I’m very excited for this post as it’s the first in a new blog series I’m embarking on, called “Strolling With My Homies” based on the “wildly popular” book series by Nathalie Prézeau, “Toronto Urban Strolls…for Girlfriends”. I happened upon this book in my local Chapters and decided I would go on every one of Nathalie’s 28 Toronto walks stopping at every one of her suggested pit stops. SUMMER GOALS!
For this experiment, every stroll I go on must include a girlfriend or suitable alternative. Otherwise, what am I really doing here. On stroll 1, I was accompanied by one of my most favourite people, my friend Kate! She was the perfect partner for the first stroll because she has the same love for exploring that I do, and the same ability to pause reality for a few hours to pretend that the places we are visiting are not ones we see every day, but fresh new places like we are tourists in an exciting foreign city!
Stroll 1: Downtown
Full Loop: 4.6 km (1 hr, 10 minutes, but it took us 5 hours because we ate and gossiped and took elaborate photo shoots also)
Katie Mae: Navigator
This stroll starts at Roy Thompson Hall, goes east along King St. then takes you down through the Courtyards in and around the Financial District, spitting you out near Front St. near the Esplanade, where you walk back West towards the CBC building (which is perfect because Kate HAPPENS to work at the CBC and gave me an exclusive tour of the building).
LET US BEGIN. (Story told mostly through photo captions because I don’t have all day!)
“Toronto Urban Strolls…For Girlfriends” Where it all began…
#2: “Don’t miss the shiny arrow”. We did not.
#1: Roy Thompson Hall
#4: St. Andrews Church
Caitlin stops to smell the flowers
#5: Toronto Dominion Centre. Joe Farad’s “Cows” in the middle of the financial district…yeah we didn’t quite get it either.
Kissing Cows.
TULIPS! What a beautiful spring day.
weird broken bouquet of roses strewn across the steps of the TD Centre
#7: Brookfield Place
Also: ART HOMAGE
This is a nice old building inside Brookfield Centre. Vair pretty.
#8: Commerce Court – CIBC Building
Elephants in the financial district…makes more sense than cows? We don’t know.
Planking on Madame Elephant.
KATIE MAE IS ADORABLE.
#9: The big waterfall painting in the Scotiabank Plaza
Friends floating on clouds.
#10: Cloud Gardens, where a lovely bridal party was taking their photos!
Who knew this exotic tropical greenhouse existed right in the middle of all these skyscrapers?!
Taking a break. First day removing my sweater. SPRING.
Pretty lady.
LUNCH. This was not on the official stroll, but Nathalie’s suggestion of stopping at Marché did not work for us as there were too many actual tourists there being loud…does that make us bad honourary tourists?
I’m so excited be eating on a Patio!
Hail Caesar.
Fish and Chips and a Mushroom thingy on potato rosti. DANG.
#11: Metropolitan glass labyrinth
Help me I’m trapped in this glass!
This guy.
#12: Court Square. It was meh.
On our way to #13. I’ve walked past this building a thousand times. But on a STROLL you can pretend you’ve never seen it and be touched by it’s quaintness for the first time!
Thirsty.
#13: Front St and Berczy Park
After a brief stop at C’est What for a tea and a brownie to escape the rain, we’re back on the trail heading west on Front. Hello old friend.
Shiny Building.
#14: Royal Bank Plaza with these weirdo smushed people sculptures…
#15: Fairmont Royal York was soooo beautiful. I’ve never been inside.
There is so much fun history literally lining the walls in this building.
Chef Staff – Christmas 1948
#15a: Kate adds an art stop for this cute mural at Front and York
This is a spitting image of my BFF and her wife. Shout out to the Hodgson-Beautistas!
#16: CBC courtyard – Aluminum Mountain by Anish Kapoor
🎵”It’s the cliiiiiimb”🎵 – Miley Cyrus
Kate representing.
That’s Kate’s office up there!
Hangin out with Casey and Finnegan in their treehouse. Where Mr. Dressup at.
Kate on top of the media.
Shout out to when Nathalie suggested we stop at a Second Cup patio to “feel the urban vibe”. Maybe another time, Nathalie. Maybe another time.
Stroll 1 of 28 complete!
Ugly: I guess I’ll say that the construction downtown in this area at the moment was not the greatest, but then again, looking back over the photos, I don’t notice it at all. Also, it did rain for a hot minute but that wasn’t even bad because it forced us down into a warm and cozy pub for brownies. Can’t actually see the downside there…
Awesome: I just really loved this day! Most of these routes I’ve walked a thousand times in the 14 years I’ve lived in Toronto, but this was a great way to prove to myself, there’s still so much I walk past but take for granted. I flipped a switch in my brain this day to really look around and take things in – the landscape, the atmosphere, the architecture, the art and try to experience it like it was brand new to me. And I was surprised by how many things I’ve never noticed! Also Kate was the perfect stroll companion and I hope she will do many more strolls with me!
Here we arrive at part 3, the final contribution to my Iceland saga! If you missed Part 1 or Part 2, check them out!
On the 7th day of our trip, we woke up in our favourite campsite, Kirkjubæjarklaustur to the sounds of sheep bleeting and children yelling to their parents about how high up they’ve climbed the mountain behind us. And the craziest thing happened. I listened for rain and I didn’t hear it. I felt for the howling wind pushing our van around and I didn’t feel it. For the first morning since we arrived, I opened the van door to shining sun! This made for a good morning as we ate our Skyr and granola and set out to find our free coffee at the gas station down to the road.
