Athens

For half term break, I took Liana and Colin to Athens for three days. I found a last minute deal at Athens Tower Hotel with an Acropolis view and breakfast with a view. Located at Monastiraki Square, it is convenient to many sites and transit. We got to our hotel around 8 and went immediately for dinner nearby. Bairaktaris is in a bit of a touristy area, but the staff are nice and the food is good. I remember eating take-away gyros here in 2019! I introduced the kids to tirokafteri (spicy whipped feta dip) and Liana was an immediate fan. We also got some kebabs and croquettes. During dinner, the kids spotted friends from school walking by! After dinner we spotted Venetis on the square and looked in. It was good and we ended up here every night for ice cream and pastries.

The next morning we slept in a bit as our first activity was cooking class at 11. I planned it for the first day as it was the only time with a chance of rain (and it apparently poured during class) and it would introduce some foods to the kids. There were 4 other people in the class and that was a good size. We made phyllo from scratch and formed our own pastries with our own fillings. While those were baking we each made our own main. The kids had a lot of fun and learned a lot. Dionysia at Eat With Your Greek Cousin did a great job. We stopped by the hotel for a small rest and then headed to the Panathenaic Stadium, the site of the original modern Olympic games. We did a small race, visited the museum, and sat and took in the scenery for a while. When leaving, we walked by the Temple of Olympian Zeus (mostly ruins, grounds were closed) and Hadrian's Arch. We stopped by Kayak for ice cream and a rest. We took the subway back to the hotel area and decided to walk the shops of Monastiraki.

The next day we started off by visiting the Acropolis. We walked up the north slope via Areopagus Hill and took in the sites from the hill, as I was planning on coming down the south slope when done. There was a line that would have been ok to wait but I just went online and bought an instant ticket. We started off viewing the Odeon of Herodes Atticus, which is still used for some concerts and performances. We then headed up and did a anti clockwise loop around the Parthenon. We went out for the views at the famous eastern viewpoint. We walked by a few ruined sites on the way down the south slope. After stopping to pet some cats, we went to the Acropolis Museum to use the restrooms, and decided to not visit the museum. We started walking back toward the hotel. Liana spotted a sweatshirt she liked. We found some random lunch spot and had an enjoyable lunch. After a rest at the hotel we took the subway half way to Mount Lycabettus. We walked up the steep hill to the funicular and rode that up (which has gotten pretty expensive, €13 round trip). We took in the views and peeked in the little church. We went back to the hotel for a bit of a rest before meeting our friends for dinner at MS Rooftop, across the street from our hotel. The kids had fun sharing a meal in Athens and talking about the different things they had done.

Our final day we slept in a bit as we would be doing a decent amount of walking and had time to take things slow and enjoy the day. After some breakfast we first went to the Ancient Agora around 11. The main entrance was closed for remodel so we walked around the park and finally found the ticket booth. The line was starting to get long and I was able to buy instant tickets online (and the line was huge by time we left!) We first saw the Temple of Hephaestus with nice views of the acropolis and the entire agora from there. We saw our first tortoise on our walk down the hill toward the Stoa of Attalos. This building was reconstructed around 1950 and now houses a museum and offices. The entire day we were stopping and counting and naming cats, the kids had fun with it. We walked around the loop of the agora and read a little about what each area was used for 2500 years ago. We headed to Adrianou (street with several restaurants facing the ancient agora). We ordered several starters to try a few things we still had not been able to enjoy. After lunch the kids wanted to do the Illusion museum, not far from lunch. We spent a little over an hour checking out all the exhibits. After some ice cream we were going to check out the roman forum but it had closed at 3 for off-season hours. Most of it can be seen from the street, I was hoping to take them in the octagonal tower that was a weather station and clock (although it is just empty now). So we decided to take a walk and check out the national gardens more. We saw a few animals and birds and then found the playground. After playing for a while, our school friends showed up there! So the kids had lots more fun running around and playing. Around 5pm we all started heading back toward Monastiraki for dinner and rest. We were up early the next morning to get to the airport by 7am.

Dingle Peninsula

 We visited Dingle peninsula in June of 2013 and really enjoyed the area. We have been wanting to return and finally made it happen over St Brigid's weekend. We arrived first in to Inch Beach around 12:45. We had the sun peaking out and went out toward the water for a bit. On our short drive in to Dingle from there, we drove through a rainbow that seemed to start on the road just in front of us! We parked and found Paul Geaney's pub open and serving food. Quite a few places were not yet open for the year. After this we checked in to our apartment (and met the local cat Cocoa). We headed back in to town for a Murphy's ice cream and to charge the car. Next we drove out to Holden Leathergoods, just 10 minutes from town (with a view of town across the water). We went back to the apartment for a rest and walked in to town for dinner at Lord Bakers. 

