Stunning Skogafoss Waterfall Valley We awoke in Vik and had a leisurely start to the day in camp with coffee and a yummy french toast breakfast prepared by none other than van kitchen chef extraordinaire - moi! We had been recommended to attend the Lava show while we were in Iceland by some dear friends who visited last year. After the 2010 eruption of Eyjafjallajökull (Hey, you forgot la yogurt - a funny way to remember the almost impossible pronunciation of this volcano) wh

Matt and I always try to incorporate at least one activity that neither of us has ever tried before into each of our trips. Iceland provided more than one opportunity and on this day we experienced our first: Kayaking among icebergs in a Glacial Lagoon: Jökulsárlón (thankfully an easier to pronounce Icelandic word!) We were already so excited as we drove to our meet up point because we could spot little glimpses of the turquoise water and giant chunks of ice on our left as we

When we woke up in van I peeked, timidly, behind the curtains of the rear window fully expecting to see wet gloominess and was completely overjoyed to see blue skies and brilliant sunshine. With my first van-made pourover coffee in hand, I could scarcely believe our luck when I saw that the weather forecast had entirely shifted to dry and sunny for the next five days. It almost made up for the fiasco of getting here! That morning we had booked a tour to explore some Ice Caves

Our Campervan rental at our first campground for the night in Vik. I have had Iceland on my bucket list for at least the last ten years. So, when I discovered it cost less to fly home to London via Reykjavik and Icelandair was offering a stopover on the return home, Matt and I jumped at the chance to spend a few days there after visiting my mom and sister. The start of the trip did not begin smoothly. We were heading to Heathrow airport via the train from Paddington when Matt

1 - They eat cheese with almost every meal. Not a slice, a giant hunk of cheese. And the smellier the better. Even children; I watched as Arnaud’s 3 year old niece happily munched on a lump the size of her head. 2 - They drink wine with almost every meal. 3 - They accomplish 1. and 2. without getting fat. How they manage this should be the subject of boundless scientific study so that we may apply their methods in the States. I gained three pounds in six days. 4 - They make

Easy answer. The Café culture. I was recently lucky enough to be invited to spend a week in Paris with my Parisian boyfriend, Arnaud, who had to return to France to renew his work visa for the US. Apart from staying with his family in Cergy for the weekend, which was both a familial and gastronomic delight, we had a corporate expensed hotel room in the 5eme arondissement near Montparnasse. Who could refuse? Arnaud had to work for most of the working week, and I busied myse

Its Thursday, and Hillary and I have booked a bicycle tour of Tuscany for today. This turned out to be the highlight of the entire trip! After bus sing it to the train station, we got a little lost looking for the tour meeting place, and just made it before the vans pulled out. We immediately bonded with our tour guide, Gillian, who was from California. When we asked her, in rapture, how she came to be living in Florence, she answered "I married an Italian." We then list

Hillary and I woke in our lovely hostel in Florence early since we had reserved tickets to visit the Galleria Accademia - home to the world famous sculpture by Michelangelo, "The David". I had read that the lines to get tickets to enter the museum could take up to 4-6 hours, since the museum has become more of a shrine than a tourist attraction, I didn't feel like taking any chances. It was lovely to be one of the first persons allowed into the museum which held an impressi

This morning, after breakfast, Hillary and I ran to catch the bus to Lenno, which is in the same direction as the original town of Como.Our hostel owner had given us an incorrect time of departure, and we ended up having to run up a hill to the bus stop, dragging our matching luggage behind us at great peril to their structural integrity, and jumped on the bus without tickets.In Italy, you have to buy your bus tickets in advance at a newsagents…or, apparently, at certain bars

I am writing to you from Florence, stealing a quick 30 minutes at the computer in my hostel as I sip a cafe latte. So far, Hillary and I have only spent 3 full days in Italy, and already have accumulated a months worth of memories. I simply love this country. Its food, its people, its pace, attitude - all seem to suit me so pleasantly. I flew to Milan this past Sunday from Krakow, Poland where Id spent a week visiting with my parents and Polish family. It was a lovely wee