We were heading west this morning, on our way to The Blue Lagoon which we would be visiting later in the afternoon. We planned to stop at a few places on the way back, the first of which was Hjörleifshöfði, a supposedly haunted hill just east of Vik. The legend goes that the hill’s namesake, Hjörleifur Hróðmarsson was a Nordic viking who settled on the hill, building a farm, during the winter of 874 with his Irish slaves. Within a year, the slaves had killed the Viking. His brother, Ingólfur Arnarson, (who because of Hróðmarsson’s death became known as the first Nordic settler in Iceland), sought revenge on the slaves and killed them one by one. Ever since, this hill is said to be haunted, the tomb of Hjörleifur sitting at the very top, overlooking the Ocean.
After climbing the hill, visiting the tomb, signing the guestbook (weird…), and walking through some farm ruins (not the original farm…a more recent farm), we got in the van and drove towards Vik to fill up on gas and chocolate.
Driving to HjörleifshöfðiDriving to HjörleifshöfðiDriving to HjörleifshöfðiSo much time was spent in this van…This happened all the time…Starting the trek up the haunted hill.At the top of Hjörleifshöfði.The Viking tomb and guestbook.Hjörleifshöfði
These are the graves of a family who built a farm on this hill a very long time ago.Together at the top.Overlooking the black sand beaches.On our way down.The remains of the stone farmhouse.nestled between hills.HjörleifshöfðiAt the bottom of HjörleifshöfðiJamie in the flowers
After surviving the insanity of a rare gas station on a lonely road on a Sunday afternoon, we drove to Reynisfjara Beach to check out the basalt columns (the black rock that looks like cubes stacked on top of each other), the big cave and of course, the black sand. This is the most famous of Iceland’s black sand beaches, and it’s got the tourists to prove it.This was a beautiful spot and the islands jutting out of the ocean are cool to see in person. If we had more time, I would have liked to hang out more here, but we had a plan! There’s a restaurant called Black Beach restaurant which we considered eating at, but instead decided we would hit up the Fish and Chips truck we saw earlier in the trip at Skogafoss.
Reynisfjara BeachReynisfjara BeachReynisfjara BeachReynisfjara Beach basalt columnsReynisfjara Beach basalt columnsCute church at Reynisfjara BeachFish and Chips truck at SkogafossFish and Chips truck at Skogafoss
So back we drove to the Fish and Chips truck. Let me tell you, on a long, mostly desolate road, seeing this bright red, adorable Fish and Chips shack seems like a gift from the heavens. But in all honesty, although the owners were lovely and there was nothing really wrong with our meals, I was hoping to get a bit more out of this. Back home, chip trucks are where you get the most delicious, fresh french fries. These fries were very clearly frozen McCain or similar. The battered fish was yummy and filled us up. But for both of our baskets which each contained 1 small piece of fish and a handful of fries, the $40 didn’t seem worth it. I would recommend trying out the Skogafoss restaurant or the Black Beach restaurant instead.
Then it was my turn in the driver’s seat, taking us the rest of the way to The Blue Lagoon. This was by far the most recommended experience in Iceland – everyone asked if we were going, everyone wanted to make sure we had booked in advance (we booked a spot in the pool a week in advance but were too late to book massages – some people book 6 months in advance for this). I had a perception of this place before we went that it would be a very serene, spa like experience. And to a certain extent it was – there were luxurious change rooms to get into your bathing suits (with futuristic lockers that were hard to figure out), then you go through a door to the indoor co-ed hot tub entrance. Once you decide it’s time to venture outside, theres a half-underwater door that takes you through an “informational cave” that has a recording of the facts about the Blue Lagoon (it’s man made lagoon that’s full of natural mineral-rich water that comes from underground – the minerals in the water are said to have many health benefits). And then you just float around in the warm water! You’re also encouraged to get a free mud mask, so when you look around it’s just a sea of people with white goo on their faces. There’s a nice section that has a dry sauna, a wet sauna and a steam room like other spas I’ve been to. But unlike other spas I’ve been to, this one also had large groups of tourist children on school trips. Because although this is spa-like it’s also a very popular tour destination. So while I might have expected a quiet, float around the pool, I didn’t expect there to be several 15 year old Scottish boys on a field trip doing pull-up competitions on the wooden archs. I also didn’t expect there to be a swim up bar either, but that was more of a happy surprise. All in all, it was gorgeous and I loved it. Floating in warm water can do no wrong.
At The Blue Lagoon…In the information caveAt The Blue Lagoon…In the information caveOut in the foggy mist at The Blue LagoonJamie also thinks this is a romantic place.The hoards lining up for free face mud masksmud masks acquired.Mud monster in the mist…
That night, we had our one and only restaurant dinner in Iceland at Snaps Bistro. I had mussels and frites and a pistachio, goat cheese, honey concoction for dessert. It was delicious. Slightly better than hot dogs and Sidekicks, I will admit. The next morning was our last in Iceland and we spent it roaming around Reykjavik looking for souvenirs and taking in the city. It was so charming and there were so many lovely shops with lots of unique stuff.
Delicious…and yes the French Onion Soup is 2.300 Icelandic Krona. Or $23 Canadian dollars… This is why we only ate out once.cheeyaws!Americans at the bar drinking $25 Long Island Iced Teas.ReykjavikRooster in ReykjavikThe Always Christmas store!Such nostalgia for childhood hereFancy stores selling fancy designer stufflots of yummy smelling thingsJust the kind of random cute shops I loveLove all the paintings on the wallThe famous Hallgrímskirkja ChurchHOT BUNSPretty red doorReykjavik street artMore Reykjavik street art
We had breakfast at one of the most delightful cafes I’ve ever seen, called Stofan Cafe. If you’re in Iceland looking for Hipsters, go here. They’re all here drinking coffee out of adorable tea cups and eating pastries on varying, eclectic antique chairs. Jamie had a healthy granola and berries while I dampened my sadness at this being our last day by eating a piece of chocolate cake. We strolled around until we caught our bus to Kaflavik to catch our flight home.
