just back from Holiday in Iceland. We took a bit of punt, it sounded like an interesting destination and we were able to get some cheap flights. As it turned out that was about the only cheap bit about our visit. Iceland has a reputation as having expensive alcoholic drinks, but everything else was expensive too. Fast food is popular, particularly hotdogs, and I presume it's because of the price of regular food. We ate burgers on a couple of occasions at the American diner type places that seem to be popular - and ate no vegetables during our entire visit! We stayed at Guesthouse Number 1 in Reykjavik www.iceland101.com , which was a pretty bizarre place, a converted office, with the rooms divided up with thin walls. It was chosen purely because of it's price (cheapest in the city), but was still expensive.
Aside from the prices of things we quickly discovered that there's not an awful lot to do there. We mostly stuck to around Reykjavik which is the main populated area (much of the country is completely barren and unpopulated), but saw the main attractions - the geysers, and thermal baths and whale watching. The only thing we didn't see were the glaciers. We have already been to New Zealand, which has incredible landscapes, geothermal activity, glaciers and whale watching opportunities, and Iceland just seems like a wetter, more expensive, less interesting version. Much of our time there was spent snoozing as we struggled to find things to do, and the idea of spending more money out in the drizzle was pretty depressing.
Our visit was during the trail end of Iceland's summer - the temperature was in the 12c or so region (compared with the UK still in the 20s) and the day light hours were still long-ish. The main downer was that it was either raining, drizzly, windy a combination of all of the above. When the sun did peak out, we would spot (often quite vivid) rainbows, as it was bound to be raining somewhere close by. In fact, we spotted a double rainbow at one point.
On arriving in Reykjavik we checked out the Flea market (anywhere else and it wouldn't merit a mention, but in Reykjavik it is a major attraction), we had a hotdog at a stand which displays photos of president Clinton eating there (again, a hotdog stand as a major attraction?), and visit Hallgrimskirjka Church which has an elevator up to the bell tower offering views of the City. We also visit "the Pearl", which is a giant half disco ball with a revolving restaurant on the top. After walking out to the Pearl, Jo wants to get a taxi back into town, the very brief journey costs about £7, the meter literally going up 10p every few seconds. We stopped at traffic light, which cost us about a pound - in the end we just said "ok here will do - let us out!".
We have a day trip - "Golden Circle tour", the highlights of which are a trip to Gulfoss waterfall which is pretty impressive, to Geysir which has a big geyser & Pingvellir national park where the European and Atlantic plate lines meet.
One evening we eat at an Indian restaurant. In the Lonely Planet review it mentions that the UN ambassador to Iceland described it as the best Indian restaurant in Europe. So of course - on the door a sign says " 'the best Indian restaurant in Europe' - Lonely Planet". I love it when quotes are taken out of context. It was a nice enough restaurant, but if eating in the UK I would have expected a lot more for my £55.
We spent a couple of days in Keflavik which was a bit of a mistake as there is even less to do there apart from walk about in the drizzle. We stopped there so that we could use it as a base for a visit to the Blue Lagoon spa and to go whale watching. As it turns out we could have done that from Reykjavik.
We went to Blue lagoon natural geothermal spa www.bluelagoon.com en route from Reykjavik. It was quite a nice, if slightly surreal experience, out in the open air spa, relaxing in the hot geothermal waters, as the mists of evaporating water float above the surface. There is a geothermal powerstation just nearby, though a wall has been put up to block out the view. I thought to myself, "a bit odd, putting a natural spa right next to a power plant", but as it turns out, it's not such a coincidence. The spa is actually a by-product of the powerplant - the hot natural geothermal waters generate the power in the plant, and then the runoff is the water that is used in the manmade spa. Funnily enough, this isn't mentioned in the promotional literature!
Our other trip was whale watching with Moby Dick www.dolphin.is/ . The trip mostly involved watching, and not much in the way of whales. We did see some dolphins, and a strange smell in the air at one point was apparently a Minky Whale, and that was it. It was raining for most of the journey with strong winds too, though fortunately they provided waterproofs. There was a bunch of annoying Americans on board ("what's a dinky whale?"), who started off the journey all gung-ho out on deck, but who gradually went inside the cabin wet, sea-sick and miserable, and remained there even when the sun came out.
A day later, as I'm returning to England both Jo & I get a cold.
Moral of the story: Iceland gives you colds.
Slideshow of pictures here.
