So after spending time in Montreux and Interlaken, we figured we should stop off in the Capital City of Zurich.
All in all this post will be brief. It is not a skyscraper type city like NYC or Chicago. It has smaller, gothic looking buildings, even the big banks use these buildings. There is a huge shopping district, but it has the same stores you find everywhere (Prada, Gucci, blah blah). It was raining on and off all day, so we kept going into stores to steer clear of the weather. It was nice to walk around and see the capital, and if we had another day we would have went into the older part of town to see more architecture and museums.
We went out for dinner in Neiderdorf which is the part of Zurich that is known for its restaurants and nightlife. We went to the Hotel Adler's restaurant, the Swiss Chuchi. The food was just fine, we had meat fondue in broth instead of the cheese/bread fondue like we had in Interlaken.
The interesting part of the night was a couple in their late 60's sitting next to us from England. He is a retired marketing professional and she was a former flight attendant for 39 years on British Airways. They retired, and he is now teaching at the University in Perugia, Italy. They were a very nice (and drunk) couple sharing some life lessons and words of wisdom with us. They were kind enough to give us their contact information in case we make our way to Italy one day.
And that about sums it up. We left the next day to fly back home.
I am sure you have read enough, so it is time for me to "Ausfahrt".....
Sunday, July 12, 2009
Hold on Tight!
Monday's big activity was Rafting on the Lutschine River in Interlaken. This river feeds out into Lake Brienzer. We selected Alpin Rafting and they were great tour guides for the trip. They picked us up on time, we had a great trip and they provided free bread, brie cheese, beer and pastries for us after the trip. Our guide was Nic who was from New Zealand as were most of the other guides. We had about 45 kids in our group who were traveling through Europe with a Church youth group. They did several religious chants before and after the trip and the tour guides had a good laugh at their expense.
The area has experienced a lot of rain fall this year, so we really had solid Class III-IV rapids for most of the trip.
Here are some photos from our trip down the river:
After the trip we went back to the hotel to dry off and relax for a little bit. Based on the suggestion of the hotel Concierge, we went from Interlaken West to Interlaken East to eat at the Restaurant Baren. This was by far my favorite meal of the trip. I had the best lamb I have ever eaten in my life. No joke, I will go back to Interlaken one day just to have the lamb again. We also had another cheese fondue, and this one was much better than the one from the day before.
In the evening, we went back to our hotel bar, as it was open later than any other bar in town. Nils again hooked us up, this time with the house sommelier to help us select our wine, and then a free plate of chocolates and other desserts. Who else would get us a sommelier at midnight to pick out a wine in a bar? Go Nils!
The area has experienced a lot of rain fall this year, so we really had solid Class III-IV rapids for most of the trip.
Here are some photos from our trip down the river:
After the trip we went back to the hotel to dry off and relax for a little bit. Based on the suggestion of the hotel Concierge, we went from Interlaken West to Interlaken East to eat at the Restaurant Baren. This was by far my favorite meal of the trip. I had the best lamb I have ever eaten in my life. No joke, I will go back to Interlaken one day just to have the lamb again. We also had another cheese fondue, and this one was much better than the one from the day before.
In the evening, we went back to our hotel bar, as it was open later than any other bar in town. Nils again hooked us up, this time with the house sommelier to help us select our wine, and then a free plate of chocolates and other desserts. Who else would get us a sommelier at midnight to pick out a wine in a bar? Go Nils!
Off to Interlaken We Go...
We departed Montreux early on Sunday morning to head to Interlaken.
A quick lesson, Switzerland is divided, it is half French and half German. Montreux was obviously the French side of the country, Interlaken is on the German side of the country.
Back to the action...
So we drove about 1.5 hrs to get from Montreux to Interlaken. During our drive I was reading the highway signs and realized that "Ausfahrt" is German for exit. Enough said. I took some pictures to bring back home for all of you.
We both enjoyed Interlaken much more than Montreux. There were great restaurants everywhere, lots of random shopping, and the mountains looming behind you were just astonishing. I swear the people at Disney went to Interlaken when they designed the World Pavilion at Epcot! If it wasn't for the menus that were written in German I would have thought I was in Epcot for sure.
We stayed at the Victoria Jungfrau Hotel and Spa in Interlaken, set right at the foot of the Jungfrau Mountain. This is a really nice 5 star hotel, and we were able to get a great deal on the room rate which is why we took it, but no air conditioning in the rooms - ouch! They told us to open the windows, ha, like that did anything.