Stofan Cafe – best for Icelandic hipstersLove the eclectic feel of this placeIn love with the retro antiquesHealthy breakfast for JamieChocolate Cake for me.
Ugly: In Iceland, we could only afford dinner at one restaurant, the Fish and Chips truck was too expensive, and I found myself craving hot dogs and sidekicks for months afterwards. I did this to myself.
Awesome: I loved that for the last couple days of our trip, the sun came out to put a positive spin on everything we did. It’s crazy how much the sun/ weather colours our memories in a certain way. I loved walking around the city with our coffee in the sun, the fresh breeze feeling like fall. I love that it’s my last memory of Iceland.
Well, that concludes the Iceland saga! I hope I’ve provided some info for those making the trek seeing as EVERYONE I KNOW seems to be travelling there. And I couldn’t be happier – if you have the opportunity, don’t miss it. And tell me all about it when you get back.
Welcome to Iceland – Part 2. If you missed part 1, check it out!
My 30th birthday! On May 26th we woke up (to rain of course) at the Reykjavik Campsite. I liked this campsite because it kind of embodies a sense of community and sharing. There are places to camp in tents, camper vans and RVs, but there’s also a hostel attached for people who want to sleep in actual rooms. The bathrooms, while kind of industrial were ok (Jamie didn’t like them, he said the boys one was gross) but the kitchen area had probably 12 separate cooking stations, each with its own sink, stove top and prep area. There was a shelf full of communal cooking utensils and pots and pans and even a shelf of non-perishable food that people had left there during their travels. There was also a dining/ hang out room next door which had good wifi and outlets at all the tables. This was definitely geared towards the young backpacker audience. It was weird though…for the amount of people there, there were strict no noisiness rules in place so this cool room full of interesting people was completely silent….Very The Island.
After breakfast, Jamie and I retreated to our Camper van to escape the mole people. And also because shortly, a very handsome 24 year old Icelandic surfer named Antone from Arctic Surfers would be coming to pick us up for surfing!! Antone had blue eyes, fair skin and red curly hair. Love you, Antone.
When we got in the car, Antone had already picked up the other couple doing the day trip with us. They were a German couple, both around 30 years old; the boy was an experienced surfer and the girl had opted out of participating. She offered to use my camera to take some action shots for us (thanks)! This would be my second time surfing (the first was in Hawaii and did not require a wetsuit…) and Jamie has recently become very interested in surfing and by this time he’d surfed several times in various places. Antone drove us all to get a quick lunch and then to Thorlakshofn where we got into our wetsuits out on the black sand.
ThorlakshofnAntone helping us with our wetsuits
The beach was beautiful and foggy and once the wetsuit was on, I was warm as an Icelandic bug in a sheep’s wool rug. I should say though, that while I was already worried about my upper body strength being an obstacle in my surfing endeavours, it never occurred to me that the act of putting on the wetsuit would be, in fact, what drained me of all my strength. Once we actually got into the water, I literally swam for about 10 minutes and realized it was futile for me to try to swim out against the current to the place where you’re supposed to catch the waves. (I have since integrated free weights into my gym routine…). So while the stronger boys went deeper into the Ocean, I found myself content staying where my toes could touch the bottom, practising my basics (spotting the right waves, swimming with them and pushing myself up on the board). And while I didn’t look as glamorous as the boys did, I was proud of the few times I stood up on the board for more than 2 seconds and when we were all finished, I pat myself on the back. A for effort. Didn’t drown. Success.
Icelandic surfing in ThorlakshofnInto the OceanJamie giving me surfing tipsJamie and the wavesSurfboartHorses on the beach!Viking beachIcelandic Surfer DudeIcelandic Surfer Dudette
Next we all piled into the car in our wetsuits and Antone drove us to the town’s Rec Centre. Because Icelanders are very proud of all the geothermal activity there, every town seems to have a community recreation centre, focused on swimming and lounging in man-made hot springs. This one had fantastic facilities, a giant gymnasium for community events, a large outdoor pool and several hot tubs of varying temperatures. I got the impression that after school, this is where families go to spend time together. There were so many people there, kids were playing and neighbours were catching up. It was cool. By that point we were all a little chilled so finishing the day with a luxurious soak in the hot tub was heavenly. Antone dropped us off at the campsite an hour later and after the simplest meal possible, we fell asleep absolutely exhausted. Best 30th birthday I ever had.
The next morning, we began our journey east along the southern coast of the island. Our first stop was to the same bakery Antone had taken us to the day before because I suddenly realized I hadn’t eaten any birthday cake and this was a problem. After that necessary trip was complete, we hit the state-run Vinbudin to stock up on exorbitantly priced alcohol (I drank the cheapest cider I could find, the whole trip).
Delicious baked goods for my birthday cake
Next up was Seljalandsfoss (If you haven’t figured it out yet, everything that ends in “foss” is a waterfall…) It was raining that day (a big shock to both of us) and one thing we noticed while visiting Seljalandsfoss was so many people were ill-equipped for the weather. I saw women wearing garbage bags in heels for Pete’s sake. People. Bring your hiking boots. Or at least some water proof shoes. And a jacket. It’s Iceland!
This was a pretty waterfall, a little touristy for my taste, but it was nice. There’s a path for you to walk around behind the water and if you follow the little path to the west of the main waterfall, there’s a more interesting hidden one that looks a little magical.