The next day was our day to drive the Dingle Loop. We followed Rick Steve's guide once again. We started at Ventry Beach around 10:45. We had lovely sun on us all day. I don't think it tried to rain on us at all! We stopped at Fairy Ringfort but the gate was closed. And, there is really only earth mounds left, so it wasn't a big deal as we could see most of it from the road. Next was the Dunbeg Fort. This has a small cafe that was closed, but the ticket booth was manned so we walked down to the fort. It was a really beautiful view and remnants of the fort and the beehive are there to see. We then drove a few minutes to the first beehives. We walked through and explored them a bit. These few had no remaining tops, but were still impressive. Further down the road we stopped at Cashel Murphy. This is a collection of five beehives (without roofs) with an outer wall. Another couple minutes down the road was two more beehives, complete with roofs. At each stop we also take in a view of the sea, which is constantly changing.

Next we came to Slea Head, the westernmost point of Ireland. There is a cross along this road, and the road narrows to single lane (but is still 2-way traffic). We parked at the trail head for the Dunmore Head walk. While it looks quite high and steep, you can make it up in 15 minutes to the westernmost point of Ireland! There is an old WW2 lookout bunker at the top and a great view of the Blasket Islands. Next we needed to stop for lunch. Krugers Bar in Dun Chaoin is the most westerly pub in Europe! We got some food and even sat outside for a few minutes in the sunny weather. After lunch we drove down the road toward the Blasket Heritage Museum. We continued on another minute to the sea. Kacey and I sat and enjoyed the waves crashing on the rocks for a while. Next we drove on to Clogher Head. We didn't walk up to the head but we stayed down for views of the strand below. We also had a nice view here of the Three Sisters, mountains filmed as part of Star Wars.

Next we headed to Reask Monastic site. There isn't much to see here but it shows a larger area and how it would have been arranged, including grave stones. We moved on to Gallarus Oratory next. We still had beautiful sunny skies, but it was getting late in the day and we were starting to lose the sun. We recreated a picture of Kacey and Liana from 13 years ago. We moved on to Kilmalkedar Church next. The site dates to 600AD but the church was built around the 12th century. We decided to add a couple stops to our loop and drove up to Dooneen Pier on a whim. We had an awesome view of the setting sun and waves crashing on a small pier that we sat and enjoyed for a while. Finally we drove by Brandon Creek, next to Brandon Mountain. This was also just a small pier and the waves were crashing in to a small cave, causing explosive spray every 10-15 seconds. It was pretty cool! We drove back in to Dingle town for some Murphys ice cream (before dinner). I ended up taking the kids to Adams pub for dinner. Nothing special, but we had fun.

The next morning we checked out and walked around town for just a few more minutes. We found the creek that runs under buildings, which is a neat site to see. On our way back home, we took the road through Connors Pass. This provided amazing views of both sides of the peninsula, as well as Brandon Mountain.

Brussels

For our 2025 fall break, I took Colin and Liana (Nolan did not have a break) to Brussels. We stayed only 4 minutes walk from the Grand Place. The plan was to eat chocolate, waffles, and fries for two days (and beer for me). We got to the Craves Hotel around 7pm and walked to see the Grand Place lit up at night in purple. I found The Brothers Brasserie for dinner next to Grand Place. It was good, with fish chips, meatballs, Flemish stew, and the Karmeliet beer was good. We stopped at the Carrefour next to the hotel to grab a few things for breakfast.

The next morning we just walked around the city a bit and saw some sites. We got some frites (fries) with andalouse. Then we bought some chocolate to snack on. Then we spotted "The Goose" at the Grand Place. Then we visited Rose de Damas, a place we had visited years ago with delicious treats. We walked to Le Pre Sale for lunch on a recommendation. It felt very authentic. We ordered mussels, frog legs, and a salad. The frog legs were really good. After lunch we stopped at the hotel for a little relaxation. Then we headed out to stop in more sweet shops on our way to the Illusion Museum. The kids picked this place out and we had fun during our visit with a lot of silly pictures. After our visit we went for waffles at Gaufre de Bruxelles. After some more walking we got more frites at Frituur Tabora, which had over 50 sauces. We did some more shopping before dinner to buy some things for mom and get some souvenirs. For dinner we found some Belgian food at Le Coin de l'Ecailer; rabbit and snails. It was tasty. After dinner we walked around some more, found some mulled wine, and got more waffles.

