Sunday Happy

Short of the long... I am trashed. We just got back from a 6 1/2 hour drive from the Poconos where I now have a sweet ass new summertime home in the woods (actually not mine, but my dad just bought a house and moved there so it's pretty much mine..haha)  Summer fun time all the time long. A short few days for an initial, get to know the place and see the new house, go hiking, biking, more hiking, and basically run around and play with the dogs and the neighborhood deer, visit. It was an all out exhausting, amazing time. (I would tell you more about it, but right now my mind is mush I I am surprised Ian even type right now)  So now we are back home to maybe get a few hours of sleep and then back to the house for few hours of work. Got to get ready for the boom truck of a million pieces of sheet rock that are coming in the morning!

Now I am really, really freaking tired and need to like, for real, sleep for a bit before I keel over. Oh thanks the world for coffee cause today is going to be a couple pot of coffee kind of day. Wish me luck.

Some stuff the from the early week internet browsing.

-Not sure if I would want to stick my head in a one after all the other people have. Levitating Clouds Provide a Dreamlike Resting Place During the Festival des Architectures Vives

-I think we could be best friends. Meet a Woman Who Keeps 500 Plants in Her Brooklyn Apartment

-How to Keep Berries Fresh for Longer

-So into these Origami Bird Lights.

-I have got to try and make this mozzarella aquafaba cheese

-It's that time of year again. Canning here we come! Making Fruit Jelly Using Apples for Pectin

-A coloring cook book. Brilliant.

And a few pictures from the past few days.

Have a restful day!

-C

Iceland

OF all the places that we went on our adventure, this place was the craziest. Maybe it was because we had been traveling for a while by then and I might have been a little loopy and hungry and full of traveling endorphins , but Iceland felt more like we had traveled to a different planet. Covered in snow and ice, gigantic , jagged mountains, and barely a tree to be seen. The sun was limited,  rising around 1030am and setting around 330pm.  The landscape has a very barren, almost aggressive feel, but at the same time, really pulled me in. We only got to spend 4 days there( and they were the coldest 4 days they have had all year) but what time we did spend only made us want to go back (int he summer) to explore even more.

Our bnb wasin Hafnarfjörður,  a town outside of the big city. It isright next to a harbor with all the house build snuggled close on the hill in between rocks and boulders. The houses are so cute with a very danish feel, lots of clean edges, metal sidings, and fun colors. And the lights. Just about every house had some type of twinkly lights in there yard making the town light up like a fairy land at night. It was magical and beautiful and made me very happy.

We ended up taking a bus tour of the Golden Circle. I had never taken a bus tour before so I wasn't exactly sure of what to expect. And I am not going to lie, I am so glade we did it, the tour lady had lots of really interesting stories and facts about the country to tell us andwe wouldn't have been able to see any of what we saw if we didn't do it, but I am not a fan of the bus. Eight hours of cramped seats, cold and damp withridged time restricted... not my cup of tea, but whatever, it was still really cool.  Oh and did I mention the elves and trolls yet?   I had heard this before we went, but Icelanders believe in another dimension where mystical creatures live and that sometimes travel to this world. YES YES YES!!!!  Isn't that just freaking fantastic! On the tour, our guide was telling us all about it (she even believed in them) and how these creatures live under and in all the big rocks and boulders and those rocks and boulders cannot be moved or else you will disturb them. And not joke, there is anationalpsychicthat talks to the creatures in the matters of the roadand new building construction (are we to close to you boldermr. elf?) They take care not to disturb their natural habitats. (When I heard this I was just so happy.) All I know is thatI need to start believing in elves.

And the people. To be honest we didn't have a lot of interactionwith local Icelanders. We stayed with the sweetest couple at theairbnb we rented, but they had only been in Iceland for a year. We did talked to people, but it seemed that everyone we talked to were traveling as well. The boys we were staying withm as wel as the tour guide had mentioned that the locals were not excatly the most friendly people. Not that they were mean or anything, just maybe a little standoffish. We kind of got that feel, but whenever we needed any help, the people we dealt with were very nice, but I kinda got what everyone was saying. It's not the most jolly la la la place for people. 

Another strange part of being in Iceland was the food.  Eating was difficult and very expensive. There was a restaurantin the town, but they mostly served meat ans seafood.  There grocery store stocked very little in ways of fresh produce and what they did has was crazy freaking expensive ($6 for quart pund of carrots.. OUCH) Luckily I was able to score a bag of lentils, some apples, and a head of cabbage, so that's what I lived off for the time we were there. Next time we go, I am for sure going to be packing a checked bag full of carrots. yeah, that't what I will do.

So much, so much. I am sure I forgetting to tell you all about something I was going to tell you, but now I am just drifting in and out of all the pictures (I have so many more pictures)  and am having a hard tie concentrating.  So I will leave you with these to look. Andbefore I go, a little advice.  Next time you find yourself going to Europe, take advantage of the Icelandic layover. The place is not the cheapest, but how can you pass up a free stop in a crazy cool country. (think about it..)