Back in the car, on our way to Skogafoss for yet another un-missable, tourist-heavy waterfall. Once we got there, we noticed a little fish and chips shack on the side of the road, but we decided we would save it for our way back to Reykjavik in a couple days. By now it was raining pretty hard, and while the normal thing to do at these falls is to climb the 382 step staircase along the hill, it looked pretty slippery and we were unmotivated to do the trek in the rain. Instead, after walking around the base of the falls for a bit, we went to the visitor’s centre and asked if they had any recommendations for what to do instead of the stairs. The gentleman there gave us step by step instructions on how to reach a hidden waterfall about a 20 minute walk away. So we drove to the Skogar Museum (1 minute away), parked at the back, went through a farmer’s gate and started walking east along the curve of a hill. About 15 minutes later after walking in what we hoped was the right direction, we discovered the most beautiful, hidden waterfall. Only 3 other people were there and it seemed to us like we had discovered it all on our own. Romance falls, I’ll call it (but I think it might actually be called Selvaosfoss?).
SkogafossSkogafossSkogafossWalking to the secret Romance FallsSelvaosfoss? First peek at Romance FallsSelvaosfossSelvaosfossCan you find Jamie in this photo?Selvaosfoss loveSelvaosfossSelvaosfossso many sheep always
Our last stop of the day before finding a campsite to stay at was Vik. We had heard a lot about Vik because it serves as a kind of hub along the Southern coast. It’s a fishing town with a school, a rec centre, restaurants and a grocery store. There’s a large gas station there that’s attached to a diner that serves seemingly delicious burgers and fries (we didn’t feel like spending $75 on burgers, so we ate our grocery lunch instead). Because these amenities are few and far between in Iceland, this place gets very busy, especially on the weekends. A lot of people see Vik at the same time as visiting Reynisfjara Beach (the most famous black sand beach) but we decided to save that for the ride back. So instead, we hit up the trusted Vistor’s centre and asked them what we should do there (this became a trend for us because they were always super helpful). The lovely man at the centre directed us to a hike that goes straight up 1,092 ft to the top of Reynisfjall mountain, overlooking Vik and if you walk west enough, you can also look right over Reynisfjara Beach. Again, this was such a nice, secluded hike away from the more touristy areas, and it was such a gorgeous view. It took us about 2.5 hours to do the whole thing, the perfect end to the day.
Driving to VikOn Reynisfjall Mountain overlooking Reynisfjara BeachOverlooking VikOverlooking Vik on Reynisfjall MountainReynisfjall MountainReynisfjall MountainReynisfjall Mountain
We set off to find our next campsite, which we came across by accident, and it turned out to be our favourite campsite of the trip. On the way, though we ended up stopping at two hotels to ask for campsite tips and one day when I’m a millionaire, I want to come back and stay at them. Attention Millionaires: please, so I can live vicariously through you, stay at either the Icelandair Hotel Vik or the Hotel Katla which reminded me of The Shining. When we arrived at the Kirkjubæjarklaustur campsite (Yes, that’s the name) we loved the tiny cottages that surrounded the perimeter of the site, there were showers (which cost 6 dollars to use, but hey) and warm, clean washrooms and the view from the camper van was beautiful.
The next morning, we had our Skyr, berries and granola and set off for Jokulsarlon Lagoon to see weird little ice bergs floating around a glacial lake.
Eating Skyr in the camper van
Jokulsarlon is a glacial lake in front of a massive glacier. Bits of the glacier break off and float around in this lake before funnelling into the Atlantic ocean. It was pretty cool to see, and it is very beautiful but researching online gave us the impression there was a bit more to do here. Sure, you can pay to go on boat tours to see the seals and icebergs up close, but the lake isn’t that big. You’d be spending almost an hour on a very slow boat ride around a fairly small area. It could be very relaxing for some people, but I think we would have become restless and would rather spend our time moving around. There was a small cafe and gift shop here, which was convenient but made for a very busy place. I would definitely recommend stopping here, but while we thought we would spend a few hours here, I would suggest stopping for half an hour to an hour.
Driving to JokulsarlonDriving to JokulsarlonDriving to JokulsarlonDriving to JokulsarlonJokulsarlonJokulsarlonJokulsarlonJokulsarlonJokulsarlon – Jamie looking at the seals
At this point, since we thought we would have spent more time at the lake, we set off back in the direction we came from, knowing we had to start our journey back to Reykjavik and that there were a few things we had passed on the way that looked interesting. One such place was Skaftafell in Vatnajökull National Park. We hadn’t planned on stopping here, but when we found ourselves with extra time, it was the perfect solution. I’m so happy we ended up here as it became one of the my favourite parts of the trip (maybe it had to do with the fact that the sun was out for some of the visit…) Again, after speaking with the Visitor Centre folks, we had a plan. We hiked up to Sjonarnipa viewpoint to look out over the Skaftafellsjokull glacier. Then we walked over the top of the mountain to the Svartifoss waterfall, took some pictures and began our descent down the mountain.
Hiking to Sjonarnipa viewpointHiking to Sjonarnipa viewpointSjonarnipa viewpoint overlooking the Skaftafellsjokull glacierSjonarnipa viewpoint overlooking the Skaftafellsjokull glacierSjonarnipa viewpoint overlooking the Skaftafellsjokull glacierSjonarnipa viewpoint overlooking the Skaftafellsjokull glacierSjonarnipa viewpoint overlooking the Skaftafellsjokull glacierSvartifoss waterfall
We stayed at the Kirkjubæjarklaustur campsite again that night because we loved it so much the night before and the next morning we woke up to a bit of sun and the sounds of millions of sheep bleeting on the hill.
Ugly: My upper body strength. Forget looking good, my new gym goal is to turn these pythons into surfing machines.
Awesome: Surprises! On paper, Skaftafell didn’t really seem like the most exciting place, but I’m so happy we made it there. It was a challenging hike with a really rewarding view at the end and it turned our spirits right around after a slightly disappointing morning.
