I am now a...

certified North Pole traveller ! :))

My certificate arrived today. When I visited the island Grímsey in Iceland, I walked over the arctic circle. And now I have the little piece of paper to prove it.

7 december, what a day !

My oh my, what a fantastic evening did we have ! My boyfriend came over for the charity gig that Simple Minds were going to do at the ABC Venue in Glasgow. The gig was to raise money for 'Cash For Kids'. The venue was also selling exclusive Simple Minds tshirt, made especially for the gig. It was the normal longsleeve tour t-shirt, but with a tweak ;).

We arrived just before 6pm, not that many people waiting yet. So when the doors opened, we were in the middle of the front row. Excellent ! The place was packed, it turns out it sold out within the hour of tickets going on sale !

The gig itself was absolutey awesome, 2 full hours of energy, passion and sweat. A really good setlist, no slow songs, full steam ahead, lots of good vibes and good atmosphere ! Everything you expect and hope for from a Simple Minds gig !

Afterwards, my sweetheart somehow managed to get aftershow passes. Wahey !!!!! Something I`'d never thought of experiencing ! Sharing a drink with Eddie and Andy (didn`t see the rest of the Minds, they probably had an early night ?) and making a young teenager`s dream come true (but that`s another story!).

Easily one of the best gigs I`ve seen from them and for sure one of the best nights I have ever had !

The Gig !

Well tonight was the night ! I went to the SECC during the day and heard Simple Minds' soundcheck. No way of sneaking in though...

Went to the meetup before the gig where I just missed Mick McNeill. Damn! Said hi to familiar faces then had some food and off to the gig.

I thought I had a seat all the way back in the hall but it turned out my seat was on row 14 right in the middle of the stage. Nice ! The people I knew were mostly sitting in row 2, 3, or 4. So I went over there for a chat. We asked security if they'd allow people to stand at the front of the stage ? Yes, but only the people from the first 5 rows. Aha ! So I lingered around talking to peeps, pretending I was sitting in one the still vacant seats. (people were still coming in though). Music started and Viviane said (she had been to the previous concerts on this tour) "it`s starting!" I didn`t quite believe her as the lights were still on and the music wasn`t that loud. But people started rushing to the barriers in front of the stage so I followed suit. Security tried to check tickets to determine if you were really from the first rows, but all of a sudden the lights went out and BAM... "Waterfront" was set in !

So I was able to be on the second row for the whole 2 hours ! A good set was played with "I Travel" being the hightlight for me because I really love that track ! Ghostdancing... aaah I never get tired of hearing that one ! Chelsea Girl was great, Up On The Catwalk and all those other great songs ! They had the whole venue up on their feet and during "Alive & Kicking" I watched the audience and évery single person was waving. It was great.

Afterwards there was a gig by Four Good Men (with Derek Forbes on bass) back in the city centre of Glasgow. They played their set really late, especially for us ! The gig was fun, lots of old Simple Minds songs ! Brian McGee stopped by too (after the gig), that was a nice surprise !

A great evening, one I had been anticipating for for a long time. The Minds played and looked really good. Here`s to the next 30 years of live music lads !

Glasgow !

Hello all !

It has been quiet on this page lately right ? Lucky for you I`m in Glasgow this week for 2 Simple Minds gigs so the much needed update can begin !

The trip started this morning. I needed to be at the airport at 10am. When I got there the flight was already delayed by one hour. Then another half hour. Eventually, we took off at 13.00 instead of 11.00 lol ! Arrived in Glasgow around 15.00 checked in and went shopping. I have been here before in 2006 (also for a Simple Minds concert) and I don`t know where I went walking then but obviously in the wrong part of town ! I can`t remember that there were so many shops and malls here ! OMG ! And they all have autumn sales ! And penguins must be very popular here because they pop up everywhere !

Anyway, some nice pictures to set the christmas mood...

Day 14 - Horseback-riding and hotdogs and soup...

This morning I went for a nice trip with the horses. Along mountains, snowy meadows, very nice ! My horse was called Sóki and it was lovely.

Back in the city, I went for some more shopping, a girl can never shop enough ! Unfortunately it was raining, the only day it rained in these entire 2 weeks.

I stopped at THE BEST PLACE for hotdogs, : Bæjarins Beztu. Bill Clinton and Metallica will agree with me and stop at this little place whenever they`re in town.

After that I walked past this little bistro that had "soup in bread". Curious as I was, I wanted to try this and it turned out to be very nice ! Almost a full meal, I felt really stuffed with the soup on top of previous mentioned hot dog...