The next morning we decided to visit Atomium. We enjoyed our visit walking around and doing a bit of reading. We booked an afternoon chocolate making class so we traveled nearby to find some lunch. We found Tonton Garby from reading reviews online. We were very lucky that the line was not very long (waited maybe 20 minutes). All the reviews online are correct, they even have signs up on the street that say if you are in a hurry, you should go elsewhere. The guy here hand makes each sandwich with either fruit or meat. He handcuts and slices everything for you. Goes through your options, makes suggestions, and has a nice chat with you the whole time. At the end, you end up with a delicious masterpiece. We even bought some of his amazing farmers cheese for a takeaway snack. The gentleman is Turkish and speaks eight or so languages. We had fun talking with him and eating our food. After lunch was chocolate making class! The kids enjoyed tasting and learning methods for molding. And eating some too! After the class we decided to walk and visit the Lego store. It wasn't that special, reminded me of Dublin (sorry). While walking back toward Grand Place we walked by a 2 story Flying Tiger, so of course Liana had to go in. Dinner we ended up at the Blue Restaurant. While Greek, it had many Belgian specialties. After dinner we had one last go of frites, and then some waffles, and then some hot chocolate.

The Burren, Aran Islands, and County Clare

Before school started back up, we visited an area we had seen once before, but got to see a few new sites. We headed to Doolin Cave first on Saturday morning. During our drive we set a booking for noon. Doolin Cave has the northern hemisphere's largest stalactite, weighing in at 10 tonnes and is 23 feet long. After a trek down and back up we drove in to Doolin for some lunch at Stonewall Pizzeria at Hotel Doolin. After lunch we left our car there and headed out on the cliff walk. It is partially closed near Cliffs of Moher but we went pretty far and after about 45 minutes stopped to wander around the tide pool area. After that, Kacey continued on toward Cliffs of Moher and I took the kids back to town. We stopped at Doolin Ice Cream for a bit of a treat. We went and checked in our apartment above Riverside Bistro. It was a nice big 4 bedroom apartment with kitchen and living room. We booked entry at Cliffs of Moher parking for 5pm and met Kacey there. The sun came out again for some really nice pictures. Colin and I went to go in O'Brien's Tower and the others went to walk the cliffs a bit. We got back to the apartment and the kids made some pasta while the parents went to Gus O'Connor's Pub for food and music.

The next day we had tickets for the ferry from Doolin to Inishmore, Aran Islands.  The ride is around 45 minutes and we had a nice day for it. We had views of the Plassey Shipwreck on Inish Oirr, which is the shipwreck viewed on the opening credits of Father Ted. Our plan was to rent e-bikes to explore the island. But unfortunately, Colin was not old enough for one. So he and I had to get a tag-along. So while everyone else e-biked around, he and I struggled climbing hills (these bikes are a bit awkward!). We worked hard and did it together. The first road we took was not a maintained road, but we explored the country side by ourselves while traveling to the Wormhole. This is a naturally occurring, perfectly rectangular, blowhole. It is also much larger in person than any picture shows. Kacey was able to get in for a few minutes. We had packed in lunches so we ate a bit on the rocks here. Next we biked to Dun Aonghasa Fort. You leave the bikes near the shops and facilities and walk the trail up. We had a beautiful day for walking and exploring. There are some sheer cliff edges with very little signage or railings. Next we biked west to the Seven Churches. This site is really only two churches and is famous due to its inclusion on pilgrimage in the Catholic church. We headed back to the port town and stopped for a couple views at Kilmurvey Beach. We took the northern (longer but easier) road back. We also stopped at the Seal Colony Viewpoint for some ice cream (and there was at least one seal in the water spotted). Colin and I pedaled hard to get back to town and ended up making good time. He and I hit Inishmore's Tigh Joe Mac's pub for drinks while the others came in later and did some shopping. We got back to Doolin around 5:15. We ordered some food from the bistro downstairs for the kids and then went to McDermott's for dinner and a bit of music.

The next day we packed up and were going to drive the long way out of Clare on our way home. We had a little rain this day, but not a lot. We stopped by the Burren Visitor Centre in Kilfenora. I got a little info about which roads to take to see some sites we wanted to see. We first went to a pilgrimage for me, Father Ted's house! It is privately owned but you can take pictures from the road. We tried to take a road across to Cahercommaun but it dead-ended, so we headed south around and got there easily. This was a nice hike to a ring fort ruins. This one is built on the side of a cliff. We then drove some nice winding roads to Cathair Chonaill ring fort ruins, but this is owned by someone and their visitor centre lost water pressure, so they closed the whole thing. Oh well. We drove a few minutes north to Poulnabrone Dolmen. This is a early neolithic portal tomb whose opening stones have remained in tact for over 5000 years.

Japan

For spring break, all 3 kids wanted to go to Japan. We didn't want a super busy schedule. We picked Tokyo, Kyoto (with a day trip to Osaka), and Nikko to visit. We flew British Air through Heathrow to Tokyo. I will publish this without cleaning up grammar as I just want to get my thoughts down.

