgeous sea air and beaches, very very nice service and excellent food at the Kingswood Inn. We spent nearly all our time at the beach. It was sad to leave - we both want to live there.

The next weekend it was Wales with the ILACA group. Due to Martin's wealth of experience and tremendous ability for planning, we had a fantastic and varied time - everything from 3rd Century Roman ruins to the ruins of 19th/20th industrialism (we traveled 300 ft underground to the damp and dark depths of an idled coal mine now turned into The Museum of Mining). Natural beauty abounds. We stayed in a hostel in a national park near the village of Tal y bont. Gorgeous and friendly horses, scads of sheep, green rolling hills neatly divided by well planned windbreaks and rustic stone walls. It reminded me of the gorgeous countryside outside Philadelphia - no accident that the Welsh found themselves home in Eastern, PA - nearly the same geography, industry, etc.

Here's some photos: