Just read about this on Maptacular’s Facebook page. My husband and I love getting off the beaten path when we are traveling, and this just may be a tool that we can use.
For more awesome maps (star, demographic, historic, preferences, intelligence, etc.), check out the Facebook page Maptacular, or the blog Maptacular on Tumblr.
Friday, June 27
We visited The Cloisters in Upper Manhattan. The Cloisters is a branch of the Metropolitan Museum of Art, and incorporates parts from five European abbeys which were disassembled and shipped to New York City in the 1930’s for George Grey Barnard’s medieval-art collection. The collection was purchased by John D. Rockefeller, Jr., and given to Metropolitan along with some pieces from Rockefeller’s own collection. We spent a couple of hours here, and were not able to see the entire collection.
We then took a tour on one of the Hop On Hop Off buses, to see a little more of the city.
Our flight left JFK at about 9:30 pm, and we had an uneventful flight. Home and in bed around 1:00 am, with lots of good memories.
Thursday, June 26
I had been to the 911 Memorial Site two times before this trip, but this visit was no less emotional. The 911 Memorial Museum opened about two weeks, ago, and Brian had pre-ordered tickets for today. That was a good move, as the line for those waiting to get tickets was very long. The museum itself is underground, we entered at ground level and walked down a ramp to the exhibits.
We learned about the construction of the original towers, and saw how little was salvaged from the buildings. Slurry walls had been built to hold out the Hudson River during the initial construction – only one of those walls did not leak after the collapse, and it is on display at the museum. Most of the columns had been destroyed to the ground. One set of stairs survived, it was used by many of the people trying to escape. Iron beams were twisted. A fire engine was destroyed, it showed evidence of burning as well as dents from materials falling onto it.
There were exhibits about the earlier bombing in 1993.
One room had photos of the victims on the walls. I could not bring myself to go in there – it’s so hard to see the faces of so many people who died in a senseless terrorist attack. There were recordings of voice mail messages that had been left by victims. I listened to a few, and that was enough.
We spent almost three hours there. It would have been possible to spend an hour more, but we all felt pretty burnt out before we came to the end. There were exhibits about Osama bin Laden, Al Qaeda, and other terrorists, explanations about how the strike had been planned, and the time the terrorists took to prepare. I chose to skip this exhibit – I did not want to see their faces. Also, it was a reminder that our country has not been proactive about defending us against these terrorists. We seem to always be in reaction mode. Why can’t our security organizations be as creative at the terrorists are?
The Ground Zero pools are so moving, with names of the victims carved into the granite ledges surrounding each pool. There are two pools, each set on the site of one of the collapsed towers. Oak trees were planted at the site, and they’ve grown quite a bit since we were there two years ago.
From there, we took a 90 minute harbor cruise, that gave us some great views of the skyline. We went under the Brooklyn Bridge, the Manhattan Bridge and the Williamsburg Bridge. We passed by the Statue of Liberty, Ellis Island and Governors Island.
And, the highlight of my day, we attended a showing of Jersey Boys at the August March Theater, located about three blocks from our hotel. The stage was pretty bare, the different scenes were created by bringing in a few props as needed.
Based on the book by Marshall Brickman and Rick Elice, the musical tells the story of the Four Seasons. In documentary style, each of the four original band members narrated a part of the story from his perspective. I really never knew the back story, so I enjoyed learning more about their history.
Many of the songs were written by Bob Gaudio, who also wrote songs for other artists, like Neil Diamond, Michael Jackson, Diana Ross and others. He wrote his first hit at the age of 15 – “Who Wears Short Shorts?”
We heard so many of the songs I loved as a teeny-bopper, as well as many written by Bob Gaudio for other artists. It was like a two-hour concert, interspersed with dialogue. Oh, what a night!
Wednesday, June 25
After breakfast, we headed out to explore Broadway. First located the Ed Sullivan Theater where the David Letterman show is taped. Also stopped at Hello Deli, made famous by Dave. It’s just around the corner from the theater.
We are right in the midst of the theater district, so we can walk to almost any show we want to see. We’ll be checking into rush tickets for Jersey Boys tomorrow.
Best discovery this morning: Kellogg’s Recharge Bar which just opened on Monday, and will only be open through Friday. Just in time for “Elevenses,” they were offering free cereal combinations. Mark had Special K with yogurt, cinnamon and fresh apple slices; I had Bran-Buds with yogurt, peaches and blueberries. Yum! I also had an opportunity to sing the Kellogg’s cereal song, and we each were given Tony the Tiger t-shirts.
We picked up our tickets for Letterman, and returned to the theater at about 2:30, where we received instructions on how to react to David. Laugh loudly (no hooting) and clap almost continuously.
Our seats were in the second row(!) on the left side of the stage by the orchestra. We were able to see everything.
The show was very good. Dave’s Top Ten was things going through Luis Suarez’ mind when he bit Giorgio Chielline, aka Al Dente.