So here is where the fun food starts, as we got to the German side of the country, that is were the good beer, fondue and chocolate appear! For lunch we went to the Hotel Toscana and ate at the Trattoria Toscana. Though Italian by name, the place had a ton of Swiss food, so I got a sausage platter and we got a cheese fondue as an appetizer, yum! I also had my first of many Eichhof Beers. At this particular restaurant I had the lemon beer which was interesting (and refreshing) to say the least.
As we walked around Interlaken we started going into many of the chocolate shops. Our favorites were either Sprungli (home of the famous Luxemburgerli) or Laderach.
For dinner we went to a very "odd" place, Chez Pierre which was located in the Carlton Hotel. Everyone was sitting outside on the patio drinking and smoking, but no one was ordering food. When we asked for menus they seemed shocked but gave us menus. We both had fish dishes and I thought it was ok, and neither of us got sick thankfully. I had my first Rugenbrau, a local beer brewed in Interlaken. My second beer was from the Cardinal Brewery, also located in Switzerland.
That evening, we went back to the hotel and met our favorite person of the trip, and we shall call him Nils because we are not sure of his actual name. He is the bartender at the hotel's late night bar. Our first night he gave us a plate of 20 small pastries to go along with our wine selection for the evening. Yes, you are finding a theme, a lot of eating and drinking on this trip!
A quick lesson, Switzerland is divided, it is half French and half German. Montreux was obviously the French side of the country, Interlaken is on the German side of the country.
Back to the action...
So we drove about 1.5 hrs to get from Montreux to Interlaken. During our drive I was reading the highway signs and realized that "Ausfahrt" is German for exit. Enough said. I took some pictures to bring back home for all of you.
We both enjoyed Interlaken much more than Montreux. There were great restaurants everywhere, lots of random shopping, and the mountains looming behind you were just astonishing. I swear the people at Disney went to Interlaken when they designed the World Pavilion at Epcot! If it wasn't for the menus that were written in German I would have thought I was in Epcot for sure.
We stayed at the Victoria Jungfrau Hotel and Spa in Interlaken, set right at the foot of the Jungfrau Mountain. This is a really nice 5 star hotel, and we were able to get a great deal on the room rate which is why we took it, but no air conditioning in the rooms - ouch! They told us to open the windows, ha, like that did anything.
So here is where the fun food starts, as we got to the German side of the country, that is were the good beer, fondue and chocolate appear! For lunch we went to the Hotel Toscana and ate at the Trattoria Toscana. Though Italian by name, the place had a ton of Swiss food, so I got a sausage platter and we got a cheese fondue as an appetizer, yum! I also had my first of many Eichhof Beers. At this particular restaurant I had the lemon beer which was interesting (and refreshing) to say the least.
As we walked around Interlaken we started going into many of the chocolate shops. Our favorites were either Sprungli (home of the famous Luxemburgerli) or Laderach.
For dinner we went to a very "odd" place, Chez Pierre which was located in the Carlton Hotel. Everyone was sitting outside on the patio drinking and smoking, but no one was ordering food. When we asked for menus they seemed shocked but gave us menus. We both had fish dishes and I thought it was ok, and neither of us got sick thankfully. I had my first Rugenbrau, a local beer brewed in Interlaken. My second beer was from the Cardinal Brewery, also located in Switzerland.
That evening, we went back to the hotel and met our favorite person of the trip, and we shall call him Nils because we are not sure of his actual name. He is the bartender at the hotel's late night bar. Our first night he gave us a plate of 20 small pastries to go along with our wine selection for the evening. Yes, you are finding a theme, a lot of eating and drinking on this trip!
Showtime at the Jazz Festival
So for our first full day in Switzerland, we decide to sleep in a little bit as the day before we had a long flight, drive to Montreux and we were up rather late into the night. Jessica woke up by 11ish to go for her daily run. By about 2pm we left the hotel to walk around and see more of Montreux. I am sure its a lovely town, but with the Festival in town, it attracted a lot of odd people to say the least. We saw some small galleries, took pictures of some statues of famous musicians with ties to the festival (Freddie Mercury, BB King, Ray Charles, Ella Fitzgerald, Miles Davis).
We then got some street cart food for dinner. I guess kebab does not translate, as Jessica ordered the chicken kebab but got shaved chicken fat in a pita - oops!
We then went into the main venue to see Steely Dan and DMB. When we arrived, we found Dave Matthews playing Gravedigger solo for a radio interview in the lobby of the venue! That was a nice treat. We then got upstairs for the Steely Dan set. I enjoyed them, would I spend $200 to see them at the Beacon, no, but I may purchase an album or two after the show. I think I recognized 2-3 songs and they did not play the hits like "Rikki Don't Lose that Number" and "Reelin' in the Years".