Tune in next time to hear all about Viking Tombs and Gas Station etiquette!
P.S. If you liked this, check out Part 1 and Part 3!
So many people I know are going to Iceland. Back in November when Jamie and I booked this trip for my 30th birthday, I though we were cool, hip adventurers going where no hipster had gone before. Turns out everyone and their spray tan technician are going to Iceland, so I thought I should post a bit about it for people who are planning a trip!
First thing: Jamie and I went at the end of May. Which can be a blessing and a curse. It’s between seasons so there are a bunch of tours that don’t run because Winter is over but the Summer season tours haven’t begun yet. There are also a few roads you can’t access because the thawing snow and ice make the roads too muddy. So while you may be limited in your activity options somewhat, it’s also much less busy during this time of year than the summer and a little bit cheaper too. Speaking of which, you know how they say Iceland is Greener than Greenland? That’s because there’s SO MUCH CASH MONEY COMING INTO THIS PLACE. Iceland is the most expensive place I’ve ever visited. It’s worth it and I loved it, but be prepared to spend some money, even doing it the cheap way like we did.
So because I took 1 thousand pictures, I’ve split this post into parts. This is part 1. How many parts will there be? I have no idea. Also, sorry for all the landscapes but this is my post, not yours so just deal with it.
As Jamie and I were flying above Reykjavik, we watched the sun shining over the clouds at 4am. It was exciting to see we might get some sun on our first day! However, as the plane started its decent, we broke through a thick shelf of clouds and all of a sudden the sun was gone. We wouldn’t see it again for another 3 days. Iceland!
Our first morning we landed in Keflavik, took a shuttle to the downtown Reykjavik bus station, took a cab to get breakfast at the only hotel that had breakfast that early then went to pick up our camper van. We used CampEasy and while there were a few hiccups at the start (did you know it’s not legally necessary to have a rearview mirror in Iceland?), ultimately they were great and even came to us to replace to our tiny fridge later on the trip when it conked out. Note: Standard vehicles in Iceland are always cheaper and more easily available. If you can’t drive a stick like us, make sure to book well in advance and be prepared to pay a little more.
Then we went to the Bonus supermarket to pick up groceries for our trip. This is where we discovered Iceland’s answer to the greek yogurt craze “Skyr”. Looks like President’s choice has recently released a “Skyr – style yogurt” of their own, but honestly it’s not like the real thing. It’s just yummy. And it’s everywhere in Iceland. And we ate it for breakfast every day.
So, by the time we started to head out of the city towards Snæfellsnes Peninsula, we were pretty tired as we had been up for 30 something hours, so at one point we pulled over to the side of the road on a cliff face and had a nap in our van. Waking up and looking out your window at the Icelandic scenery never got old. Every 10 minutes you’re driving through a completely different type of landscape that varies from “looks like the moon” to “looks like a a giant moss monster lay down on everything”. We drove a couple of hours through super windy mountainous roads and legit creepy fog to reach our first campsite, Olafsvik.
Driving to Snæfellsnes PeninsulaDriving to Snæfellsnes PeninsulaDriving to Snæfellsnes PeninsulaStopping for a break in our Camper VanOur first campsite: Ólafsvík
The campsite was lovely – it had nice heated washrooms and showers and a kitchen room that everyone could share. We met some cool people from around the world and ended up chatting through dinner and getting some ideas for the rest of trip.
The next day, we woke up to pouring rain and howling wind (that day would end up being a high of 10° and a low of 4°) and started driving west along the northern edge of the peninsula to Skorosvik. There’s a place you can park your car to lookout over a beautiful beach. We thought it would be a nice place for our first hike of the trip, so we started walking along the cliffs towards the Ondveroarnes lighthouse. This hike was super windy and a little rainy but it really felt like we were walking along the edge of the Earth. There was no one else hiking there so we had it all to ourselves. We walked for about an hour and a half to the lighthouse, had some snacks and walked back to the car.
Waking up the next morningSkarosvikSkarosvikSkarosvikSkarosvikSkarosvikSkarosvikSkarosvikOndveroarnes lighthouseCool Truck
Then we drove about 20 minutes along the coast to Dritvik where there was a beautiful black sand beach with crazy gigantic waves. We only stayed there for a short time because the rain was starting to come down harder, so we drove to Hellnar for lunch at Primus Cafe . Sitting in the cafe eating lamb stew watching the rain on the Ocean from the floor to ceiling windows I remember it being half cozy and gorgeous, half dreary and desolate. Iceland for me fits this description a lot of the time. Eerily beautiful minimalism can also sometimes feel like bleak isolation. It’s so gorgeous and it’s not Mexico. Remember that.
DritvikDritvikDritvikDritvikLamb stew at Primus Cafe in Hellnar
We kept driving to our next campsite, which turned out to be the cutest working sheep farm where they also let travellers set up tents and campervans on their front lawn. They had a little cafe for food, warm washrooms and a food prep area for visitors. We met a couple from Ontario who were touring Iceland, sleeping in their tent…brave souls. That night was just as rainy and windy as all the rest of our nights had been and it caused us to sleep in a little later the next day. The Bjarteyjarsandur Family Farm also gives school tours. So imagine our surprise when we woke up the next morning and walked out of our van in our PJs to a group of 30 adorable Icelandic kindergarten students staring at us while eating their morning snack. Góðan daginn!
While we were packing up to head out, a couple of the resident goats broke the rules and made their way into the cafe, standing on the tables and chairs, causing quite the ruckus. They were super cute and everyone wanted to take them home with them.
