Quirky Traveller's Tales

If you’ve been to Iceland you’ll understand the singer Björk.  Born and raised in Reykjavik, she epitomises this country’s quirky, eclectic energy.  Visitors on holiday can get a brief glimpse of Iceland’s natural attractions and history by doing The Golden Circle, including Gulfoss (Golden Waterfall), the geothermal filed of Haukadalur where Strokkur geyser erupts very few minutes and the UNESCO World Heritage site, Þingvellir National Park where the original Parliament met.  All this is can be done in a day trip from Reykjavik, Iceland’s historic and vibrant capital city.

In spite of a very changeable climate that Brits will feel at home in and those from warmer countries may find ‘challenging’, Reykjavik is one of the party capitals of Europe.  Lively techno and hard rock bars vie with cool cafes and trendy eateries.  But it’s the fascinating cultural scene, unusual architecture, every-changing seascapes and crisp, sparkling air that I loved.  Standing on The Square  one look at the unassuming, low level Alþing (Parliament House) tells you that this is a country that seems at ease with its identity and has no need to dominate. The white-walled Cathedral next door would not look out of place in a provincial town.  And that’s the secret of Reykjavik’s appeal – it’s small, accessible and utterly charming.

The best way to explore the city is on foot. In a few hours you can see all the main sights ‘downtown’ – we had a guide but it’s not difficult to navigate.  With the sea on one side and linear streets you can’t get too lost.  In front of the Tourist Information Centre on little Faxaflói Square we were shown a rather strange looking sculpture of tall concrete stakes with steam coming from the running water.  Apparently this represents the founding of the city when a Norwegian Viking settler farmed this land and called it ‘Reykjavik’ aka ‘steamy/smoky bay.’

At the nearby Landnamssyningin (Settlement Exhibition) I tried to imagine what ancient island life was like around 1000 AD from the remnants of a turf wall and some Viking objects.  Can’t say I succeeded but worth a try …  Much more appealing was the Kraum Centre for Icelandic Craft in House No 10 Aðalstræti,  said to be the oldest wooden house in centre of the city. As you can imagine, these houses are prone to fire and decay being so near the sea so it is amazing that any have survived.  There was an intriguing collection of pottery, jewellery, household utensils and clothes, all with a definite Icelandic twist in their creation and construction.

Shoppers are well catered for with a great mix of international names and very high quality local  brands.  In the city’s largest shopping centre, Kringlan (a few minutes’ drive from the heart of the city, you’ll find names like Karen Illen, Deisel, Next, Zara and Hugo Boss.  One of the most well-known local names is 66°North, created in 1926 to provide outdoor clothing to protect the fishermen and labourers from the extremes of Arctic weather. Now uber-fashionable, their garments combine practicality and contemporary design.  I got a very snug fleece that looks good and is very cosy on the Lake District fells in winter!  If you have time, just go off the main streets to discover quirky little shops selling all manner of tempting goodies.

Laugavegur is the main shopping street.  Woollen items are a favourite and the Hand-knitting Association of Iceland has a couple of shops in town.  Or you could try a quirky chocolate volcano on an iced cake from a bespoke chocolatier …

Heading towards busy Hafn (harbour) we could smell the fishing boats before we saw them.  Serious looking craft bedecked with industrial-strength nets were bobbing about near the ferries, a military vessel and other shipping that regularly sail around these chilly waters.

Looming over it all like some enormous honeycomb is the Harpa Concert Hall and Conference Centre.  Home to the Icelandic Symphony Orchestra, this state-of-the-art building was only completed in 2011.  Music concerts, opera , art exhibitions and international conferences are held all year round  and there are a couple of shops as well as an excellent restaurant.  Eating a delicious lunch of fresh seafood and local dishes we had a breath-taking view of the harbour’s icy blue waters as the sun shimmered through the geometric windows.

This is a glimpse of a few of the highlights of Reykjavik’s attractions.  Look out for the next article on the city’s Art Museum and Culture House, lovely Lake Tjörnin, a boat trip to Viday Island,  a privileged glimpse inside the Höfði House, where Gorbachov and Reagan met for the Reykjavik summit and a visit to the Presidential Palace to meet the outgoing Icelandic President.

I travelled to Iceland courtesy of easyJet, now offering regular flights and holidays to quirkilicious Iceland, and stayed at the luxurious Hotel Borg, in the heart of the city on Parliament Square.

Read about my exciting experience of The Golden Circle here.

Ernest Hemingway wrote, “Nobody ever lives their life all the way up except bull-fighters.” In the same spirit, I believe that as life goes by so fast there are only a few moments that you really live to the max. Walking the Camino de Santiago, as opposed to bullfighting which is not for me, was one of those times where I felt truly alive. For a few days, weeks or months, I was able to extract myself from my day to day routine and focus on myself.