 

Monday 14th 

Landed around 11. Got through immigration after a while. Trained to Shinagawa. Caught a bullet train to Kyoto, had help with shinkansen ticket machine. Kyoto station at 3, hotel by 4. Uber makes you go to a certain spot away from station. Went to grocery for breakfast items. Stopped at 7-Eleven. Walked to Kyogoku Kaneyo for unagi dinner.

Tuesday 15th

930am tea ceremony in Gion area. Wore kimonos. Walk to Yasaka shrine. Street food (apple pastry). Dodge a little rain. Had some meat and saki. Walk to ryozen temple didn't go in. More street food. Go in Kodaiji temple and bamboo forest. Took a break. Went to Kiyomizu-dera temple. Crowded on way up. Walked grounds some. Left around closing and shops were closing fast. Got some more street food and macha Carmel latte affogato. Got kids enough food. Went for Kobe beef, not great. Stopped at karaoke with Boilermaker Charles.

Wednesday 16th

Wanted to wake for Osaka but slept in. Went to shopping food market Nishiki Market. Taxi to bamboo forest and Tenryu-ji temple. Nice grounds walked around. More Arashiyama bamboo forest (just a single walking path).  Walked Okochi Sanso Garden. Ate ramen dinner at Ozuru. Train to Fushimi Inari Taisha temple for night walk.

Thursday 17th

Osaka bullet train. Pastries near station at Grenier in Osaka around 11. Taxi to Osaka castle. Big grounds. Go in go to top for views. Walk down and exhibits each floor. Dress like samurai. Pictures outside, then taxi to kitchen shopping street. Chris, N, L walk to Namba Yasaka Jinja temple and get a few snacks (Mogu Mogu ice cream & donut things, then McD chicken). Walk north to busy shopping area. Anime store. Train back to Kyoto almost miss it. Long wait for taxi to hotel.

Friday 18th

Out by 10. Taxi to station. Shinkansen to Utsunomiya (change in Tokyo) barely make connection platforms not labeled well (by train type). Wait 40min for Nikko line train. Apt by 4. Buy Nikko bus pass and walk around Shinkyo shrine. Empty as everything closes by 430. Walk to last place barely open for dinner at 715, Ramen Bonten. Good food. Saw groups after us going to Family Mart for dinner across the street after getting turned down here. Family Mart, 7-11, and Welcia for breakfast and snack food.

Saturday 19th

Out at 930 for bus to Nikko park. Made it up the mountain to Chuzenji Onsen town by 10:45. Ate milkshake, ice cream, and crepe snack. Walk to falls. Took elevator down. Ate at souvenir shop/noodle bar. Took bus to Ryuzu falls. Saw monkey, barely. Almost missed the cascades behind the building. Took bus to Yudaki falls. Did the loop walk to Kotaki Falls. Bus back to town. Took 2 smaller kids on swan boat on Lake Chūzenji. Nolan and Kacey headed down the mountain to hike some more falls. We ate next to the station at Azuma while they got a table at the busy/full Italian restaurant, Trattoria Gigli.

Sunday 20th

Got to the station around 10 to get the 10:25 train to a station in Tokyo. Dropped off bags around 12:30 at hotel. Taxi to Asakusa area for snacks and temple. Strawberry beer. More food on the grounds of the temple. Girls went to shop, boys went to Ueno Park. Went to gardens but it was a zoo. We had 60 min to speed walk parts and saw some good stuff. Left at 5 to walk back to hotel. Checked in to 8th floor double bedroom. Dinner place was good, tried a variety of random things at Sushi and Tempura Mogana (Okachimachi branch).

Monday 21st

7:30 pickup turned to 8:45 for Fuji tour. 2 hour drive, first stop, Chureito pagoda. Nice view but rushed. Next was 8 pools, Ishino Hakkai. Very busy area. Ate a couple snacks walked around a bit. Ice cream too. Next was Kitaguchi Hongu Fuji Sengen Shring and 1000 year old tree, Fuji Taro Cedar. Then speed boat on Lake Kawaguchi, great views. Then lunch as places were closing.  Then drive over to Oishi park. Beautiful flower pictures. Saw 80s Dodge Ram Van on drive home. Took L & C to a dumpling bar that was good, Osaka Ohsho Okachimachi (Ekimae branch).

Tuesday 22nd

Took Liana to Gōtokuji Temple (cat temple) early. Saw a Dennys!  Met others near the palace. Could not get in. Walked around to east gardens. Did a walking loop. Went to Tokyo station for lunch. Went to Akihabara area for anime stores. First Hokkaido ice cream. Colin went to pokemon store. Decided for Skytree at night. Dinner there first at food hall. Not great. Nice views at night. Combo ticket doesn't add much for higher level. Pictures outside at base before hotel for bed.