DMB put on a solid 2 hour set obviously filled with new material but they did pull out #41, Two Step and Rapunzel. They are new to most European markets and they are pushing the new album overseas, so I figured we would get a set of mostly new material. The audience was strange, a song would start and they would get all worked up, but once Dave started to sing they all got super quiet and stood still, no dancing, no moving, etc. In between songs if someone yelled or something the audience would hush the person. The venue is mostly standing room only, and about 2,000-3,000 people max. Dave was very funny and humble, I think he won over the crowd.
We then got some street cart food for dinner. I guess kebab does not translate, as Jessica ordered the chicken kebab but got shaved chicken fat in a pita - oops!
We then went into the main venue to see Steely Dan and DMB. When we arrived, we found Dave Matthews playing Gravedigger solo for a radio interview in the lobby of the venue! That was a nice treat. We then got upstairs for the Steely Dan set. I enjoyed them, would I spend $200 to see them at the Beacon, no, but I may purchase an album or two after the show. I think I recognized 2-3 songs and they did not play the hits like "Rikki Don't Lose that Number" and "Reelin' in the Years".
DMB put on a solid 2 hour set obviously filled with new material but they did pull out #41, Two Step and Rapunzel. They are new to most European markets and they are pushing the new album overseas, so I figured we would get a set of mostly new material. The audience was strange, a song would start and they would get all worked up, but once Dave started to sing they all got super quiet and stood still, no dancing, no moving, etc. In between songs if someone yelled or something the audience would hush the person. The venue is mostly standing room only, and about 2,000-3,000 people max. Dave was very funny and humble, I think he won over the crowd.
Switzerland, here we come
So I took my first trip to the the mainland of Europe last week with Jessica. Of course we had to mix in a DMB concert along the way, but hey, we did plenty of sight seeing as well!
We took a red eye out there out of JFK direct to Zurich. I watched "He's Just Not That Into You" - possibly one of the worst movies I have seen in a few years. I was a big Justin Long fan, but now I lost a little faith in the man.
So we land and go to get our pimp rental car, an Opel Zafira. I am not sure if this was a mini van, cross over vehicle or what have you. Either way, Jessica and I spent 5 minutes trying to take off the emergency brake with no success. The attendant comes out, with one shot removes the brake, then puts it back on and in a rude way asks if we can put a car in drive, reverse, etc. She snickers and walks away, then it is our turn to take off the break and we have trouble again removing the emergency break. Jessica finally got the brake off, and we never put it on again through the trip.
The ride from Zurich to Montreux was very nice, the highways are clearly marked in Switzerland so no major problems with the 2 hour drive.
We finally got to Montreux around 5pm. Montreux is known as the Swiss Riveria. The scenery was gorgeous, huge ice-capped mountains and Lake Geneva set the backdrop for this small vacation town. We stayed at the Hotel Eden Palace au Lac. The hotel was fantastic, right on the Lake, a huge balcony with tables and chairs overlooking the lake and the mountains, what a view from our room! The big bonus, air conditioning in the rooms - why don't more Europeans believe in A/C?
We walked around town our first evening, it was the first night of the 43rd Annual Montreux Jazz Festival. The festival brings 100,000's of people from all over the world to Montreux for 15 days every July. They set up festival-like booths all along the water. It is the usual stuff you would see at any festival, vendors selling shirts, scarfs, odd rock creations, music, cartoon drawings, etc. They also had street cart vendors selling all kinds of ethnic foods from around the world. We figured for our first night we would go to a nice French restaurant called La Rouvenaz and we picked a nice local Swiss wines along with our meals and we enjoyed.
After dinner we took a quick trip to the Montreux Casino. This was the quietest casino I have ever seen in my life! The slot machines were on mute, people at the table games were not making any noise either. We got a drink and figured we'd walk around and survey the area, we saw how sad and pathetic it was so we left. There was $5 roulette and I did not play, that just goes to show you how desolate this place seemed to us!
We took a red eye out there out of JFK direct to Zurich. I watched "He's Just Not That Into You" - possibly one of the worst movies I have seen in a few years. I was a big Justin Long fan, but now I lost a little faith in the man.
So we land and go to get our pimp rental car, an Opel Zafira. I am not sure if this was a mini van, cross over vehicle or what have you. Either way, Jessica and I spent 5 minutes trying to take off the emergency brake with no success. The attendant comes out, with one shot removes the brake, then puts it back on and in a rude way asks if we can put a car in drive, reverse, etc. She snickers and walks away, then it is our turn to take off the break and we have trouble again removing the emergency break. Jessica finally got the brake off, and we never put it on again through the trip.
