Belfast, Iceland and Phoebe

I used to be so organised with these but October and November seem to have been very busy, not just with travels! However here are a few photos from my trip in October to see my stepson Chris and his family in Belfast, Northern Lights hunting in Iceland just prior to the safe arrival of the newest Davies, young Phoebe on 27^th November.

Somewhat to my shame I hadn't visited Belfast other than to drive round the edge on the occasion of the marriage of Chris to Eleanor some few years ago! Originally living in London they soon moved back to a pleasant part of Belfast near the university and closer to Eleanor's parents.

Their next door neighbours are retired and clearly enjoy their garden!

Eleanor's work at a Women's centre means she has quite a high profile not always a good thing but they have fortunately survived a few threats and whilst there are still some fanatics around it is generally calmer. The city has benefited from being a city of culture and there has been much new building.

So after an evening meal in the centre of town where the scene was very vibrant, the next morning I went, in the rain, to the new Titanic museum. This is an impressive waterside building with not only the history of Harland and Wolfe the ship's builders but lots of interesting information about the growth of Belfast and the various trades and items moved through the ports. At one stage it was the largest exporter of linen in the world. There were lots of interactive parts for kids small and big(!) to enjoy as well as a ride showing the ship being built which moved through 3 floors. This kid certainly enjoyed it!

The main museum has not surprisingly a section on 'The Troubles' reading the bare statistics is quite chilling and it is to be hoped that whatever happens they don't resort to that level of violence ever again. It has produced of course some amazing murals and Chris drove me down the Falls Road and up the Shankill Road (or vice versa) they are so close within 400 yards rather than one side of the city to the other it makes the potential for trouble to flare up so easy. What follows is a selection of shots(!) in this area.

Two are memorial walls from bombings and as it was a Sunday the Sinn Fein office all shuttered and barred. The feel of the place is however nowhere near as threatening as when Chris got married at the height of the hunger strikes and much of the continuing violence is down to crime rather than sectarian disagreement. It was good to see where they live after all this time in relative peace. So thank-you Chris and Eleanor for entertaining me so well.

Four weeks later and I'm on my way to Rekjavik, Iceland with Gail my sometime travelling companion. The forecast had not been very good for Northern Lights viewing which was the main reason for the trip but the steam from hot springs was visible from the air as we came into land.

We had booked to go on a Northern Lights trip on our second night but were encouraged by the hotel owner to go on our first evening which we did, and since they weren't visible in the south of the island for the rest of the time we were there, it's just as well we accepted! It is fortunate that they explain that the pictures one sees are generally doctored with time lapse photography and film and so our own experience of pale flickering lights in the sky although not the best they could have been is apparently more usual. My camera not up to pictures so 'you tube ' is the place!!

We were not back until after 1am so it was a long travelling day. Breakfast served until 9.30am so not too desperate and since the sun doesn't rise until around 10.30am there was no great rush to go out sight-seeing. Sun rise from the hotel.

This amazing church 

could be seen from our hotel room with a statue of Leifur Eriksson outside,

he is credited with settling North America over 500 years before Christopher Columbus after he heard about another explorer blown off course on their travels to Greenland and coming across land and so he set about finding it himself.

The church is very pure and simple inside

with this lovely water and light feature.

Once the sun was up, it takes a while as Rekjavik is quite hilly,

we went to the National museum which covers the period from discovery by the Vikings, primarily those from Norway initially sometime around 870AD, right up to the present day. The walk took us past this frozen lake with views of the town and hills in the distance.     

The history is intertwined with that particularly of Denmark, it is interesting that there has never been a war. Even their struggle for independence from Denmark was largely non-violent and it was a Christian country from very early on with many followers pre 1000AD. We enjoyed a walk around the city in the cold clear conditions including to a sculpture museum of Asmundur Sveinsson which he had originally built as his home.

We walked back via the shoreline for some lovely views

or not so lovely as the case may be.

What a difference a day makes! This is a photo of the Blue Lagoon one of the geothermal pools where you can go to swim in the allegedly health giving waters. I can attest to the fact that one's skin certainly feels very soft afterwards. The dash from inside to the steps was a little interesting, the water is warm but as you can see that is not all steam but mist along with a cold wind so getting behind a rocky outcrop was definitely the way to go.

We followed this with a trip to view Pingvellir which is where the initial self government assemblies were held in the summer. It is accessible from all areas of the island and most people at this stage were farmers. We stopped to over look the area which is now a National Park and what follows are colour prints but the grey of the sky and snow on the ground give a different impression. Geologically it is interesting as a rift valley between the American and European tectonic plates which are separating at the rate of 3cm per year with the valley floor subsiding to compensate.

