Back in the summer of 2014, I rented a car and based myself in and around Borgarnes, on Iceland’s west coast and spent one of the days driving around Snæfellsnes. You can do it in a day but I find it’s such a long way and there are so many things to stop for that by … More The Volcano Adventures: Climbing Saxhóll
At the moment, it seems like I add another place I just need to go to my to-go list – wow that’s a messed-up sentence! – every other week. So I thought I’d write them down. 1) Russia View this post on Instagram A post shared by Topaz Hooper (@topaztravelstheworld) Yes, let’s be specific with the … More 10 Places I Want to Go To in the Next Five Years
Sundhöllin is Reykjavik’s oldest public pool. Designed by Guðjón Samúelsson, who also designed HallgrÃmskirkja, Reykjavik’s Catholic cathedral and the big church in Akureyri, it’s a Art Deco style building and was opened in 1937. Unusually for an Icelandic pool, it’s freezing. I visited a couple of years ago. It’s right in the centre of downtown … More I visited the new Sundhöllin extension
I know, I only did “My apartment in Glasgow!” the other day and now I’m already showing you around my room in Edinburgh. For the last three visits, I’ve stayed in Euro Hostels. It’s based in Kincaid’s Court, which is a student block just off Cowgate. Last summer it was having work done and the … More My room in Edinburgh
As you’ll know if you read What I saw at EdFringe 2018, I went to Edinburgh last weekend. I saw thirteen shows in three days, which is probably more than I saw in six days last year, and this is the post about the weekend in general. I flew up on the 8.35am flight from … More A weekend in Edinburgh
I went to the Edinburgh Fringe last weekend and here’s a quick rundown of what I saw. Friday The Amazing Bubble Man Yes, I started my Fringe with a kids’ show. Of course there were adults there but all the others had come with small children. However, the Amazing Bubble Man had been highly and … More What I saw at the Edinburgh Fringe
Last month I went to Glasgow for the weekend. Poor impulse control following a week in which I was tired and my foot hurt and I went chasing a friendly face. I went looking for somewhere to stay and as per usual, despite my loathing for them, I went for booking.com and found an apartment … More My Glasgow apartment
I already own a half-decent pair of walking boots. They’re not great but they’ve mostly been good enough for my purposes the last year or two. Their only major fault is that the insole slides up after about five miles and the edge rubs my toes and that hurts a lot but that’s easily corrected by … More What I thought of my new walking boots
Over the last three weeks or so I’ve been publishing my diaries from the Laugavegur Trail. You may have read them. Give or take a bit of clearing up, they’re pretty much exactly as I wrote them, sitting in a tent of an evening. If you read my Day One diary, you might know that … More What went wrong on Monday?
It’s our last day in Þórsmörk. Today we’re going home. On our last morning we got up late. François had said that depending on the weather and how we felt, we could pack up camp for the last time before or after breakfast. The wind had dropped by morning but it was still pretty drizzly. I … More Laugavegur Trail Day Six: Going Home
I Am A Polar Bear 