The ride from Zurich to Montreux was very nice, the highways are clearly marked in Switzerland so no major problems with the 2 hour drive.
We finally got to Montreux around 5pm. Montreux is known as the Swiss Riveria. The scenery was gorgeous, huge ice-capped mountains and Lake Geneva set the backdrop for this small vacation town. We stayed at the Hotel Eden Palace au Lac. The hotel was fantastic, right on the Lake, a huge balcony with tables and chairs overlooking the lake and the mountains, what a view from our room! The big bonus, air conditioning in the rooms - why don't more Europeans believe in A/C?
We walked around town our first evening, it was the first night of the 43rd Annual Montreux Jazz Festival. The festival brings 100,000's of people from all over the world to Montreux for 15 days every July. They set up festival-like booths all along the water. It is the usual stuff you would see at any festival, vendors selling shirts, scarfs, odd rock creations, music, cartoon drawings, etc. They also had street cart vendors selling all kinds of ethnic foods from around the world. We figured for our first night we would go to a nice French restaurant called La Rouvenaz and we picked a nice local Swiss wines along with our meals and we enjoyed.
After dinner we took a quick trip to the Montreux Casino. This was the quietest casino I have ever seen in my life! The slot machines were on mute, people at the table games were not making any noise either. We got a drink and figured we'd walk around and survey the area, we saw how sad and pathetic it was so we left. There was $5 roulette and I did not play, that just goes to show you how desolate this place seemed to us!
Saturday, April 18, 2009
Best of What's Around
So its that time of year again, DMB touring time. For a few reasons out of my control, I missed the entire 2007 tour. 2007 was the first year I had not seen any DMB / D&T / D&F etc type show since 1996 when I saw my first show at Jones Beach in June 1996. It was a strange tour to say the least with the passing of 'Roi and the additions of Timmy full time and Coffin replacing 'Roi. On top of these changes, there is a new album coming out this year. With all of these things in play, the 2009 tour dates were annouced and I thought I'd slowly get back into the groove and see a few shows here or there. Originally I was going to take it slow, but the dates and venues looked too good to be true. Turns out there are 9 shows on the Spring/Summer calendar for me! I already attened MSG and Izod, plus I have Vegas, Switzerland, Jones Beach (2x), Bethel, Chula Vista and Scranton all lined up.
Speaking of MSG and Izod, in general I was pleased with the shows. I think they did a bit too many repeats for back to back nights. But they dusted off some gems (Raven, Pig, The Maker) and played plenty of classics to keep a snob like me entertained. There certainly is a new sound for the band, Rashawn Ross is taking up more space with trumpet parts, Coffin is a totally different player than 'Roi, and Timmy is putting in lead guitar lines and solos. Going to DMB shows is always fun, and I think I've come to grips with the fact that this is not the DMB up to and including the BCTS days. There is a different sound, different direction in song writing, etc. I guess they have been around for 18 years, so it is ok to change things up and grow and mature as band. So there you have it, I may never be 100% satisifed with a DMB setlist or show, but I think I've come to grips with it, and regardless, its always a great time hanging out with friends and listening to (generally speaking) good music ;-)
Speaking of MSG and Izod, in general I was pleased with the shows. I think they did a bit too many repeats for back to back nights. But they dusted off some gems (Raven, Pig, The Maker) and played plenty of classics to keep a snob like me entertained. There certainly is a new sound for the band, Rashawn Ross is taking up more space with trumpet parts, Coffin is a totally different player than 'Roi, and Timmy is putting in lead guitar lines and solos. Going to DMB shows is always fun, and I think I've come to grips with the fact that this is not the DMB up to and including the BCTS days. There is a different sound, different direction in song writing, etc. I guess they have been around for 18 years, so it is ok to change things up and grow and mature as band. So there you have it, I may never be 100% satisifed with a DMB setlist or show, but I think I've come to grips with it, and regardless, its always a great time hanging out with friends and listening to (generally speaking) good music ;-)
Sunday, March 29, 2009
The Madness Continues
So as of my last entry I had my men's league team entering the Finals in our tournament, plus I had 1 ABB show down and a few more to go.
Well, for starters, the team won the championship! It was another battle, we were down 12 points at halftime, but fought back, got the game to OT and then pulled away in OT for a comfortable win. I have been in the league for 5 years, and the first 4 years we either lost in the semis to the eventual champion or we lost in the finals, so we finally got over the proverbial hump and it feels great!