Have fun times today!

-C

Copenhagen

Second leg of our adventure was Copenhagen which was fantastic. The city was beautiful with spindly topped buildings, cobblestone roads and just the smell. The city smelled like one big pastry. I loved it and we have decided that we must go back, just next time in the summer (it was pretty freaking cold and windy)

So we only spend 3 days there, but with what little time we did have, we spent walking, and walking, and walking. We walked our buts off. We figure there is no better way to get a good feel for a place then to walk the streets. And boy was there a lot to see. The bikes alone. Oh man where there so many bikes and the coolest ones at that. (it really made me missed my bike) and again, baked good galore. Everywhere you turned, someone was eating a pastry and the smell just wafted. There were flower shops and flowers on the streets. Little danish art galleries and danish pottery studios (I wish I could have bought it all) And a bike shop on every corner. The coffee was good (far better then Ireland), the veggies were plentyful and the people were very nice.

I have to mention the littles. The place we were staying there was around the block from a little preschool. Every morning I would walk by and see the fleets of moms ans dads biking their littles inbike containers (or thrown over a bike bar) , on their way to school. The kids all wearing the cutest jumpers, laughing and being happy. The preschool itselflooked so cool with huge outdoor space and a nature made playground.. It made the fever great.  I love the way danish people raise and take care of there kids. (maybe we should move to Denmark and have us a cute little that sleeps outsideand smells like a pastry...)

But enough about the littles...  Here are pictures of our adventures. It's funny cause I thought that I was taking a million and one photos, but when I downloaded them, I didn't take as many as I thought. I guess I was so into my made up little danish world that I somewhat neglected the camera which I totally cool with. My head is full of the city.

Ireland

What can I say, Ireland was everything and more that I thought it was. The landscape is amazing, the people are so kind and friendly, stone walls a plenty, a pub or 5 on every corner, and the driving.. Oh man, that shit was cra cra!

It all started from Boston, after a four hour drive in the snow, we made it to the airport to sit around for a few hours before boarding my first plane ride ever. The excitement and fear were real, sending me into a walking fit where I went from bathroom to bathroom to pee (I pee when I am nervous... TMI?) But then we boarded and squeezed into out sets and the plane took off. And let me tell you, after taking 6 flights over the course of 2 weeks, that very first flight was a nightmare. The entire flight was constant turbulence and I had gotten a touch of vertigo. I though I was going to barf and was pretty sure the plane was going to crash. But I didn't and it didn't and that was that.

So three plane rides and one 8 hour layover later, we landed safely at the Dublin airport. It was late, to late to get our car, so we ended up sleeping (but not really) in the food court where the seats we plush and there was free wifi. At the very first second we could we rushed to the car rental place and got out sweet little ride, with the steering wheel all wrong. It was fantastic. The mr was the driver, for reasons of many, mostly I am a chicken shit and was to scared so I never did any of the wrong side driving, which was great cause the mr, he was a pro, like he had been driving on that side all his life.

And off we went, over the hills, into the countryside, around and around all the roundabouts. Hoping around every few days from bnbs (we did airbnb all the way and it was awesome) and just kept on going, going and going. We saw so much. Little towns, ocean for miles, the cliffs, the beaches, the green. Huge stone ruins all over the place. Castles, churches, sheep and cows. Everything was so lovely, so green even in the winter, and just so dang pretty.  The weather was fine, never to cold, always a little drizzly (which I kind of liked) but the wind.. The wind was ferocious and nearly blew me away on many occasions. And again, the people.. We talked to so many folks and every one of them were so kind and helpful, it really made the place feel homey. Oh, and the produce. I ate my weight in fresh cabbage ans carrots, all grown in the country! But the one not so great thing that I must mention is the coffee. We had a heard time finding a decent cup anywhere. It was all about the tea. Tea and scones everywhere. I was coffee depleted by the end of the first day.

I could keep telling you every little detail, but I won't,  Ill just leave you with lots of pictures (I have so so so many pictures) and let you imagine yourself there.

And now I can't wait to go back, but next time we want to bring our camping stuff and maybe rent some bikes Travel around like cool kids. (I would be ok with not driving over there anymore)

Have a great day and maybe go plan a trip to Ireland.

Bye

-C

Sunday Happy

Hey hey hey!!! 

Just checking in with the world..... I have been totally neglecting the Internet and pretty much all of normal life since we have been gone. So how are you doing? 

As of today, the mr and I are in Iceland, the land of trolls, elves, and kFC(I'll tell you about it later) and are heading back home tomorrow night, so today we are going to spend it exploring for those elves and trolls(among other thing).

And I have so much to share. So when I get back, get my sleep back to normal and my life in real world mode again, I'll post lots and lots of pictures and tell you all about it.

until then, hope everyone is happy, healthy, and living the dream!

-c