Sunday, September 17, 2006
Thursday, August 24, 2006
Nick & Lou's wedding
My friends from student radio, nick & Lou were getting married, and it was close enough that we could drive there after work we went to Upwaltham Barns in west Sussex for a Thusday evening wedding reception.
It was a lovely venue, and we admired the huge chocolate fountain they had there. And by admired, i mean we stuck lots of marshmellows and strawberries in it then ate them.
Danny was there too, and he had accidentally set fire to his suit jacket on one of the candles. So for the whole evening he entertained with comments about his "smoking jacket". What larks, Pip.
For entertainment they had a live band, and they also impressed with the first dance (to the Beatles "i saw her standing there") which they had clearly been practicing
It was a lovely venue, and we admired the huge chocolate fountain they had there. And by admired, i mean we stuck lots of marshmellows and strawberries in it then ate them.
Danny was there too, and he had accidentally set fire to his suit jacket on one of the candles. So for the whole evening he entertained with comments about his "smoking jacket". What larks, Pip.
For entertainment they had a live band, and they also impressed with the first dance (to the Beatles "i saw her standing there") which they had clearly been practicing
Tuesday, August 15, 2006
Madonna at Wembley
Tonight we saw Madonna's show at Webley, which was alkso being recorded for TV. We went up after work, and the show was very impresive, if a litle lacking in spontinaity. One of the things I enjoyed most was the "Parkour" / "free running" influenced dancing during "Jump" , which at one point spiled out into the audience. (Parkour is a trendy urban sport where people jump over urban obstacles such as railings and stuff as sen in T shows such as "Jump London").
We got a late train home, overhearing the following conversation:
What do you do?
I'm an erotic dancer.
No, seriously what do you really do.
Seriously, I really am.
i had a half day the next day to catch up with some zzzs.
This is cribbed from the BBC's write up of her Cardiff show:
The heavily disco-themed extravaganza, based on her Confessions On a Dance Floor album, opened appropriately enough with a huge glitter ball descending from the ceiling.
It opened to reveal Madonna in black raunchy riding-style gear, topped off with a black hat with a mane trailing from it.
As she began to move around the stage, skipping and occasionally cantering, I could see her clearly as the Madonna of 20 years ago, in her early Material Girl and Like A Virgin videos and performances.
Once the hat was off and her face was in close-up on the video screens, it was definitely a more mature version of the world's most famous pop star on stage, but you would never have known it from her energy levels.
She can sing, dance, gyrate, stretch and jump with the best of them, and
proved it repeatedly throughout the set. All were in awe in awe of what the 47-year-old performer could make her well-toned body do.
Madonna was soon wowing the crowds in her riding gear
The audience were treated to disco anthem I Feel Love to start - very appropriate to the sentiment Madonna must have been receiving from the appreciative crowd before her.
The first of her defining hits came next with Like A Virgin receiving a roar of approval from the crowd, as she girated on a horse seemingly nicked from a sexy merry-go-round.
Madonna's tour director said before the show began that it was not a concert but closer to a theatrical performance, and he was spot on.
Sets moved seamlessly - at one time delivering Madonna suspended on a giant wire cross from where she sang the ballad Live To Tell - costume changes were quick and flawless. Nobody put a foot wrong the whole night.
There were serious messages being delivered without a trace of subtlety to the audience - videos told us of 12 million children orphaned in Africa because of Aids, with websites flashed up for the concerned to log on to.
During the song Forbidden Love, which used two male dancers to demonstrate the love that (used to) dare not speak its name, up flashed icons of differing religions crossing one another. Yes, we get the message - nasty religion keeps star-crossed lovers apart.
Indeed, my one complaint would have been this - the singer herself seemed a bit too serious. Not until the last quarter of the show did Madonna look like somebody enjoying herself.
She wasn't much of a smiler, and considering this is a tour about disco, surely one of the most light-hearted, frivolous and fun forms of music, she could have lightened up a little.
The audience did get to see her in different guises. Madonna the rock chick, anybody? That, I have to say, was a new one on me.
She appeared in a leather jacket with a very high feathered collar, straight out of the 70s' glam rock scene, and reminding me rather incongruously of Suzi Quattro.
It worked for her rendition of the song I Love New York, but I wasn't so sure about using it for Ray of Light, which is such a dance track it seemed odd to watch her strumming a guitar for it.