My run with ABB at the Beacon continued as well. In all, they did 15 shows and I was lucky enough to catch 5 of them. Highlights for me:
Well, for starters, the team won the championship! It was another battle, we were down 12 points at halftime, but fought back, got the game to OT and then pulled away in OT for a comfortable win. I have been in the league for 5 years, and the first 4 years we either lost in the semis to the eventual champion or we lost in the finals, so we finally got over the proverbial hump and it feels great!
My run with ABB at the Beacon continued as well. In all, they did 15 shows and I was lucky enough to catch 5 of them. Highlights for me:
- Clapton - come on, Clapton with ABB doing Derek and the Dominoes stuff plus a few ABB tunes too? Really does not get any better or surreal. Trucks and Clapton playing together on Why Does Love Have So Sad and Layla was just unreal.
- Bruce Hornsby - Huge fan of his music, and he really added a nice dimension to the second set on the 21st when he sat in. The also had the Juke Horns at the show too, great mix. Derek also really tore up this show, one day I'll be an old fart saying "I saw Derek back in the day..."
- The 27th was Southern Rock night - Kid Rock came out for Soulshine and then the Marshall Tucker Band drummer came up and they all did "Can't You See" which was pretty cool. The second set started off with the intro to Freebird. The show also had some pretty rockin versions of the New Instrumental, Les Bres and No One Left To Run With Anymore.
- 28th - Last night of the run. The second set started off as a bad Grateful Dead cover band - you know I like the Dead, but Weir should stay out of the public eye, he looks and sounds awful. Lesh was playing the band leader role too much - man, its not your band, its Gregg's, back down, calm down! Sugaree didn't do it for me, I Know You Rider was a bit better and then they had Chuck Leavell come out for Franklin's Tower and that had some pop to it. In all, good show, but for the last night at the Beacon, half the 2nd set did not have to be uninspired versions of Dead tunes, it just did not click. Also, all other musicians that guested did their own stuff plus ABB stuff, why didn't Bobby and Phil do any ABB material??
Monday, March 16, 2009
March Madness has arrived
Well March Madness has been kicked off in style. This weekend I headed down to AC on Friday night with Matt. Between 10pm Friday night and 3:30pm Saturday afternoon we logged about 11 hours of poker each, needless to say, eating and sleeping were optional!
We had to leave AC because we had tickets for the Allmans (my first of at least 4 shows this year). The setlist for the night was great:
Allman Bros. Band
3/14/09
The Beacon Theatre - NYC, NY
Set 1:
Little Martha (Warren, Derek, Oteil)
Ain't Wastin' Time No More
Walk on Guilded Splinters
Rocking Horse
Gambler's Roll
Revival
Woman Across the River
Dreams (w/ Randy Brecker, Lenny White)
Set II:
Melissa, Gregg on acoustic.
Lovelight, w/Robert Randolph and Adam Nusebaum, drums -->
brief Drums w/ Adam Nusebaum, drums -->
One Way Out, w/Robert Randolph and Adam Nusebaum, drums.
In A Silent Way, w/ Randy Brecker, trumpet and Lenny White, drums -->
Elizabeth Reed, w/ Randy Brecker, trumpet and Lenny White, drums -->
Drums, w/ Lenny White -->
Bass Solos w/ Stanley Clarke -->
Elizabeth Reed (core band, but with Lenny on drums, no Jaimoe this set)
Enc:
E: Mountain Jam > Dazed and Confused (w/ stanley for whole enc)
The madness continued today - my men's league had our semi-finals match up tonight. One of our players hit a 35' 3 pointer at the buzzer to send the game to OT, and yours truly won the game in OT with a free throw with 2 seconds left on the clock! The commissioner called it the best game in league history.
The championship game is Thursday night, and then I have the Allmans back to back on Friday and Saturday.
And oh yeah, a little thing called the NCAA Men's Basketball Tournament gets into full gear this week.
Come on, seriously, who does not think March is the greatest month ever!
We had to leave AC because we had tickets for the Allmans (my first of at least 4 shows this year). The setlist for the night was great:
Allman Bros. Band
3/14/09
The Beacon Theatre - NYC, NY
Set 1:
Little Martha (Warren, Derek, Oteil)
Ain't Wastin' Time No More
Walk on Guilded Splinters
Rocking Horse
Gambler's Roll
Revival
Woman Across the River
Dreams (w/ Randy Brecker, Lenny White)
Set II:
Melissa, Gregg on acoustic.