Wednesday 23th

Shibuya Sky morning for Liana! But unfortunately raining and it was closed. We could only do inside areas (we were only going for the outside areas). Found hedgehog cafe next door for Liana. Nolan went too. Colin went to Shibuya Pokemon store, very busy! Checked out Nintendo store next door too. Walked though scramble intersection but in the rain, its just a busy intersection. More anime store at Ikebukuro area. Found Truffle bakery, good pastries. Took L & C back to dumpling place. Picked up indian for Nolan, Kacey went to local small Japanese place.

Thursday flight at 8:50am from Haneda to Heathrow.

 

Got by without suica cards (there are different types, and need 1 per person), hindsight could have done it

Nikko, could have rented our own car in town and just drove, possibly cheaper and easy to get around.

I booked two private day tours of Mt Fuji that were cancellable until about 48 hours in advance. We checked the weather forecast 2 days out and kept the one on the better day. I should have also maybe done this for Shibuya Sky, as we missed it due to weather.

Google translate is great

Some ATMs are weird and not in english. Family Mart and 7-11 usually worked well. 

Give yourself time to get through train stations. Some platform areas are not numbered, you walk to certain types of train areas (which we didn't know the names). There is plenty to eat at the station, buy takeaway food to eat on the train.

Nearly all taxis are for 4 people. We used uber to get (what they call luxury) 5 seaters.  The Japanese TaxiGo app did not work with my google voice number.

Paris

We headed to Paris for a few days for the half term break in February. We visited when Nolan was 5 and Liana was almost 1, so we figured we would show Liana and Colin a few sites.

We flew in Saturday around lunch and took a taxi to our apartment. We stayed next to the Strasbourg - Saint Denis metro stop. This stop has 3 big metro lines so it made getting around very easy. We only pre-planned a couple things and had some other things to book in last minute. We walked around our apartment first and ate some crepes and pizza. I also bought a couple pastries for the morning. Then we headed to Champs Elysees and hit a few shops, including Laudree for a few macarons. We ate some Italian food and walked to Arc de Triomphe to view it at night.

The next day we had a 1:30 entry to the Orsay Museum (which we entered about 25 minutes early). We took the metro to Concord plaza and walked to the museum from there. We spent a good amount of time on the 5th floor looking at some art from Van Gogh and Monet. I then took the kids for a snack at the basement level cafe. We then spent some time wandering around the open air area of rooms, art, and sculptures. We left around 4:30 and took a taxi toward the Eiffel Tower to just walk around the park and base. We had tickets to go up our last day. There are only 2 places to enter through security now. We bought a couple snacks and walked around a while. We decided to find dinner in the area and afterward catch the 8pm light show. We struck out at a couple places but ended up back at Italian food. We walked toward Trocadero along the Seine and realized our view from the river walk was pretty good. So we stayed there and enjoyed the 8pm light show. We then tried to take the metro back to the apartment but our line was down for repair so we took an uber.

The next morning I once again tried for tickets to Notre Dame (it is hard now) and got some! So instead of waiting in a huge queue we showed up at 10:15 and walked right in. It was great to see how much work was done the past 5 years since the fire. We slowly walked the clockwise loop. We next walked north toward some food and shops. Liana found a beret and Nolan found a baguette to eat. Kacey hit a leather shop while I took the kids to the Lego Store. We enjoyed gazing at the custom Parisian structures that had been created. We then met Kacey for lunch at le Paris Halles. While this felt like a touristy area, we had good food. Next up was the Louvre. We walked 20 minutes and were also seeking some ice cream on the way. We only found Haagen Dazs which worked for the kids. I ate a crepe along the way.

We started by recreating a photo of Nolan from 2013 on the pillars in front of the pyramid. We also took photos of each kid. We had a 2:30 entry time and there was a very long queue for the 2:30 entry crowd, but it moved fairly fast. We were in and on our way (after checking coats and a bag) by 3pm. We walked toward Mona Lisa first to show the kids. Next we went toward the French crown jewels. We then started walking toward and through the Egyptian area. While the kids took a break and slowly walked through more Egyptian stuff, I ran over to view Napolean's apartment. We met back up (after figuring out how to get through due to closed hallways) and walked toward Venus de Milo. It was almost 5:30 at this point and the announcements started as the museum was closing for the day. We debated between uber and metro and since the queue to buy metro tickets was quite long, we just called an uber back to the apartment.

Tuesday was our day to visit Versailles Palace. We had never visited before. We arrived in the village a little early and bought some lunch sandwiches and snacks at a grocery store and ate them outside.  We had 12:30 entry time. The queue was quite long but once it started moving it didn't take too long. While the palace is huge, not all of it is open to the public. We walked through the open areas, many of which have no furniture, just art. By 2:30 we headed out for the gardens. The kids ran around a lot and we walked toward the canal by the shop for snacks and a restroom. By 3:45 we started making our way out back to the train station. We were back in the city by 5:30 and found a place to eat (Au Metro) where Colin tried escargot with me. It was good!

