Another day exploring, another eight miles walked, wandering the streets of Krakow. We walked to Europe's largest Market Square, which was pretty awesome (and crowded) and purchased this handmade Palma Wielkanocna, made for Palm Sunday religious celebration.
Thank goodness we are walking so much because I have never had so much yummy bread and pastires. I think I might turn into a loaf of bread myself soon.
We had to check out of our apartment at 11 AM and our flight wasn't until 8:20 PM, so we had A LOT of hours to burn in between. Luckily we were able to store our bags in our host's office. We decided to visit the Europejskie Centrum Solidarności (European Solidarity Center). I wasn't sure exactly what to expect but I had heard it was a great museum -- and it was. We learned all about the Gdansk shipyard strike and the power of the people, which helped lead to the fall of Communism. If you ever happen to be in Poland, the Museum's audio tours are awesome. After the Museum, we continued to just stroll around a bit, walking about eight miles in total, so I guess I should say that we strolled a lot. We did end up spending a couple hours in the Mercure Hotel, where we found a little hideaway spot to sit and charge our devices.
The flight to Krakow was a short 1 hour, 20 minutes. We called for an Uber, which ended up being rather comical. We kept trying to connect with him but every time we got close, he would leave and loop back around (his phone number didn't work to call or text). We were running back and forth like three fools, waving our arms and hollering for him. Finally on our third attempt, his third loop, Sky jumped in the road and flagged him down. Exhausted, we arrived at our Krakow apartment around 9:30 PM.
What a brilliant Museum! This is honestly the best museum I have ever been to. We spent three hours in the first half of the museum. The kids were drained by that point and so we zipped through the second half in 30 minutes, but I could have easily spent 2-3 more hours there. I think I learned more in those 3-1/2 hours about WWII than I have in my entire life.
Still being on Iceland time, we've been going to bed late and waking up late each morning. Today, we had planned to go to Malbork Castle (a one-hour train trip), but it ended up raining and we didn't have our rain jackets so we turned around, and decided to just do the Amber Museum in our local area instead. We learned all about amber, along with the history of the 17th-19th century prison, which now houses the Museum -- pretty fascinating. All in all, it was a good and kind of lazy, rainy day, but we have come to embrace those lazy days of down time. Also, we found a restaurant that we are smitten with called CHEF Family and Friends (it's newly opened and they are lovely). A dinner at CHEF (margarita pizza, polish soup, salad with sauteed shrimp, chicken breast and four bottles of water) costs just a bit more than one mediocre hamburger in Iceland.
The photo was made in our apartment, which has a huge window on each side, one overlooking the city center of Old Town.
Okay, so it wasn't really a completely lost day BUT it was spent walking a lot and dealing with getting my phone and laptop sorted. There was no answer to why my phone won't roam, other than deciding that I need to get a new SIM card in every country. And I ended up having to purchase a new laptop here in Poland. That folks at iDream were so awesome and helpful and I'm beyond grateful. I think I was there about three hours, trying to work through everything. We went to an authentic pierogi restaurant for dinner and then I walked the old city area in the evening by myself because after walking seven miles today, the kids were pretty much done and I don't blame them. The fog rolled in this evening and I am smitten by the architecture, history and beauty of this area.
Hard to believe it's our last day and goodness, it was a doozy; it started as very cold and rainy and got even colder and snowy. It was kind of brutal to be in and even the locals agreed it was a tough day to be out and about. We had planned to go to the National Museum of Iceland but sadly, it was closed, so we went to the Whale Museum, which ended up to be pretty great. Then it was a 40-minute drive to the airport and off we went. All went smoothly UNTIL...a water bottle leaked in my primary carry-on bag. I didn't realize it until we were in our apartment in Gdansk, Poland. All was fine (wet) in the bag except my laptop, which ended up being completely dead. I am panicking a wee bit but reminding myself that I need to just deal and move forward one step at a time. And so I go to bed and will figure things out in the morning -- one step at a time, one day at a time.