Lovelight, w/Robert Randolph and Adam Nusebaum, drums -->
brief Drums w/ Adam Nusebaum, drums -->
One Way Out, w/Robert Randolph and Adam Nusebaum, drums.
In A Silent Way, w/ Randy Brecker, trumpet and Lenny White, drums -->
Elizabeth Reed, w/ Randy Brecker, trumpet and Lenny White, drums -->
Drums, w/ Lenny White -->
Bass Solos w/ Stanley Clarke -->
Elizabeth Reed (core band, but with Lenny on drums, no Jaimoe this set)
Enc:
E: Mountain Jam > Dazed and Confused (w/ stanley for whole enc)
The madness continued today - my men's league had our semi-finals match up tonight. One of our players hit a 35' 3 pointer at the buzzer to send the game to OT, and yours truly won the game in OT with a free throw with 2 seconds left on the clock! The commissioner called it the best game in league history.
The championship game is Thursday night, and then I have the Allmans back to back on Friday and Saturday.
And oh yeah, a little thing called the NCAA Men's Basketball Tournament gets into full gear this week.
Come on, seriously, who does not think March is the greatest month ever!
Sunday, March 1, 2009
"Oceania"
Day 4 - Time for the Blue Lagoon then a trip back across the pond to NY.
The Blue Lagoon is the most famous of all the hot springs/geothermal spas in Iceland. People in Iceland love public hot springs. The Blue Lagoon is one of the most famous, supposedly it has healing powers for certain skin diseases, etc. It is also a full service spa with all sorts of in water and private room massages, etc. I was going to be there for about 4 hours, so I decided to get a 1 hour massage in the water. It sounded interesting, but when you are in water for an hour, your masseuse's hands get all prune-y and stuff! So you have these wrinkly hands giving you a massage. On the flip side, you are sitting in a hot lagoon with amazing scenery, but the actual massage was just ok. Next time I'd skip in the water massage, either get one in a spa room, or just hang out in the lagoon sans massage. I had a nice meal at their restaurant, then headed back to the airport.
So there ya have it, my trip in detail. Here are some random thoughts from the trip in general:
The Blue Lagoon is the most famous of all the hot springs/geothermal spas in Iceland. People in Iceland love public hot springs. The Blue Lagoon is one of the most famous, supposedly it has healing powers for certain skin diseases, etc. It is also a full service spa with all sorts of in water and private room massages, etc. I was going to be there for about 4 hours, so I decided to get a 1 hour massage in the water. It sounded interesting, but when you are in water for an hour, your masseuse's hands get all prune-y and stuff! So you have these wrinkly hands giving you a massage. On the flip side, you are sitting in a hot lagoon with amazing scenery, but the actual massage was just ok. Next time I'd skip in the water massage, either get one in a spa room, or just hang out in the lagoon sans massage. I had a nice meal at their restaurant, then headed back to the airport.
So there ya have it, my trip in detail. Here are some random thoughts from the trip in general:
- People in Iceland are very nice, approachable in bars, on the street, etc. Never did I feel uncomfortable, you can walk in any area of town and feel safe.
- Shower water smells like Sulfur! Very toxic smelling. But water is safe to drink anywhere, and it really is everywhere!
- Do NOT eat at Pizza Pronto - they are all over, it is microwaved, soggy crappy pizza! I do not say this because I am a NY Pizza snob, I say this to save you a few Krona (Icelandic currency) on your trip, do not stop here!!!!! Find your pizza elsewhere.
- IcelandAir - excellent Airline. On time (even flying in/out of JFK!!), with a very friendly flight crew. All seats of a screen in front of you with movies and tv shows on demand, sure its not live satellite tv, but I found for a 5.5 hr flight it had enough to keep me busy. Icelandair also services 18 destinations in Europe, in the future I could see myself using them to make another pit stop in Iceland for a day or two then heading over to Europe for an extended stay.
"It's Oh So Quiet"
Day 3 - I am tired! I was up til 4:30am on Friday, and Saturday I had a 12+ hour tour with Christian. So on day 3 I decided to take it easy and go see some museums. The weather was dark and dreary with some sprinkled rain on and off, so I picked a good day to stay indoors. Besides, most shops are closed on Sunday, and the town is very quiet, so museums made sense. A few highlights of the day:
On the food front for the day, I had some more local Icelandic treats:
- Iceland National Museum - A very interesting museum, it displays a clear history of the discovery of Iceland all the way up to Independence in 1944. A short timeline - Settlement around 871A.D., move to Christianity in 1000 A.D., turned over sovereign rights to King of Norway in ~ 1200A.D., Norway gets taken over by Denmark, so Denmark rules Iceland from ~1700A.D., and then by 1944, after close to 100 years of small changes, Denmark finally grants Iceland its complete Independence, which is celebrated on June 17th.