Wednesday morning we checked out and dropped our bags near the Eiffel Tower so we could all make our way up. Kacey and Liana only went to the restaurant level, but I took the boys to the top. We bought a couple snacks and Liana and Nolan did a special exhibit, walking across the expanse at the restaurant level called "Le Vertige de la Tour". There was a 40m long net bridge across the expanse, 60 meters high.

We found some food nearby for late lunch before taking our uber to the airport. Some simple pizza, hotdog, and sandwiches (and crepes) suited just fine. 

Orly airport is nice looking, but their people management and line process is terrible.

Iceland

Iceland has been on our list of places to visit for a very long time. I even found notes from ten years ago when we tried to visit. We felt like spending one week would be a great taste of Iceland, doing the south and west areas of the island, and that two weeks may be needed to do the entire loop (and summer weather). We had a week off school to use in October and figured this could work. This is probably about as late as you would want to go for general tourism (although there are plenty of winter excursions if that is your preferred vacation). We did need to protect sunlight activities and drive in the dark some at this time of year.

Saturday

We flew direct from Dublin and landed around 1pm. We were able to get the rental car and be on the road to Vik by 2. We quickly stopped at a grocery and grabbed some water and a couple light snacks knowing that we could shop that night in Vik. We wanted to be out there by 5 or so to take in a couple sites around town before it was dark. Our drive was quite rainy and overcast, but generally pretty easy. We got to Reynisfjara Black Sand Beach around 5:30pm and we were just starting to get some colors of sunset. It was a really nice area with waves crashing on the basalt columns, but calmer waves on the beach. There were a lot of people out viewing the sunset, including a wedding party.

After a couple people got wet, we headed over to town to eat at Black Crust Pizzeria. It was pretty busy but it worked out. We dropped two people off to wait in line to order while the rest of dropped our bags off at Vik Apartments. When we got back, they had ordered and found a table to sit. After dinner we hit the Kronan grocery store for breakfast stuff, lunch food, and more snacks for the car, as our next couple days would not be near any services.

Sunday

We got on the road around 8:30am. The sun was just coming up as we left and it was nice over the mountains. We first stopped at Dyrhólaey cliffs, just west of Vik. It was quite nice and we enjoyed watching the waves crashing. We also noticed snow atop the mountains in the distance to the north.

Our next stop was Solheimajokull glacier. We walked 10 minutes to the viewing platform. Then a few of us walked out to the glacier. There isn't really a good place to safely get on without a guide, but we were able to get on a bit of ice just barely. There were lots of little chunks of ice that had washed up next to the lake. The next stop was Skógafoss waterfall. This is pretty tall with a large carpark. Kacey and Nolan hiked up, while we just stayed down for the views. I went ahead and made a couple sandwiches to eat so we could start driving once everyone was back. The final stop on the south part was Seljalandsfoss waterfall. These are pretty cool and you walk behind them. Nolan walked the loop with us. We stopped in the nearby town of Hvolsvollur to get fuel and buy a couple things at the Kronan grocery store.

We headed an hour north to Gullfoss falls. There is a large carpark here and a big cafe and visitor center. There is a walk to an upper view and stairs down to the lower view. We felt the upper view was better and easier. The sun was great and we even saw a rainbow in the falls. Next was Geysir Park. There are several little smoke holes here and one large geyser. Strokkur Geyser goes off every 8-10 min and is pretty tall. We all got a real good look at a big release and some smaller ones as well.

We them drove to Brúarfoss falls. These are small but pretty and blue. Being off the beaten track made them less busy too. We enjoyed the view a bit and then headed to Efstidalur farm for some fresh made ice cream. The cows were in the barn attached to us, so we were seated next to them while eating ice cream. Also, their spoons are edible cookies! We then started the long drive out to our apartment in the west peninsula. We ended up on not the greatest road for about 11 km, which in the dark was a bit stressful, but we made it to Borgarnes for dinner around 7:30. We ate at Bara and enjoyed our meal. We made it to Eiðhús Apartments by 9 or so.

Monday

We got up and ate some breakfast in the room. We headed out for Snæfellsnes peninsula around 9am and started couter-clockwise at 54-56 intersection on the south side. There were morning clouds but we had good visibility. We started going north over the mountain. Our first stop was Selvallafoss waterfalls. It was hidden from the road but glad we ventured out to have a look. Very pretty and poured out into a lake. A couple minutes north the road ended and we headed west on 54. We stopped at the road to the shark museum (closed for the season) and parked to look at and quickly walk in the lava rock fields, Berserkjahraun. Next we stopped for views at Kolgrafarfjördur Viewpoint. This was really pretty and had a story about an Icelandic Saga.