Guest stars were Mark Wahlberg (he’s short) and Ben Falcone. Wahlberg was promoting his new movie – “Transformers, Age of Extinction,” as well as his family’s new restaurant, “Wallburgers.” Falcone was also promoting a movie with his wife Melissa McCarthy – “Tammy.”
It was truly a fun experience, but over so quickly. We are so grateful to Brian and Jan for inviting us.
We took an evening tour from Times Square, through Chinatown, Soho and Little Italy, and Brooklyn. Then we stopped at John’s Pizzeria for a late dinner. John’s is in a former church building, the Gospel Tabernacle Church. The stained glass ceiling is beautiful. Although we didn’t order pizza, we did enjoy our meal almost as much as the ambience. There are four coal-fired brick ovens, and the cooks didn’t have any opportunity to rest.
Then, back to the hotel so we could watch “Letterman,” of course. We didn’t see ourselves on TV – rats!
Tuesday, June 24
I didn’t expect to be back here so soon, but friends, Jan and Brian, called late last week to say they had four tickets to the David Letterman show for this Wednesday, and did we want to come along? Silly question! Hopped on to the Expedia website and found a reasonable air and room package.
We flew out this afternoon, and arrived in Manhattan around 8pm. We’re staying at a lovely hotel near Times Square and Central Park – The Westhouse Hotel. It appears to have been recently renovated, with spacious rooms and comfortable beds. The hotel package includes breakfast, afternoon tea and evening cocktails.
Our room has a view of Times Square. This was not our first room, by the way. When we unlocked the door to the first room, we were greeted by a couple already in bed. Quickly shut the door, and then started laughing. Mark wanted to know what the room looked like, but I was only interested in getting out of there as quickly as possible. Staff was very apologetic, and gave us a complimentary upgrade, which accounts for the lovely view.
Saturday, May 24
Our flight was scheduled for 4:45 pm, so we had some time to continue exploring the town. We walked a few blocks to see the “Sun Voyager,” a sculpture by Jon Gunnar Arnason, and unveiled in 1990. Many people think it is a Viking ship, but Arnason intended it to be a dreamboat, an ode to the sun. It is a promise of undiscovered territory, a dream of hope, progress and freedom. It’s built of stainless steel, set on granite, and located by the sea.
We truly enjoyed our visit to Iceland, but the weather was turning windy and rainy, so it was time to go home. We arrived in Minnesota around 6:00 pm, and home a few hours later, exhausted and happy.
Thanks for traveling with us.
Friday, May 23
Another day with nothing scheduled. We headed downtown for some breakfast at Sandholt Bakery and Coffee House. They bill themselves as artisans, and their pastries were wonderful. I had what could be the best cinnamon roll I’ve ever tasted. Mark had a filling and delicious ham and cheese breakfast sandwich (too large even for him).
Simply delicious
We did a bit of shopping and simply enjoying the town. We stopped for a hotdog to see if we liked it any better than the first one we had. We didn’t, but the Icelanders simply love them. There are a few hotdog stands, and they are always busy.
We hadn’t seen puffins yet, so scheduled a boat tour in the afternoon for that. Although the day was cloudy and windy, we managed to complete the tour without rain. We went to the small island of Akurey, one of several nesting grounds for the puffins. The birds were smaller than I expected, and they flap their wings very fast, so it was difficult to get good photos.
It’s estimated that between 3-4 million pairs breed in Iceland. Akurey has about 20,000. They nest in burrows which consist of two separate spaces, one for living and the other for waste. If the baby puffins get dirty, their ability to swim is compromised, and they will die. They leave the nest after a few months, and remain at sea for three years, after which they return to breed the next generation. Puffins are great swimmers and divers, but they have to work hard to get airborne. They reminded me of loons when they take off.
When it’s time for the babies to leave, sometimes they get confused by the lights of cities, and end up in town. Children then gather them up and release them off a cliff, and the young birds get on their way.
For dinner, we went to Vegamot. We were lucky to find a place to eat, as the restaurants are quite busy on a Friday night. We made a good choice. I had a wonderful lobster pasta, with lobster done just right – not overdone. Mark and Jeff had slow cooked horse filet, which they both enjoyed. However, they both also had indigestion during the night.
Thursday, May 22
The Golden Circle covers about 200 miles, looping from Reykjavik into central Iceland and back. Our first stop was at Nesjavellir, a high temperature thermal area where it is easy to see dozens of steam vents. A geothermal power plant is located in this area. Pipelines send hot water to other areas in the country. We drove by one which was featured in the recent movie, “The Secret Life of Walter Mitty”. Because there is so much earthquake (mostly negligible) activity in Iceland, the pipeline has wheels attached, allowing it to move as needed.
Thermal energy accounts for about 26% of energy production, and provides heat and hot water to 87% of the homes in Iceland. In addition, Icelanders are able to grow their own vegetables using geothermal heat for their greenhouses. Some restaurants even cook with the hot water that is so readily available.