- Reykjavík 871±2 - This exhibit has different archaeology findings from the original settlements in Reykjavik.
- The Perlan - This is mostly a great look out point to see the city, has a fancy restaurant and the Saga Museum. Due to the cloudy/rainy weather, I did not really take any pictures as it would have been a waste, but the Saga Museum was interesting.
On the food front for the day, I had some more local Icelandic treats:
- Lunch was at Hlolla Batar - a quick sandwich shop right in the town square. Instead of "subs" they have "boats". I had one with beef, cheese, their own sauce, lettuce, tomatoes, etc. I must say, this gives Quiznos a run for the money!!!
- Afternoon snack - I kept seeing signs for Kjoris which I guess is their local soft serve ice cream, so being a true patriot, I had to compare Kjoris with Carvel to see who won the battle. It is close, but I still like Carvel better, but Kjoris put a great fight!
- Dinner was at the Fish Market - This is one of the most famous and trendy restaurants in Iceland. I sat at the sushi bar and had an amazing 9 course "Iceland Experience" menu. I do not want to bore everyone with food details, as I am not a pure foodie, but this meal was one of the best I've had in my life!
"Hunter" of Nature and the Northern Lights
The alarm goes off to wake me up around 10:30 on Day 2. I had a private tour guide from Iceland Rovers picking me up for a full day of sightseeing outside the city. The tour is called Golden Circle, Northern Lights and Lobster Delights. The Golden Circle is the big tourist trip in Iceland - people get into large coach buses to go see Gullfoss, Geysir and Þingvellir (The National Park).
Though I wanted to see the sights, I did not want to travel in a group of 30 on a coach bus, so I found Iceland Rovers who do more private tours in Super 4x4 Jeeps. Also, Iceland Rovers did a full day tour with the Golden Circle, dinner and a chance to see the Northern Lights. I figured this was a great way to do everything in 1 day, so I booked the trip and I had a fantastic tour guide - Christian. Christian was probably in his late 30s or early 40s, a very nice family guy who was born and raised in Iceland. He has held many jobs like a fisherman, hotel desk clerk and more recently adventure travel leader. Though he was doing this tour, most summer he spends time taking people on multi-week backpacking tours of the more remote areas of Iceland. Along with the history of Iceland, he also shared a lot about pop culture and music. I think my favorite music we listened to was a guy named Mugison and the album was Mugieboogie. Eventually I'll make a slideshow of Iceland set to music, and I'll use some Mugison for the soundtrack, so stay tuned!
Since the tour group was small (just me), Christian figured we could squeeze in a couple of extra stops before dinner at 8pm. So here is a rundown of our trip:
Though I wanted to see the sights, I did not want to travel in a group of 30 on a coach bus, so I found Iceland Rovers who do more private tours in Super 4x4 Jeeps. Also, Iceland Rovers did a full day tour with the Golden Circle, dinner and a chance to see the Northern Lights. I figured this was a great way to do everything in 1 day, so I booked the trip and I had a fantastic tour guide - Christian. Christian was probably in his late 30s or early 40s, a very nice family guy who was born and raised in Iceland. He has held many jobs like a fisherman, hotel desk clerk and more recently adventure travel leader. Though he was doing this tour, most summer he spends time taking people on multi-week backpacking tours of the more remote areas of Iceland. Along with the history of Iceland, he also shared a lot about pop culture and music. I think my favorite music we listened to was a guy named Mugison and the album was Mugieboogie. Eventually I'll make a slideshow of Iceland set to music, and I'll use some Mugison for the soundtrack, so stay tuned!
Since the tour group was small (just me), Christian figured we could squeeze in a couple of extra stops before dinner at 8pm. So here is a rundown of our trip:
- Christian happens to belong to the Icelandic Caving Society, so he took me to a lava tube for some exploration
- Iceland is known for geothermal power so we went to visit one of the newest geothermal power plants in Iceland. Did you know over 90% of Iceland's buildings and homes are heated by water? Even driveways are heated by water so snow and ice do not build up!
- Our next stop was to visit Gullfoss - wow so breath-taking, this is certainly a must see sight. I was pretty stupid to take my camera so close, as it was icy and water was spraying everywhere, but the camera held up thanks to protecting the camera with my jacket.
- Then it was off to the hot spring area to see Geysir as well as some of the other hot springs.