We next drove through the little town of Grundarfjörður and took a picture of a little church with the mountains in the background. We continued out of town to Kirkjufell falls and mountain. This is a famous picture spot, and is the front cover to Rick Steve's Iceland book. It was beautiful and can't imagine a full sunny day there. We spent almost 30 minutes taking in the view. We went back in to town to use the public wc, after we were able to find it.

We drove about 30 minutes along the coast to Svöðufoss falls. This was an easy walk back to the falls. Kacey took the boys up the side of the hill to the top of the falls. Next we stopped in the town of Hellissandur where the Snæfellsjökull National Park visitors center in located. We thought we may eat a real lunch here, but didn't see much. So a few people ate some cake and soup and lunch sandwiches in the car.

We got back on the road around 1:30 and headed toward Skarðsvík Beach and Svörtuloft Lighthouse. The road was in pretty bad shape and had to drive quite slow. But the beach was worth it. Also, the lighthouse had a view of a neat cliff. We headed toward the Saxhóll Crater. We walked up 385 steps and the view with the mountain from the crater top was better than seeing inside the crater. Next was Djúpalónssandur beach and shipwreck. This is a big open beach with old shipwreck pieces strewn about. The area is protected so the pieces are left alone. There is also a nice overview for those that don't want to walk down to the beach area. We spent about 30 minutes exploring.

Next we stopped at Lóndrangar. It was raining a bit here so Kacey ran out by herself to the viewpoint. This is a picturesque spot in the sun. We continued on to Rauðfeldsgjá Gorge. The rain ended again so we walked up to the gorge. With the layout of the land, it doesn't look steep from the car park, but it is more intense than it looks! We were able to go in the gorge some (you enter the base opening) but most of us were limited due to shoes. Kacey, having proper wellies, went in pretty far. The boys ran up the side of the mountain to a patch of snow and brought some back. We then stopped for dinner in the town of Arnarstapi. There were actually a couple food options. We didn't really time for viewing the stone arch at the sea. We picked Stapinn for dinner and it was pretty good. We got back for bed for early rise to drive for the next morning's tour.

Tuesday

We left at 7:45 for 9:45 arrival at "Into the Glacier" Ice Cave Tour in Húsafell. Snow had fallen but we got there with buffer time we factored in. Our tour started at 10, we actually left around 10:15. They loaned us some water proof over-boots to start. We climbed in to a beast of a machine that is an old NATO missile truck. It took about 30 minutes to ascend to their base camp, and our guide told stories along the way, including Eric's Glacier. We stopped for toilets and just a bit of pictures and snow playing. Then we drove another 25-30 minutes up to the tunnel near the top of Langjökull Glacier. We really lucked out as the view was perfectly clear. We could even see the Snæfellsjökull glacier, about 125 miles away. We had heard the day before they couldn't see 20 feet due to fog. Once we got in the cave, we walked on rubber mats to a room with benches where we put on crampon chains. We walked in quite a ways and heard stories along the way. After 30 minutes we reached the cathedral room. We learned about a wedding that has taken place there and our guide sang a Icelandic lullaby. Learned about the self-healing fissure, summer (dirt) rings, and blue ice where more water was prevalent. It took about 15 minutes to walk back out, we were inside about an hour. On the way down we heard more stories, and learned about the largest forest, which is near Husafell.

We left around 2pm and headed to two nearby waterfalls, favorites of our guide. Hraunfossar and Barnafoss Waterfalls (mother and daughter saga). The first was unique in how the water looks like it is running out of rocks for a hundred yards or so. The second looks like a deep cut torrent of glacier water. Next was Deildartunguhver, a district heating source. It was pretty neat to be up close walking around the steam vents and bubbling boiling water.

We decided to drive about an hour back north, backtrackking, to see the Gerðuberg Basalt Cliffs, as the main roads had gotten better. Maybe it wasn't worth the drive out of the way, but the two times we drove by it was dark. We made it in to our apartment around 6:30 in Reykjavik. We ate dinner next door at a food hall. We had pizza, Mexican, Icelandic, and Italian gelato.

Wednesday

We finally slowed down a bit today. We walked toward Hallgrimskirkja and stopped in a bakery on the way. Once at the church we went up the tower lift and it happened to be in time for the bells at 11. Then we listened to some organ music once back down in the sanctuary. We walked down toward Rainbow St and checked a few shops. The one public toilet was closed so we had to buy drinks at a restaurant and use their toilet. Colin and I then went for hotdogs at Bæjarins Beztu Pylsur, a famous hotdog place.  We decided to walk back to hotel and to go to Sky Lagoon in the afternoon.

We obtained reservations for 2:30 and acutally got in the water around 2:45. We did the seven traditional steps, including a cold plunge. We bought a couple drinks along the way as well. We left around 5:15 and enjoyed our time there.