In gathering gloom we continued to the Gulfloss waterfall where getting close to take any photos was hampered by the low mist freezing on the wooden paths, fortunately had shoes that could walk on the snow at the side.

Lastly with the sun almost down we visited a geyser, more treacherous paths but a photo of it doing it's thing, not very impressive but apparently they are being effected by the land movement and of course volcanic eruptions.

Our last day continued cloudy though not so cold with much of the lying snow and ice starting to thaw. We visited the Aurora Museum where the science was clearly explained and saw a short film of the lights taken from various viewpoints, so got the view I had been expecting even if 'photoshopped'!

After lunch discovered it was another country with Monday closing on museums, including The National Gallery, so ambled gently back to the hotel for tea and cake. We passed this mossaic on the wall of the Art Museum

and this viking ship sculpture

At least with such short daylight hours it doesn't feel like one's being lazy, with a lovely sunset too

On our final morning we found that museums don't open until 11am which was too late for us, perhaps fortunately, Rekjavik is the home to a unique museum with apparently over 400 exhibits from different species! 

The rain finished off the ice and snow, it was quite a different landscape that we left.

Slight delay on way home but airport quiet and clean so not unpleasant and the sunset from the plane just stunning.

 I arrived home about 10.30pm just ahead of Kyria and Kevin who had driven up from Portugal.

All of us in time to welcome Phoebe Elizabeth Davies-Molloy into the world on the following morning. Nathaniel and Jess now coming to grips with the joys of parenthood and lack of sleep!

Me a grandmother who'd have thought!

Happy Christmas everyone.

Crete

Many of you will know I have a great love for Greece and that Bryan's ashes were scattered off the coast of Crete so that island in particular. I generally go every other year, there are after all still some other islands I haven't visited! This time I went for 10 rather than 7 days so took in an area I hadn't visited before.

So I visited Sissi which is on the north coast past the tourist resorts of Hersonisos and Malia and was described as 'quiet'. I suppose in comparison to Malia etc it was but still fairly busy. However it has a pretty harbour with bars and restaurants.

Just look at that sky!

I stayed in a very pleasant apartment complex on the outskirts of the town right on the coast which is rocky and hence the reduction in visitors I imagine, it had the benefit of including amazing breakfasts which as I was only there 3 days I had booked and they were large enough to provide me with lunch! Mine was the apartment with the blue balustrade round the outside seating area overlooking the pool and the sea.

It was also a great place to watch the sun go down

Afternoons were enlivened by a sailing tour boat from further along the coast, arriving so the tourist shops could be visited before the music was ramped up on the way home and no doubt the bar was well and truly open, unfortunately for the crew the same music was played everyday so we always knew when it was 4pm! Still it was a fine looking boat.

 On the middle day of my stay I decided to explore the Lassithi Plateau, a large agricultural area with many windmills in theory at least. it is high in the central mountains of crete, however these are the only windmills I  saw with working sales and this is a museum on the way!

The plateau is large though with a winding road which encircles it.

This photo was taken from outside the entrance to a cave which is renowned as the birth place of no lesser God than Zeus, up many steps from the road which of course meant that one then went down many steps to view the inevitable stalagmites and and stalactites

before having to climb up yet again to get out!

Fortunately frozen yoghurt for sale at the exit to aid recovery.

It was a pleasant stop off place to stay before I headed off much further east for the rest of the time. This was my first view of my favourite beach this visit, taken from the place where the ashes were thrown into the sea.

It is generally fairly quiet

and the hill I'm standing on looks like this, it is a hellenic castle but there are minoan ruins as well so will never be built upon.

 On the way down I noticed a flower which I don't remember seeing before possibly because I usually go a bit later in the year, doesn't have much leaf and clearly some kind of bulb, very pretty though.

This is the view from 'my' spot on the beach

 The beach is a pleasant drive from the small town  I stay in and on the way back there is a view which I'm sure will have a resonance with my welsh relations who have a similar hill formation in their location.

As you can see not very built up!

There are many other beaches in the area and the nearest one to the hotel is a large beach with regular winds and good for windsurfing. This year the hotel has opened a cafe on the beach as an opportunity for the next generation of the family to make a business, and very pleasant it is too especially if you get a free drink!

 

However I still like my beach best so a last view of that, can't wait to go back, mind you the sun is lovely too.

So now when I say I'm going to Crete you will know what I see, I'm always fearful that it will change with more visitors but so far so good.