Driving to Bjarteyjarsandur FarmDriving to Bjarteyjarsandur FarmDriving to Bjarteyjarsandur FarmDriving to Bjarteyjarsandur FarmArrived at Hvalfjörður BayBjarteyjarsandur FarmBjarteyjarsandur FarmBjarteyjarsandur Farm PianoBjarteyjarsandur Farm TaxidermyBjarteyjarsandur Farm SweatersIn our camper van, writing in my Journal at Bjarteyjarsandur FarmBjarteyjarsandur Farm goats on the tables!Bjarteyjarsandur Farm chair goatBjarteyjarsandur Farm blanket goat
We stopped at a gas station for our free coffee (pro tip: all the gas stations have a sketchy pot of coffee that is free for anyone who wants it. Don’t ask questions…just take the coffee. It’s allowed) and started driving towards Glymur, my favourite of all the waterfalls we saw in Iceland (and there were a lot). This was my favourite day in Iceland. The sun was shining a little bit off and on, and while the Glymur hike is not for everyone (the beginning is easy but the higher you get, the harder the hike and people afraid of heights may not enjoy it so much), I loved it. The views from the top of our hike were amazing and the challenge is so worth it when you get to the top. You can actually hike much farther than we did, going around to the other side of the falls, but we did about a 4 hour hike up one side to the top and back down.
Driving to GlymurGlymur warnings!Hiking up GlymurHiking up GlymurHiking up GlymurHiking up GlymurHiking up Glymur – crossing the riverHiking up Glymur – crossing the riverHiking up GlymurHiking up Glymur – whoa blue skies!!Hiking up GlymurHiking up GlymurHiking up GlymurHiking up GlymurHiking up GlymurCrossing the river again!
Then it was time for the Golden Circle. In my opinion, this Golden Circle is the most overrated, over-publicized part of Iceland. Or maybe we didn’t do it right? I dunno, but in comparison to the other things we saw and did, it makes me think this part of Iceland is so popular because it provides a few different types of things to see (a couple geysers, a waterfall, some National Park land), it’s relatively close to Reykjavik and you can do the whole thing in a few hours. This is the perfect tour for a 82 year old who is very into turbines, tourist families and waterfalls covered in safety warnings. Skip it.
Gulfoss in the Golden CircleI think I look like the elf grandma from The Neverending Story here.Gulfoss in the Golden Circle
Ugly: As I’m remembering these days, I think of them so fondly but I also remember how dark and dreary these days were. I know during other seasons, the weather is a bit sunnier and warmer but I would caution anyone thinking of going: It can get a little depressing. It’s one of the most beautiful places in the world and I consider myself extremely lucky to be able to experience it, but I think I learned how much I appreciate the sun on this trip and how much a lack of sun affects my personality. Sun worshipers beware.
Awesome: I will always remember our camper van with love. It was such a cozy retreat from the wind and rain and Jamie and I got into such a comfortable routine every morning and night. To find out if you really love someone: Spend 8 days together cooking, changing and sleeping in a 17 ft by 7 ft van. Also these first few days really felt like we were exploring new terrain. Every hour seeing new landscapes that I had never known about let alone seen before made the long drives seem more like discoveries.
And thus concludes part 1 of the Iceland series! Come back next time for harrowing tales of black sand beach surfing, $40 fish and chips and what happens when you get in a hot spring with a thousand British children!
P.S. If you liked this, check out Part 2 and Part 3!
More like May showers, considering how drizzly and gross it was out today. But despite the terrible weather, I had a great day!
My amazing, gorgeous friend, Monica is getting married in June and I get to be one of her bridesmaids! In addition to taking a super fun trip to Vegas for her Bachelorette party in a month, I also got to help throw her Bridal Shower which was today. I’m pretty happy with how everything turned out. We basically stole everything from Pinterest, but that’s ok because it’s so damn pretty!
Considering it was pouring rain outside and traffic was insane because of the Goodlife run, I think we managed to pull it off and I think everyone had a good time hiding from the weather.
Monica’s sister, Dana made a whole bunch of delicious food, Gillian, Michelle and I pieced together the decor, drinks and treats and our extraordinarily talented friend, Sara made the Drake-themed “Hot Lime Bling” Cupcakes.
All around, it was a fun day to celebrate two people who are pretty awesome.
Ugly: SO MUCH RAIN. Grossy gross weather.
Awesome: SO MANY CUPCAKES. One lady said they were the best cupcakes she’s ever had.
Bridal Shower Decor
Sweet table!
Hot “Lime” Bling Drake Cupcakes
Lemon Bling Cupcakes
Desserts!
Delicious eats
Deviled Eggs – My favourite
I love these gold Balloons from Balloons on Bloor
This was the naughty punch
Beyoncés Lemonade!
Monica and her My My
Happy Bride to Be
Candy Treats!
The Bride and bridesmaids
The Mother of the Bride and her bebe
Family ladies
Happy guests
Pretty ladies
More happy people with candy
Monica and her soon to be Mother in Law
So much candy
These two won the celebrity couple game in 26 seconds.
These two came in second place!
Good times
More good times
Several good times
Chris appears with Flowers!
Cuties
Looks like love to me.
Jungle Bride
Monica and My My
My My is wearing a photo of Monica around her neck.
In accordance with official 100th blog post protocol (Section 5, paragraph 2) I took a little break from blogging. In that time, I had a Super Bowl party, attended an Anne of Green Gables marathon, spent Valentine’s Day with my friend, Kari, while our menfolk shot a commercial in Capetown, South Africa, went to the AGO, saw my new favourite band, Cousins, live in concert and on the same day, sprained my ankle giving my pal, Sandy, a hug.
I hope to post a few mini-posts in the next few days with fun pictures from all these random events – mainly because I now have an internal, personal obligation to post all of my memories to the inter webs where they will live forever and ever.
