Instagram first. This is me at Stuðlagil. Blue-green water, basalt columns, vintage film camera slung across me, pretty Insta-perfect. The reality: an unplanned 5.4km round hike, a scramble my mum must never find out about, perpetually checking everything is zipped safely away and keeping half an eye on the rushing water in case some malevolent … More Stuðlagil: Instagram vs Reality
Reynisfjara, on Iceland’s south coast, claimed its latest victim last week. There have been six deaths, all at roughly the same place, in the last twenty years and at least twelve near-misses which have involved emergency rescues. I could talk for an entire blog post about the inadequacy of the signage (when I last visited, … More Using correct names saves lives: Reynisfjara vs “the black sand beach”
The second part of the Switzerland 2014 post to get rewritten, because the photos had broken, is our day trip to Our Chalet. Quick recap: this is a Girlguiding trip; it’s a county adults trip with no selection process other than being the first twelve or so to send a deposit and we went to … More Switzerland 2014: Our Chalet
For reasons that might become clearer later in the month, I was looking at my old Switzerland posts the other day and discovered that all the photos had broken in the first two posts from our county trip in 2014. So rather than just repair the photos, I thought I’d rewrite them altogether because it’s … More Switzerland 2014: Anita’s B&B
Grábrók is one of my favourite attractions in a country full of incredible things to see and do, and I can’t quite believe I’ve never written about it before. Technically Grábrók is “they”, not “it”. “It” is a little cluster of moss-streaked red craters beside the Ring Road: Stóra Grábrók (Big Grábrók), Litla Grábrók (Little … More Roadside Volcanoes: Grábrók
I said at the beginning of the year that I was going to work through some gaps and one particularly egregious gap is Hverir, the geothermal area at Mývatn. I love Mývatn. You can never run out of interesting geothermal or volcanic things to see and do, and one particularly popular spot is Hverir. Hverir … More Hverir: geothermal area or another planet?
It seems I’ve never posted my film photos from Iceland this summer and now seems like a good time because I’ve just started with a brand new film camera – it’s an elderly SLR so it’s got settings and learning what all of them do is going to be my project for 2024. I say “brand … More Iceland on film
I think this is finally the last “what I did in Iceland this summer” post. It’s actually the first thing I did – first after I’d driven three hours to Þingvellir, camped on a chilly cloudy night and dealt with tyres with low pressure. I’d detoured off the Ring Road because I liked the idea … More A morning at Guðlaug Baths
Another hot pool post! This one, though, isn’t an overpriced tourist experience, designed from the ground up to be luxurious and expensive and special. This is Seljavallalaug, Iceland’s oldest swimming pool, hidden in the mountains at the foot of Eyjafjallajökull. According to the documentary film Swimming Pool Stories, Seljavallalaug’s relatively remote location is mostly because … More Finding Seljavallalaug
The third of the three geothermal pool reviews! We’re at the tenth pool, east Iceland’s Vök Baths. Vök does have a USP, right up front and centre – Iceland’s only floating infinity pools! It’s a five or ten minute drive from Egilsstaðir, the capital and main town of the region, and it’s set on the … More Relaxing at Vök Baths
I Am A Polar Bear 