ICELAND SUMMARY
Day 1-3 | Snafellsnes Peninsula
Afternoon arrival and then drove three hours to airbnb in Grundarfjorour. Explored the area of Grundarfjorour and stopped at random locations that interested us (beaches, waterfalls, churches, etc.). Visited the harbor town of Stykkisholmur (also one of the filming locations of Walter Mitty movie). We had booked four nights in Grundarfiorour but left a day early because the other locations we wanted to visit were a bit too far to commute back and forth. Shout out to 59 Bistro, who has fantastic pizza and fries. Note that the kitchen closes at 2030 (lots walked in late, trying to find somewhere to eat). The entire town is small and laid back. Things open late and close early. Get gas before too low; we stopped at one rural town that ran out of gas. Thank goodness we still had enough to make it to the next rural town.
Day 4 | Laugarvatn
Visited the Secret Lagoon (Gamla Laugin), Geysir and Gulfoss Waterfall. All were amazing.
Day 5 | Vik
Walked to the US Navy plane wreck. It's a 5-mile roundtrip walk and takes 40-45 minutes each way. Worth the trek, for sure.
Day 6 | Reykjavik
Super rainy and windy this day. Went to Black Sand Beach, which was comically windy and rather miserable because of pelting rain. Drove to Reykjavik, where it was a cold, rainy afternoon. Walked to dinner and then had a 9 PM reservation at the Blue Lagoon. Loved visiting both lagoons; two very different experiences. Be sure to make reservations for the Blue Lagoon; not necessary with the Secret Lagoon.
Day 7 | Reykavik and flight to Poland
The day started with rain and progressed to snow. We wanted to visit the National Museum of Iceland but it was closed, so we went to the Whale Museum (small but lovely).
If you have the option, I would recommend visiting Iceland in the summer. While it was magical while we were there, I can only dream about how even more magical Iceland is when blanketed in green. Also note that Iceland is expensive.
For our seven days in Iceland, we spent the following:
Car rental | $400
Gas | $180
Accommodations | $935
Food | $830
Total spent in Iceland (not including airfare): $2345
(We ate cereal every day for breakfast and split most meals when we went out. We also skipped a number of meals. Average price for a super-basic meal is $20 USD.)
After all the cold and super wind, we decided to give the Blue Lagoon a try today. The only reservation time we could get was 9 PM. Secret Lagoon and Blue Lagoon are vastly different and equally special, I would say. I joked that Secret Lagoon was like an awesome local carnival and Blue Lagoon is kind of like Disney. We pretty much loved the experience of both.
Drove to Vik today and did a lot. We also experienced pretty extreme weather conditions -- sunny and then super windy and rainy. We explored some geysers and the Godafoss waterfall, visited the US Navy plan wreck, and the black sand beach. When we went to the beach, it was pouring rain and 20-30 MPH winds, but I was determined to make the best of it. So we walked to the beach and about got blown away. We laughed so hard about it, we cried. Definitely made for some fanstastic memories. Click images to make larger.
Today was another travel adventure for the books. Life without data is proving to be rather interesting. To get anywhere, I tap into wifi and google map to where we want to go and the follow the blue line. Well today we were headed to our hostel in Laugarvatn, 3-1/2 hours away. All was going well until we drove 25 MILES down a super remote road that ended up being IMPASSABLE. We had no idea what we were going to do because I couldn't see any surrounding roads on google maps and we couldn't figure out a plan B. I had gotten an Iceland map from a coffee shop we stopped at but nope, no raids on that map either. LUCKILY for some strange reason, Sky's phone roamed and we able to figure out our way to the hostel through another route. Checked into the coolest hostel ever, ate another quick (and expensive) meal and then headed to the not-so-secret 'Secret Lagoon' (Gamla Laugin). So super cool -- and hot!