So, I’ll start with my visit to the AGO to see The Great Upheaval Exhibition. I wasn’t allowed to take photos in the exhibit, but I captured some of my other favourite parts of the AGO. I went with my friends, Adam and Leigh which proved to be lucky because Adam is basically a human art encyclopedia and provided a lovely, interactive, British audio guide as we toured the exhibit. Although, I bet the mechanical, plastic audio guide wouldn’t have stared blankly at me when I frequently stated “This one has too many colours”.
UGLY: Getting to the gym every single day with increasing motivation, only to sprain my ankle hugging someone and slipping on the ice. USELESS.
AWESOME: I bought a 1000 piece puzzle of The Lady of Shalott at the AGO and it will take me 7 years to finish.
A little pre-gallery Irish Coffee
complete with caesar salad and french onion soup
Leigh is delighted to be art-ing.
Leigh loves Canadiana.
This looks like my uncle.
More Canadians…
Dark and brooding barns
Where I’d currently like to be.
Adam inspects the minutia of great art.
Life imitating art.
Life imitating art 2.
I don’t know…twins born on cat?
This reminds me of Little Women
I like this frame
Pompous art art.
In one of the salons.
The salons are my favourite rooms.
This is how I would decorate my house if Jamie let me.
If this was Harry Potter, they’d all be moving…
Salon sans Caitlin.
Salon avec Caitlin napping.
bebe.
GENIUS having a wedding at the AGO. so pretty.
I’m inspecting my other favourite salon.
My favourite painting in the entire AGO. I call her Florence. I bought a magnet of her.
Her pal…..Judy?
This reminds me of Man in the Iron mask
This painting is giant in real life – another one of my favourites.
As we left, a choir rehearsed the song that would be sung as the bride walked down the aisle…and I shed a single tear, knowing I had to leave because the AGO closes at 6….
Hey guys, guess what? This is my 100th Blog Post. No biggie. Just a life goal and landmark but you know, whatevs!!! (That’s what the title was about…not drinking 100 beer shots in 100 minutes…)
Being that this is my 100th Blog Post celebration day, I get to do whatever I want. Which means posting MORE CHRISTMAS PICTURES! Even though no one wants to see them anymore!
I promise, these are the last ones. It seems that everyone is now over it (Jamie wants to take down the tree tonight!) But I need to hang on for one more week. One more sparkly, happy, festive week and then it’s back to normal home decor colours and scents that are not “peppermint” or “gingerbread”. In all honesty, it won’t be so bad – I got lots of new non-Christmas Home decorations with my gift cards, so I get to play after the Christmas stuff comes down!
The first bunch of photos is from my annual “ladies only-ish” Christmas party where some lady troopers braved their way through the snow storm to come over and eat massive amounts of food, watch movies and exchange gifts. I look forward to this party every single year and this year it snuck it’s way in right before I got sick – very lucky.
The second bunch is from my Christmas in Kingston with my family! My parents got a new kitty named Inky, who is the best. She’s very cuddly and added even more excitement to the holiday. Even though I was a bit wobbly, I had a great time and it was nice to be home where my mommy could take care of me 🙂 So spoiled.
We had a fantastic Christmas dinner with my Grandparents and Uncle, his lady friend, Nancy and our family friend (and my old doctor), Roz! We also celebrated my Mom’s birthday and I spent New Year’s Eve with my parents. All in all, a TON of awesome family time which is a rare treat.
UGLY: Christmas is over, and I’m the only one hanging on to the holly for dear life. Also, I have to get up early tomorrow!
AWESOME: It’s been a really long time since I’ve spent so much time with the folks. It felt like University when you went home for a month! Also, new Inky and old Penny – I love visiting Kitties without having to actually take care of them 🙂
Kate presents the Hard Eggnog in a bottle
Celeste is excited for the eggnog shots
There they are!
Jasmine watched Home Alone with the food
Eggnog shots! Photos by Monica!
cheeeeaaws!
YUM?
Uuuuuhhh
No, not yum.
Lovely Oranges
What, were you expecting fois gras?
Gift Exchange!
Jazzy’s excited for her prezzy!
Popcorn maker for Celeste!
The only evidence of Monicas attendance!
Booze for Sara!
Jasmine receives the traditional Ardenes gift pack
complete with furry mittens…
and a furry hat.
Kate unwraps a delightful cat-themed bag!
Cat towel!
Cat-lendar!
In the end, the Cats kit was legally stolen by Jazzy, so Kate ended up with the awesome Holiday Survival Kit!
This is exactly what the Holidays require!
Bye Party Girls!
Christmas Morning in Kingston!
Stockings on the “fire”!
My new Garden Friend!
Uncle Kenny looks dashing.
My special devilled eggs. As usual.
Nutcracker collection.
Pretty table settings!
Centrepiece that snows and plays music!
Mr. and Mrs. Snowpersons.
Festive Penguin butter knife.
The whole gang for Christmas dinner!
Le turkey.
Grandma mashes something!
Dad carves the bird.
I love this lady.
I love this lady too.
My mom makes the BEST gravy.
My tastebuds actually can not wait another year for this.
Christmas Cracker King and Queen.
Roz and My grandma and My grandma’s painting and book!
too cute.
Me and Uncle Kenny.
Dad’s new musical Christmas Tie.
Me and my daddy.
INKY!
And here’s a special Christmas gift from me to you on this grand occasion!