- Next stop - The National Park. Here was took a drive around, saw where the continental drift where North America and Eurasia continents meet, plus we saw the magnificent man-made waterfall. Back during the early settlement of 900A.D., this area was where the "government" met, and they needed a water source, which is why they diverted a river to create the waterfall to bring water to them.
- We headed down to the South Shore for dinner. Before we went to the restaurant, we took the 4x4 Super Jeep on the beach, met up with another crew on a tour and had a toast with some Icelandic Schnapps
- Dinner time at Vid fjorubordid - This little restaurant is on the South Shore right on the black sandy beaches of Iceland. They are known for their lobster feast dinner. But instead of the traditional lobsters we know of, they serve these tiny juicy little guys know as Langoustine which are a type of lobster, just much smaller. So we got a few pots of the Langoustine which were steamed in a pot with butter, potatoes and veggies, plus they gave plenty of side dishes to go along with the main dish.
- After dinner we spent about 2-3 hours using the 4x4 to climb up a mountain to try and catch a glimpse of the Northern Lights. Christian played some Sigur Ros, which I am not a huge fan of, but driving up a pitch-black mountain at 11pm kinda set the tone and the Sigur Ros music kind of fit the bill to help set the mood, so that was cool. After such a great day, it was sad to say we did not see the Northern Lights - the forecast said they would be seen in the Northeaster part of the country so it was a long shot as we were in the Southwestern part of the country. Christian explained the Northern Lights peak every 11 years, so sometime around 2012-2013 would be the best time to plan a trip somewhere to go see them.
"Hidden Place"
I have returned from my trip to Iceland. People are asking for details, information, etc. So to make all of my fans happy, I will be writing a few (delayed) blog entries regarding the trip and all of its glorious details. So I told many people I was heading to Iceland, and most found it kinda funny, who goes to Iceland in the Winter, etc? Well I got to say, it really is a hidden place, such a small little gem. Reykjavík itself is a very, very small town. You can walk around and see everything in a day, and if you want to go to some of the museums, leave 1-2 days total for the city - not putting down the city but most of the unique stuff is all within nature outside of the city. But alas, onto the review:
Day 1: Iceland & the City of Reykjavík- A "Hidden Place"
So I took the red eye out there and got to the Klopp Hotel by about 8am. The hotel has a great location, 2-3 minutes to get to the middle of town, but far enough where it is not loud at night when you are trying to go to sleep. I quickly found out nothing in the city opens before 10 or 11am, every day. The hotel luckily had a room ready for me, so I was able to check in and go take a quick nap. For the first day I decided to get my bearings and walk around the city. I made a few key stops, like visiting the famous hot dog stand Bæjarins beztu (get the hot dog with everything!) and then I stopped to see the sights like the government building, some art exhibits, shopping, local architecture, cafes, the bars, etc. Most of the bars are really Irish/British pub types, though there is plenty of local Icelandic Beers of which I mostly enjoyed Egils Premium. Let me tell you, I now know why this city wakes up and starts work at 10am, they party til 5am every morning! I left the bars around 4:30am and there were still lines of people waiting to get into the bars!
So Day 1 was good, had some local hot dogs and beer, saw the sights, and walked around Laugavegur which is the main shopping/restaurant street. I had some Icelandic Lamb at Cafe Paris, met some locals, did some drinking and called it a night.
Day 1: Iceland & the City of Reykjavík- A "Hidden Place"
So I took the red eye out there and got to the Klopp Hotel by about 8am. The hotel has a great location, 2-3 minutes to get to the middle of town, but far enough where it is not loud at night when you are trying to go to sleep. I quickly found out nothing in the city opens before 10 or 11am, every day. The hotel luckily had a room ready for me, so I was able to check in and go take a quick nap. For the first day I decided to get my bearings and walk around the city. I made a few key stops, like visiting the famous hot dog stand Bæjarins beztu (get the hot dog with everything!) and then I stopped to see the sights like the government building, some art exhibits, shopping, local architecture, cafes, the bars, etc. Most of the bars are really Irish/British pub types, though there is plenty of local Icelandic Beers of which I mostly enjoyed Egils Premium. Let me tell you, I now know why this city wakes up and starts work at 10am, they party til 5am every morning! I left the bars around 4:30am and there were still lines of people waiting to get into the bars!
So Day 1 was good, had some local hot dogs and beer, saw the sights, and walked around Laugavegur which is the main shopping/restaurant street. I had some Icelandic Lamb at Cafe Paris, met some locals, did some drinking and called it a night.
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