But more power to her for doing it. Perhaps this is an indicator of the future, because even she will one day have to give up her high-energy dance-based shows if she carries on touring into her 60s, say - won't she...?
She certainly didn't give it up before the end of the night. Wearing a cloak with the legend "Dancing Queen" on it, she belted out Lucky Star, which segued seamlessly into her Number 1 hit Hung Up, as her dancers rollerskated around her, finishing with a multitude of golden balloons falling over the exuberant crowds at the front.
And then she was gone. No encore, to the sorrow of the girls next to me, just a message asking, "Have You Confessed?" as the lights came up on the 59,000 people in the audience.
We got a late train home, overhearing the following conversation:
What do you do?
I'm an erotic dancer.
No, seriously what do you really do.
Seriously, I really am.
i had a half day the next day to catch up with some zzzs.
This is cribbed from the BBC's write up of her Cardiff show:
The heavily disco-themed extravaganza, based on her Confessions On a Dance Floor album, opened appropriately enough with a huge glitter ball descending from the ceiling.
It opened to reveal Madonna in black raunchy riding-style gear, topped off with a black hat with a mane trailing from it.
As she began to move around the stage, skipping and occasionally cantering, I could see her clearly as the Madonna of 20 years ago, in her early Material Girl and Like A Virgin videos and performances.
Once the hat was off and her face was in close-up on the video screens, it was definitely a more mature version of the world's most famous pop star on stage, but you would never have known it from her energy levels.
She can sing, dance, gyrate, stretch and jump with the best of them, and
proved it repeatedly throughout the set. All were in awe in awe of what the 47-year-old performer could make her well-toned body do.
Madonna was soon wowing the crowds in her riding gear
The audience were treated to disco anthem I Feel Love to start - very appropriate to the sentiment Madonna must have been receiving from the appreciative crowd before her.
The first of her defining hits came next with Like A Virgin receiving a roar of approval from the crowd, as she girated on a horse seemingly nicked from a sexy merry-go-round.
Madonna's tour director said before the show began that it was not a concert but closer to a theatrical performance, and he was spot on.
Sets moved seamlessly - at one time delivering Madonna suspended on a giant wire cross from where she sang the ballad Live To Tell - costume changes were quick and flawless. Nobody put a foot wrong the whole night.
There were serious messages being delivered without a trace of subtlety to the audience - videos told us of 12 million children orphaned in Africa because of Aids, with websites flashed up for the concerned to log on to.
During the song Forbidden Love, which used two male dancers to demonstrate the love that (used to) dare not speak its name, up flashed icons of differing religions crossing one another. Yes, we get the message - nasty religion keeps star-crossed lovers apart.
Indeed, my one complaint would have been this - the singer herself seemed a bit too serious. Not until the last quarter of the show did Madonna look like somebody enjoying herself.
She wasn't much of a smiler, and considering this is a tour about disco, surely one of the most light-hearted, frivolous and fun forms of music, she could have lightened up a little.
The audience did get to see her in different guises. Madonna the rock chick, anybody? That, I have to say, was a new one on me.
She appeared in a leather jacket with a very high feathered collar, straight out of the 70s' glam rock scene, and reminding me rather incongruously of Suzi Quattro.
It worked for her rendition of the song I Love New York, but I wasn't so sure about using it for Ray of Light, which is such a dance track it seemed odd to watch her strumming a guitar for it.
But more power to her for doing it. Perhaps this is an indicator of the future, because even she will one day have to give up her high-energy dance-based shows if she carries on touring into her 60s, say - won't she...?
She certainly didn't give it up before the end of the night. Wearing a cloak with the legend "Dancing Queen" on it, she belted out Lucky Star, which segued seamlessly into her Number 1 hit Hung Up, as her dancers rollerskated around her, finishing with a multitude of golden balloons falling over the exuberant crowds at the front.
And then she was gone. No encore, to the sorrow of the girls next to me, just a message asking, "Have You Confessed?" as the lights came up on the 59,000 people in the audience.
Saturday, August 12, 2006
2nd annual BBQ
This weekend we had the second of our now annual BBQs at my mum's house in Hove. It has been newly renovated with a new conservatory and the like, so wakes for a great place to have parties. This year it didn't rain, and we piled on the food for all the guests including James and Angela from my work, Jules, Jo, Ben and linda, and a bunch of jo's old work colleagues. One of whom played some Jazz on the piano.
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