It’s been a while since my last post. Earlier in December I got to celebrate Christmas in several amazing and festive ways and then unfortunately, before I was able to blog about any of it, I got sick. First with a brutal cough, then just when I thought I was in the clear, I came down with Labyrinthitis. I won’t go into how crushing and debilitating this insane illness is, only that you literally lay on your side for a week and any time you move, you experience the most severe vertigo, dizziness and nausea. It’s like being very drunk and sick all day long. So looking at the computer for any amount of time was basically out of the question. Which resulted in the blog break! (And even more annoying, an unanticipated work break) But now I’m back! I’ve been moving around for a week and I can finally focus enough to read books, blogs and most importantly, Facebook!
So – lets jump into our one horse open sleigh time machine back to the start of December, when some special ladies and I hit up Toronto’s Christmas Market in Toronto. The market is set up in the Distillery district and is Christmas incarnate. It was so pretty and sparkly and fun, but like seemingly everything these days, it was just so busy and had such long lineups there were some things we just didn’t go for. Like the churros. Everybody said to get the churros. But the lineup would have taken us half an hour to get through! So instead, we drank delicious hot chocolate and had amazing creamy mac and cheese. We sang carols with the Victorian carollers and we danced the Little Women traditional Christmas dance made famous by Winona Ryder (Or more specifically, Kari did this whilst excitedly running into passersby).
We were lucky enough to have Ashley and Brodie staying with us that weekend, so after the girls and I had our fill of Christmas fun, we met up with the boys at C’est What on the Esplanade where we had drinks and dinner and good times. Very lucky to see this crowd as often as I do – especially when the Ottawa folk come to visit!
Ugly – Lineups! I wish I was a billionaire who could rent out markets and fairs for my own personal use like McDreamy did for Reese Witherspoon at Tiffany’s in Sweet Home Alabama…
Awesome – Despite the crowds and lineups, it’s really hard to squash my Christmas Spirit. Any place that’s so full of Christmas decorations, lights, sparkles trees, carollers etc. is OK in my book. Extra bonus for going with awesome ladies.
At Toronto’s Christmas Market!
Ashley and Kari feeling festive
So pretty!
The big tree!
Under the sparkly sky.
My Go-To Christmas tree pose.
Tree up close
Me, Ashley, Kari and Dancia with our Hot Chocolate.
A couple years ago, around this time, my friend Celeste and I experienced our first Shoppers Drug Mart Beauty Gala and it was super fun. So, a couple of weeks ago, Sara, Celeste and I went to this year’s Gala to get purtied. For $10, you get your makeup done by a professional makeup artist, you get to eat free food (this time it was dumplings and Chinese buns…) and you get a free goodie bag on your way out. And if you purchase anything from the beauty department, it’s 10% off.
My makeup artist was awesome but I can’t remember her name 😦 She asked me if we were planning on going anywhere special after our makeovers and I said “Yes, we’re going next door to Roti Cuisine of India!”. So we went to eat Saag Paneer rotis while showing off our new faces. We rifled through our goodie bag and compared loot and tried to seduce the regulars.
Ugly: All my free perfumes smell TERRIBLE. Whose job is it to say what smells nice? That person has a cold.
Awesome: Fun night out with my ladies doing lady things!! My makeup artist kept messing up my face because I was making her laugh. Worth it.
THE BEFORE PICTURE
Laying the brick
Celeste is so excited!
But also terrified…
Things are happening in my eyeballs.
Painting on my moustache
Sara is already beautiful – no need for makeover!
Starting to look bee-oootiful!
The makeup artist and I laughed a lot.
Thanks smiley lady! (I forgot her name)
The Three Glamourous Amigos
At Roti Cuisine of India practising our smizing.
Sara smizes into my heart.
Sara and Celeste are Roti-fierce!
I volunteered to be their glamourous spokesmodel
This is how I always wait for my Saag Paneer Roti.
It’s that time of year again! The time of year I walk aimlessly around the city looking at all the twinkly lights and anticipating decorating my own little blank canvas of a home. Last year, I purchased a bunch of Holiday decor because it was our first Christmas in this apartment and I wanted to take advantage of the little bit of extra space we have now. This year, I tried to re-use as much as possible and the only new things I bought were the plants for the porch and the new candle holder from Kitchen Stuff Plus (it was on sale…).
Jamie and I followed through with our annual tradition of decorating the tree while watching Sunday Night Football and I tried to make Christmas Sugar Cookies! The cookies were a success in general, but I absolutely failed on the icing front. I accidentally made the icing too thick so it was giving me a super hard time due to my tendency toward culinary ineptitude. I finally got my icing contraption to work and spent 15 minutes icing the trees. By the time that was done, I was losing patience on the snowflakes and by the time we got to the gingerbread men, I could barely motivate myself to make more than a face blob on each one. Regardless of their ugliness, they were still delicious so I count it as a flavour win, presentation fail.
UGLY: The horror-movie gingerbread monsters.
AWESOME: It’s Christmas!!! (obviously). Being in this house with twinkly lights and festive candles makes me excited about walking through my door every day. I’m pretty sure I turn on my tree lights with the same enthusiasm one would exude when meeting their puppy at the door upon returning home.
Decorating the tree while wathcing football
Christmas Cookie Decorating – first 15 minutes
next ten minutes…
ten minutes after that…
trying to finish in 5 minutes or less…
30 seconds tops.
Christmas Cheeeer!
The hutch gets the most decor of the whole house.
That candle holder was on sale at Kitchen Stuff Plus…
festive pillows!
Mr. and Mrs. Salty Claus
Pretty tree skirt from Picton
Gold star
My mom made this (I think)
legless Santa
Bowl of cheer.
Christmas in the bathroom.
Misteltoe for kissing!
I put bows everywhuuur
This is Jamie’s least favourite Christmas item.
Hohoho bird.
Candy Cane Canine
It’s a secret treasure Christmas House!
The Treasure!
Our most recent ornament – a gift from Ashley all the way from Tanzania!