Our next stop was at Thingveller National Park, where the Althingi (Icelandic Parliament) was founded in 930 AD. Thingvellir is a UNESCO World Heritage Site, situated in an area where the tectonic plate boundaries of the North American and Eurasian Plates are spreading apart. We walked along the North Atlantic ridge, and crossed the rift valley toward the Eurasian ridge. We saw a lovely man-made waterfall, Oxarafoss. The creek and pools that come from the waterfall are littered with coins thrown in by tourists.
From there we went to the Gullfoss (Golden Waterfalls) in the River Hvita (White River). This magnificent waterfall cascades over several levels, dropping about 105 feet in total. When we first viewed the falls, it appears that the water is flowing into a chasm in the cliff. As we continued to walk, we could see more of the levels and where the water flowed into the river. At one time, the government wanted to build a hydroelectric plant. This would have destroyed the falls, however, and the plan was abandoned.
As we left Gullfoss, our tour guide pointed out what she called smallest church in Iceland. It’s on wheels and has been used in various locations for weddings or other religious services.
Tiny church on wheels
From there we went to the valley of Haukadalur, where the famous Geysir is located. Although it is no longer active, Geysir gives its name to all other geysers. There is another geyser that does erupt on average every five minutes. It doesn’t last very long, so it was difficult to get good photos. There there was one, called Litli Geysir (little geyser) that just keeps bubbling away all of the time.
Then we stopped at Skalholt Church, the ancient seat of the Icelandic Bishops. The current church is not the original, which was the largest church to have been built in Iceland. There was a full-scale model of a typical ancient church, with a sod roof, on the site as well.
Our last stop was at the Nesjavallavirkjun, a geothermal power plant which began operating in 1990.The pipelines we had seen earlier are coming from this plant, and they run about 27 miles to the city of Reykjavik.
Wednesday, May 21
Nowhere to go today, so we slept in. We walked around town and did some shopping. The population of Reykjavik is about 100,000 of the total number 300,000 in the country. In spite of the small numbers, the town has a great deal to offer, with quite a few restaurants and small boutiques, and several art galleries. Everything is close enough to access on foot.
Harpa, the Reykjavik Concert Hall and Confernece Center that opened in May, 2011, is located on the waterfront, just a couple of blocks from our hotel. The building’s glass facade was designed to resemble the crystallized basalt columns commonly found in Iceland. The structure consists of a steel framework clad with geometric glass panels of different colors. It is stunning both inside and out. The roof in the atrium is glass, some of the ceilings are glass and mirrors.
We did some shopping downtown, then rendezvoused with the rest of the group for cocktails at Islenski Barinn (Icelandic Bar). There we sampled some beers, and I decided to try some Icelandic treats: fermented shark, dried fish, and Brennivin. The fermented shark smelled bad and didn’t taste much better; the dried fish had very little flavor, but the Brennivin was a hit. It’s a shnapps and considered to be Iceland’s signature distilled beverage. It has an anisette flavor similar to grappa, sambucca and ouzo.
Tuesday, May 20
We were up early this morning to catch a bus for a 14 hour tour. We covered a lot of territory in the southeast part of Iceland. Our first stop was at the Skogafoss Waterfall, which was truly beautiful – 200 feet high and 82 feet wide. We could walk close enough to feel the mist. Cold!!! But worth it for the view of the rainbows forming in the sun, sometimes single, often double. Some people were paragliding (motorized) around the waterfall. I wish I could have been doing that – what wonderful views they must have had!
After a quick lunch, we continued on to Jokulsarlon, an iceberg filled lake. The icebergs are coming off of the glacier Vatnajokull, the largest glacier in Iceland. In fact, it is larger than all of the other glaciers in Europe combined. The lake was formed when the passage to the sea was blocked by land movements in the 20th century. It could become unblocked in the future, and the lake would be drained. When the James Bond movie, “Die Another Day” was filmed in 2002, the lake was allowed to freeze over by blocking the flow of salty ocean water into the lake.
We boarded an amphibious vehicle which entered the lake and took us around so we could see the numerous icebergs up close. One of guides allowed us to hold a piece of glacial ice, then broke some off so we could each taste it. All of Iceland’s drinking water comes from glaciers, and does taste quite good. Although the glacier looks white, and some of the bergs look blue,the ice is clear.
After the boat ride, we had time to walk along the shore of the lake. It is truly impressive.
Our last stop was at Seljalandsfoss Waterfall, one of the most famous waterfalls in Iceland. The falls plummet 200 feet into a deep pool, and it creates some beautiful rainbows. We were able to walk behind the falls as the sun was approaching the horizon, so the view through the falls was gorgeous as well. We arrived back in Iceland at 10:30 pm, as the sun was setting.
 | Linda S.Hanson on Starship Test #11 |
 | Diana on Sand Castle Days in SPI |
 | kcbernick on Sand Castle Days in SPI |
| Diana on Sand Castle Days in SPI |
| kcbernick on Cruising on Serenity |
So Many Exciting and Beautiful Places! 