So that was my trip to Iceland. It was nice, cold, a bit scary at times, but worth doing. I can`t wait till next time ! During summer, doing the westfjords and such.

Day 13 - Back in Reykjavik

Flew back at 11u40. Was a nice, relaxed 45 minutes ! I still need to inform the rentalcompany that I left their car up north. Ah well...

The afternoon was spent in the shopping mall.

The Reykjavik City Hostel is filled with noisey kids and the likes ! A full room too, nothing like what I`m used to :(

Day 12 - I crossed the Arctic Circle !

I went on a ferry to the little island of Grímsey. It has 85 people living on it and is a sanctuary to many, many birds. The Arctic Circle passes throught there. So I crossed over it and now I have officialy been to the north pole hehe ! My certificate will be mailed to me, let`s hope so !

The rest of the day was spent in the shopping mall, tomorrow I leave for Reykjavik by aeroplane.

Day 11 - Resting and shopping

Day 10 - I made it !

I was finally able to drive to Akureyri today. It was only 60 km but it was horrible ! So much snow and ice on the roads, incredible. Still, am happy I made it in one piece.

Checked into the hostel, I have the entire first floor to myself. Sweet ! Am off in a minute to go see what there is to do/see here. Unimaginable, but there is even more snow in the streets here than in the mountains. Piles of snow along the roads, almost knee-high. I am not driving any gurther, I have booked myself a flight from Akureyri straight to Reykjavik this coming thursday. It will take 45 mins and it will cost 37 euro`s. Now, how much it`s gonna cost me to leave the car here instead of Reykjavik, that`s another matter entirely. It will be a lot but better safe than sorry right ?

Day 9 - Still stuck...

...in winter wonderland. About half a metre of snow fell, the road wasn`t cleared until about 16 o`clock. By that time it is too late to start moving because it would be dark before I got to my destination. And there are no lights along the road. I have been given dvd`s to keep me occupied. So far I have watched "The Davinci Code", "The Zookeeper" and "The Queen". By the way, "DVD" stands for Digital Versatile Disc. Did you know that ? I didn`t !

I have decided , once I get to Akureyri, to inquire about getting a plane back to Reykjavik. This means I will miss out on a part of west-iceland but there is always next time. In the summer. When it isn`t snowing !!!

Update : I just got a call from Alex Agnew, my favourite stand-up comedian ! Hehe, that was funny ! It didn`t change the situation but it sure cheered me up ! Thanks go to my lovely b/f for making this happen !

Day 8 - Stranded at Laugar

When you think things can`t get any worse, they usually do !

Last night was really bad weather. There was a low pressure area going over Iceland or something which caused massive winds. Airplanes could not land in Keflavík that`s how bad it was. I had chosen a room on the first floor of the hostel and in all honesty, I could feel the house move during the storm ! There was no rain just strong winds.

In the morning, things had settled down a bit so I went on my way to Akureyri, 262 km further north. What a drive that was ! Over mountains, most of the road snowed under and/or icey, snow blizzards, the lot ! It was quite an ordeal ! I passed three sights I wanted to see (Dettifoss, Krafla and Dimmuborgir) but it was just impossible to get there. Lake Myvatn was also very nice although I did not see that much of it because of the snow. I passed only one car in 200 km !

Then I got to Godafoss. Great, only 50 km or so to go. A snow blizzard started happening and I could not see the road anymore. I called up the hostel in Akureyri, to hear if they knew anything about the road/weather conditions. Apparently, that last stretch of road I needed to do was closed off because of the bad weather ! It might be back open later in the day, it might not. Great ! Just before Godafoss was a souvenir shop so I went back there, to wait out the snow blizzard. I decided to see if I could stay there somewhere for the night. I had enough of driving through such bad weather conditions,

About 15 km back was a little place called Laugar where I could stay at the Störu-Laugar. The lady there was really friendly and tried to reassure me that I would be able to get to Akureyri the next day. Fingers crossed she is right ! Another day in the middle of nowhere, been there, done that, I am ready to go back to civilisation now ! I have a really nice and spacious room though with a private badroom. After a hot shower I felt a little bit better. I just discovered they have a playstation 2 in one of the rooms, that will keep me occupied for the evening ! Silver linings hey ?

Day 7 - Hengifoss and a tricky situation

Boy oh boy, I got myself in quite a situation !

