Finally .... Iceland and UK (part 1)

Well finally having some time and some internet access at the same time to make an entry. We are currently west of London in a small town/village called Twyford visiting Helen and Pete, catching up and sampling some cracking home made curries. All is well.

Quick update to this point - had a fabulous 3 days in Iceland. 24 hour sunlight was odd but also seemed to give us a bit more energy and get up and go. Arrived late first night; first day we went puffin spotting on a little boat (saw many!) and then took off in our very expensive rental car to the Blue Lagoon - a huge area of volcanic rock and heated mineral waters (a strange milky blue color) where we soaked and steamed and covered ourselves in white silica mud. Felt very good after that. Spent some time travelling the roads around Reyjavik; some gravel where our rental car got a bit cracked up (oops). Fines on return.... Next day, after smoked and pickled fish for breakfast, we were off to waterfalls, geysirs and to walk in between the American and European continental divide and see the site of the (reported) first parliament in the world (Viking). Our time in Iceland was over too quick, and we were back at the airport heading for the UK.

In the UK we've been busy too - exploring Southend and the coast (Andy's parent's new home), travelling to Hull (Andy's old home), visiting Aunt Shiela and Uncle Alf in Newcastle, visiting the old cities of Lincoln and Durham on the way, and stopping at Sherwood Forest on the trail of Robin Hood. One of the highlights was visiting a group of prehistoric caves (Creswell Scrags) where they hve recently discovered the first prehistoric (caveman) cave art in the UK - we were really lucky to get on a tour at the last minute to see it very upclose and personal. 15,000 year old cave art of bison, birds, and deer! Awesome. Another highlight was the open air concert Boogie Nights in the Park, a retro event of 80' and 90's acts in a park next to Ely Cathedral, which included a performance by none other than Bananarama (Andy was (as we say here) well chuffed).

Next we're off to Cornwall to spend a few days there with Andy's mum and dad, and some more time with friends and family. Before that (tomorrow) we're off to a Tudor festival! So getting a lot of culture too.

Having a good time and it is very nice to be back in the summer. All the work is getting finished up at the house while we're away and while we've had quite a bit of interest, no offers just yet. Missing Colorado of course - more so as Helen and Pete are dogsitting an energetic and sweet german shepherd at the moment.

More soon.