For dinner we bought the kids pizza and the adults went to Brass Kitchen. The lamb was good.

Thursday

Today was more driving to go back to the Golden Circle to see a few things we had missed previously. We started by going to the Geothermal Exhibition at Hellisheidi Power Station. For some engineers, this was a pretty fun way to spend an hour. There was stuff for kids and views of the turbines and generators. We headed east more and stopped in Hveragerði for the Reykjafoss Waterfall. Not that grand but we were across the street from a public (heated) outdoor pool. People were out doing laps.

We then drove to Hespa in Selfoss. Hespa is a yarn and wool company and we visited on of their studios where they do dying and have a little showroom of equipment and processes. Kacey loved it. Next we had a reservation at the Bobby Fischer museum. Iceland gave him residence status and he lived here until he died. We also visited his grave site just outside of town. Mike had a great time visiting and reading while the boys played a quick game of chess.

After eating a little food we headed north to Thingvellir (Þingvellir) National Park. We hadn't researched this too much but when we got there we realized it is mostly a commemorative grounds for the first Icelandic government. It also has nice views and the Silfra Fissure, a place people snorkel between two continental plates. It was very windy and chilly but the sun came out later and got quite nice. We watched snorkelers, and walked the creeks between plates. We also walked by the old church and Prime Minister's summer residence. We then drove around to the visitor's center, located above the cliffs. The views were nice and we bought some hot chocolate.

Finally we drove by Þórufoss falls on our way back to Reykjavik. It was a quick hike down to get close to the large, powerful waterfalls. Back in Reykjavik we had a quick dinner at chipper and bought some chocolates to share.

Friday

This day we slept in, and our only plans were to walk around Reykjavik. The adults headed toward Rainbow Street, following a walking tour. We stopped at BakaBaka bakery for a few random things. I then had another hotdog. Then we walked along the harbor to the Harpa Concert Hall. We walked around inside a bit. We continued Rick Steve's walking tour doing a small loop. After dodging some rain we saw a big double rainbow. I had been spotting something called happy marriage cake in a few shops and I finally had one at Brauð & Co. It was very good! And yes, I shared. Later in the afternoon I took a scooter ride along the north shore to the west shore. I met Colin for another hotdog and walked back with them.

Kacey and I finally had dinner at Old Iceland, after trying a couple other nights. It was very good and we bought all the food.

Saturday

We packed up and headed south to the Reykjanes peninsula. That night we would stay near the airport for a very early departure. We reached Kleifarvatn Lake around 10:00. It was a little frosty but the sun was peeking out from behind the clouds and it was pretty. We headed south a few minutes to Seltún Geothermal Area. This was pretty neat with a lot of bubbling pools and a boardwalk around. Next we drove by Green Lake, but the clouds didn't really let the lake show off its essence, which we were able to see from the car.

Just further south down the road was Krýsuvíkurkirkja church. This was a scenic black church out in the countryside. We then headed down to the coastline to see the Krísuvíkurberg Cliffs. The sun was bursting out of the clouds while we were here. There isn't much to keep you away from the cliff edge, just a little chain link up to your waist. Further west down the coast we came to Hópsnes Lighthouse and shipwreck. The lighthouse wasn't much to look at but the couple shipwrecks in the area all have plaques and tell the stories of what happened.

Then we were in to Grindavik for lunch. Many places were closed but we found Papa's. It was good! The fish and chips were fantastic, the pizza was good, and we even tried an old local dish, hakari, or fermented shark. Many places were closed as this area is experiencing volcanic eruptions.

After lunch we drove to Brimketill lava rock pool. This was really cool with big waves splashing all around. If you wait long enough for a big one, you get wet. There was another great rainbow on our way out. Next we drove to Gunnuhver hot springs. This stop is not as interesting but it is really hot. We then drove out to Reykjanes Lighthouse and Valahnúkamöl cliffs. The sun was great in the sky and the area was quite nice. There was also a neat museum piece in the lighthouse.

Next was the Bridge Between Continents. It was busy when we got there, but it emptied out and was interesting to comprehend. I can imagine in the summer it probably gets super crowded. We drove back to Stampar and Kacey and I walked to the fissure. It was an interesting landscape. We drove to the airport area for hotel rooms at Konvin. After unloading, we drove back out to Hafnir for sunset views. Dinner at the hotel was decent enough.

Thoughts

We got lucky with no real travel delays for late October and the one day we thought we might have one, we just got up earlier to get more time on the road. We planned around shorter days. We saw a large amount of Iceland in eight days. We were busy most days while the sun was up. When driving in remote areas, you need to have food and water with you. Everything is cashless, we never even obtained any kronas. Things are very expensive, just expect that in your planning. We picked Sky Lagoon over Blue Lagoon as it is in Reykjavik. They are similar experiences and we enjoyed Sky.