First off, I went to see Hengifoss. It was at the end of a gorge, a 2,5 km hike. After 1 km you come at a smaller fall called Litlanesfoss. So far so good. Then the path dissapeared somehow and it get more uphill and snowy. There was a river that was very hard to cross, being all icey and stuff. About 500 metres further I gave up. All I saw were snowed over hills where the track was supposed to be. So I settled for a pic of Hengifoss from a distance.

Then I decided to drive to Seydisfjördur, about 28 km from Egilsstadir. Bad decision ! At first the road was fine. Then it went uphill (again) and it got more tricky. Large strokes were icey. No problem to drive though, just at a very slow speed. Then I saw Seydisfjördur, way down below in the valley. The road down was quite curvy and a 10% slope. I did not feel very comfortable driving all that way down in my little car. So as soon as I could, I decided to turn around. But then ! Halfway back up the road (that 10% slope remember ?) the car just wouldn`t go anymore. It`s wheels started slipping and were turning but it wouldn`t go forward. So there I was, halfway up the hill, stranded. I got out and the road was all ice. Jesus Christ ! I tried again and again but to no avail. A car stopped and offered me a lift back to Egilsstadir. The nice man phoned up the car rental office and told what had happened. Back in Egilsstadir airport, they gave me another car. The man from the lift said that my car didn`t have winter tyres so it was no wonder I couldn`t get up the hill. I wish they had told me that beforehand ! Here I was driving happily along all these fjords, thinking it was safe ! Anyway, I got an even smaller car now but WITH winter tyres.

The rental car company is gonna pick up the other car maybe tomorrow, maybe sunday. WTF ? It`s gonna be left there, in the middle of the road for 2 days ? I really hope no one crashes into it ! I wonder what this malarky will cost me. I guess I`ll find out next saturday when I hand the car back in at the airport.

Day 6 - To Húsey via Egilsstadir

After a night of stormy winds, rain and snow, I left Höfn around 9 am. It was 242 km to Egilsstadir along the costal highway around all the east fjords. Nice views everywhere, gravel roads, icey roads, snow and sun ! Numerous waterfalls !

I stopped at Djúpivogur where Langabúd is, one of the oldest stores in the country (1790). Towering over the peninsula is Mt. Búlandstindur (1069m), a stately and triangularly shaped mountain that many claim possesses mystic powers.

Then on through Breiddalsvík and Stödvarfjördur, where I stopped for a light meal: pylsur and frasnas (hotdog and fries). A 6 km long tunnel trought the mountains from Dalir to Reydarfjördur and then I was nearly in Egilsstadir where I stopped to do some grocery shopping.

I still needed to drive a 30 km long gravel road to the Hostel Húsey. At 50 km an hour, it took me a while ! When I arrived, I turned out to be the ONLY one there ! I had the whole hostel to myself and there was absolutely nothing surrounding it. (Except for the farm where the caretaker and his family live). Talk about being in the middle of nowhere ! This is definately it ! Hey, maybe I get to see those famous northern lights tonight !

Day 5 - Resting

Day 4 - Svartifoss - Jökulsárlón - Höfn

An early start for me, 8 in the morning ! But I had a long trip ahead of me, 272 km with a couple of stops on the way.

First stop was at Kirkjubaejarklaustur (don`t you just love these names?) where there is supposed to be this rock formation called Kirkjugolf, that looks like a church floor. I really didn`t think it was really that impressive, just some smooth ground surface ! I did see a nice waterfall though called Systrafoss.

Next up was Dverghamrar (dwarf cliffs), also supposed to be something worthwile to see but again, nothing spectacular. Just two big dunes in a field. But again, on the way over there, I saw another nice waterfall 'Foss à Sida' and a sign with probably the funniest place name in Iceland :

Back on the road to Skaftafell NP where Svartifoss is, a well-known waterfall. It was a 1,5 km hike to the waterfall, mostly uphill (!) but well worth it. I was the only one there, what a nice contrast to the overcrowded sightseeing places in the US !

And then... the next stop was Jökulsárlón, the `glacier lagoon`. I had seen it on a documentary before and it was one of the main reasons for my tour around Iceland. And it was breathtaking. Pictures or videofilm can not do justice to this place, you have to see it with your own eyes. It`s a lagoon that formed between Breidamerjökull glacier and a glacial ridge by the ocean. It is very deep and large icebergs broken off from the glacier float on it. It has been used as a location for Hollywood films, including James Bond. Hmmm, will have to look up which film exactly !