Today we headed to the harbor town of Stykkisholmur, one of the awesome areas in the Walter Mitty movie. First up was the little red light house overlooking the harbour, which was so darn cold we could barely take it but we did. We then went to lunch where everything was $20 - $30 USD so we decided that we were going to eat PBJ and chips for dinner at the cabin. We also went to visit the infamous Kirkufellsfoss waterfall, which is right down the road from where we are staying and goodness…so many tourists. We took photos tonight at the falls but not your typical photos. Then we went back to the cabin with the hopes of seeing the Northern Lights. It was basically our one and only opportunity and I feel beyond blessed. It was absolutely incredible. Honestly, I'm a bit beyond words but it looks like green clouds floating in random patterns through the night sky and on occasion, you get glimpses of purple and pink. I photographed the lights a lot but made sure to put my camera down to simply take it all in. I'm no expert in photographing the Northern Lights but I'm happy with what I captured. The series above took place when I decided to put my camera down and look up; all of a sudden, I saw not only the typical green of the Northern Lights, but awesome glimpses of purple. So I laid on the ground (probably in horse poop), held my breath with my camera on my chest and began photographing the lights about five seconds apart.
Thank goodness for a good and long night sleep. Waking at 11 AM may have been a bit too much, but it sure was needed. We went into the neighboring tiny town to get something for breakfast and then began driving, not really knowing where we were headed. We stopped whenever and wherever appealed to us, within ended up being a perfect day. We visited a couple waterfalls, a beach and the oldest concrete church in Iceland. The weather is cold and cloudy but that wasn’t going to stop us. We also found an awesome nearby restaurant for dinner, but nothing is cheap here, so it’s $5 gas station hot dogs for lunch and $25 pizzas and $10 fries for dinner.
Our first day of travel has been rather interesting and maybe a bit stressful. We left LAX at 9:50 PM and traveled on an 8-hour flight to Keflevik, Iceland. It wasn’t until our arrival that I realized that my seat COULD recline (who knew that there was a tiny lever under the seat). We met our friend, Jen, in the airport and headed to a juice bar because we were starving. That was when I realized my T-mobile phone that is supposed to data roam during our three months travel in Europe wasn't roaming. After almost two hours on the phone with T-mobile via a Skype call, there was no resolution to my non-roaming problem. We also learned that we lost one of our backpacks, not a super important backpack, but still a backpack. At that point, it was moving on and moving forward, even though in all honesty, I was pretty darn frustrated. We had a three-hour drive to our airbnb cabin in Grundafijordur. By the time we arrived, I was beyond tired.
Today is the day that we leave the pup and fly to Iceland, the first stop of our European adventures. I'm a bit anxious about leaving him and a bit nervous in general, BUT I know that Charley is in the most trusted and loving hands so that is great.
It's so hard to believe that the time is here. So hard to believe that we are traveling to nine countries in Europe over the next three months: Iceland, Poland, Germany, UK, Czech Republic, Romania, Greece, Italy and most likely Spain. I know that once we are going, the nervousness will subside but yep...nervous and babbling. So I will close for now.
Made it to La Jolla, to our dear friend's house, who my children refer to as "Oma Terry". Terry will be watching Charley for us until either Steve gets a place o his own and can take Charley or mid-July, when we are done with our travels. We allowed a few days adjustment time, as he's a super family dog. Sure hoping he does well while we are away.
The view from the 14th floor. What a fantastic downtown.
Today was an eight-hour drive from Carson City, NV to Los Angeles, California. We thought we were going to encounter rain and possibly snow showers, but the drive couldn't have been more beautiful and perfect.
Today is our last day in Nevada and it was a cold, rainy and mostly rainy one. Oma and I did manage a workout class and then we took the kids to see Oma's friend's baby chicks. Needless to say the kids loved the chicks and Sky is especially keen to get some chickens when we move into our house in Virginia. I said, maybe to chickens, but no goats.