Arrived in Höfn around 16u30. The youth hostel was fully booked apparently, even though I had made reservations well in advance, so they put me up in a guesthouse in a single room at the same rate.

Day 3 - Dogsledding

Well, it turns out there is not much to do or see in Vík really. So yesterday evening I emailed this company that offers snowmobile and dogsled tours to see if they had any tours planned that I could join at last notice. Because of lack of snow, the only tour they had right now wasa dog trolley tour. This is a trolley pulled by the sledgedogs on the sandy, black beaches just west of Vík below the Mýrdalsjökul glacier. The tour was at 12 if I wanted to join in. Great ! So I went to the meeting place just before 12 and there was only me, a trolley and 7 big furry Greenlandic sled dogs and their handler. I was the only one, so this turned out to be private tour ! Excellent !

The tour lasted about an hour, I even got to steer for a moment ! It was fun, would have been mucht more fun on snow though. There was (again) a very strong wind, but it was sunny with clear blue skies. I needed my sunglasses the whole doy, who would have thought !

Driving back to Vík, I stopped at Dýrholaey, a 120 m high cliff which is home to many birds. The sea has eroded an opening in it, big enough for boats to sail through. I couldnt get to the tip of the cliff though, as the road was too bad to drive...Next stop was Reynishverfi where you could get closer to the three rock pillars in the sea called `Reynisdrangar`. According to the local folklore these are not rocks at all but trolls turned to stone at sunrise.

My camera still won`t work properly, apparently it`s a chip inside that stopped working. So indoor pictures turn out reasonable, outdoors pics are a no-no. I went out and bought a disposable camera, like they used in the olden days. LOL ! I think I took more pics of my feet than anything else ! And I always forgot I couldn`t zoom with this thing. Quite annoying really but nothing I can do about it :(

Day 2 - Vík

Drove to the little town of Vík today, 300 inhabitants right at the seaside. I drove past snowy fields ,green mossed mountains and yellow meadows. I noticed it is very windy in Iceland. Very windy ! I couldn`t find the hostel right away but more about that later, first the sightseeing bit.

First stop was at Seljalandsfoss and Gljúfurárfoss. I could walk all the way behind the Seljalands waterfall. That was pretty cool ! And wet and very noisy too. My camera decided to stop working today...:( Despite numerous efforts of getting it working again, it wouldn`t. Maybe it couldn`t handle the cold ? (-2 degrees in Reykjavik up to 3 degrees in Vik). So I took some snapshots with the videocamera and, at a later stage, some pics with my Blackberry.

Second stop was at Skógafoss waterfall, one of the most impressive ones at a towering height of 60 metres. According to legend, the first settler at Skógar, hid a chest of treasure in the cave beneath it. No way of finding that though as it is very difficult to come very close to the waterfall. When you try to, you get soaked to the bone !

Third stop was the hostel at Vík. There was one sign when you enter Vík and then...nothing. A couple of roads (well, gravel paths) going in different directions and lots of houses. So I stopped at this building that looked like it could be a hostel. There was one car parked there, right by a door. The door was open so I stepped inside. Lots of coats hanging there, but then...a room with lots of knitting wool and appliances and there was music playing that uhm, just didn`t sound quite right for a hostel.

So I went back out again and decided to give the hostel a call. Turns out I had walked into a home for the elderly ! LOL ! The hostel was one road back, past a kindergarten (looked more like a shed to me ! ), and round the corner, the last house on the left.

Checked in and I am the only person in a four bed dorm. Woohoo, suits me fine ! Tried my camera again, shaked it around a bit, tapped it and whaddayaknow ? It works again ! Bloody typical, I hopes it behaves itself for the rest of the journey.

1st day - Reykjavik

I have started my trip to Iceland ! So I thought this would be a great opportunity to start with this blog !

After a smooth flight I landed in a sunny Keflavik airport. Picked up my rental car and headed towards Reykjavik. Speeding limit here is 80 to 90 km/h.....slooooowwwww !

When I came near the hostel, I suddenly recognized some of the streets I was driving through ! Amazing, after 4 years since my last visit!

First stop was the Kringlan Shopping Center lol ! Picked up some Ritzenhoff glasses (with penguins on them) and food supplies. The girl at the till didn`t speak a word of english, she just stared at me like I was something from outer space ! Luckily `visa card`is a universal word !

Had some dinner and then a early night, after browsing through some leaflets of `things to do while in Iceland`. Although early ? It`s midnight in Belgium when I write this down !

Man Of My Dreams

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