Camino Frances sign – photo c/o Follow the Camino

Lately, I walked the Camino Frances from St Jean de Pied to Pamplona with a company called Follow the Camino, which organises accommodation, meals, maps and heavenly luggage transfers. They have added a twist to the Camino that really attracted me and made my journey so much easier.  This twist was to link one of my favourite authors, Ernest Hemingway, to the Camino. The American author based his first and most celebrated novel ‘The Sun Also Rises’ during the Pamplona Festival, the San Fermin, which he used to attend regularly.

Bull-running Monument in Pamplona – photo by Владимир Шеляпин

The storyline follows a group of American and British expatriates who travel from Paris to the Festival of San Fermín in Pamplona to watch the running of the bulls and the bullfights. The setting was unique and memorable, showing the seedy café life in Paris, and the excitement of the Pamplona festival, with a middle section devoted to descriptions of a fishing trip in the Pyrenees and end sections in San Sebastian and Madrid.

Follow the Camino therefore launched a new walking holiday called the Camino Heming-Way where you walk in the footsteps of Jake and Bill, two of the main protagonists of the book, from Saint St Jean de Pied in France to Pamplona in Spain. It is undoubtedly one of the most scenic, challenging and rewarding of all the Camino routes and a unique journey through time and literature.

Vierge D’Orisson in French Pyrenees - photo c/o Follow the Camino

The Camino Operator booked me into charming 2-3* hotels along the Way, which was a very welcom comfort. The staff were simply lovely and so typically French and Spanish! I did not want to try walking the Camino without pre-booking hostels etc. Although this option might suit some, I find it difficult to cope with the stress of not knowing where I am sleeping and if I will find a dorm before arriving in a town. Not to mention the snoring, little levels of comforts and the smell… No, I was more than delighted to pay the tour operator services so I had my own room, bathroom and all I needed to rest and refresh after a hard day’s walk. And then was I ready for a few tapas and vino! I never had to use their 24/7 emergency phone, thank God! 

St Jean Pied de Port – photo c/o Follow the Camino

The route departs Saint Jean Pied de Port, a quaint French market village in the heart of the Pyrenee. There are lots of things to see including the ancient bridge, historic buildings, full of history and a lovely old Church for pilgrims. In only five days,  I crossed the Pyrenees (tough but so exhilarating having achieved it), experienced French gastronomy - think yummy cheese, locally-produced charcuterie and traditional baguette, discovered the legendary Basque country and finally arrived in beautiful Pamplona. En route I stayed in the small quiet village of Burguete, on the Irati River where the two friends (from the book) fished.

Hemingway’s house at Burguete – photo by Phillip Capper

In Pamplona, they treated me to a Heming-Way style city tour. Thanks to Mickel, our lovely Spanish guide I found the Cafe Iruna and had a drink beside Hemingway’s statue.  I also had the chance to try a special Hemingway favourite: trout stuffed with chorizo.  I recommend this tour to Hemingway enthusiasts and anyone looking for an alternative to the last 100km of the French Way, the most popular section. So why not follow this route and take the walk from Saint-Jean-Pied-de-Port to Pamplona?  And if you are able to make it for the San Fermin Festival in July, you’ll be able to celebrate this famous Festival in true Heming-Way style!

Hemingway at Cafe Iruna Pamplona  - photo c/o Follow the Camino

This post is brought to you by Follow the Camino, a world-wide leading tour operator specialising in organising walking, cycling and horse riding holidays along the Camino de Santiago since 2006.  They created a new approach to this ancestral pilgrimage, respecting its spirit and enhancing its values, whilst making it more accessible, enjoyable and achievable for all. Find out more about the Camino Heming-Way here.

Via de la Plata Santiago de Compostela – c/o Follow the Camino

If you like walking you will enjoy ‘Fell Wandering – Slow Travel at its best’ and also

The Inca Trail in Peru is one of the world’s most spectacular walks. Share one hiker’s experience to the heady heights of Machu Picchu and back …

My breath was shallow in my chest.  The air up here in the Andes was thin, but the view was what was really taking my breath away.  There, ahead of me, my first glimpse of the Lost City of the Incas.  It had been my dream to hike the world famous Inca Trail, to this mysterious city of Machu Picchu, and now, there it was.

This was my birthday present to me.  When I turned 35, I wanted to cross something big off my life’s list.  So, David (my partner) and I saved up and splurged on this incredible hike.  On our 10-day adventure, there were some sore feet, some incredible moments, and a magical feeling of utter joy.

After a night in a beautiful guesthouse in Lima, our first stop; Cuzco, the ancient capital of the Incan Empire.  Declared a World Heritage Site in 1983, the Inca believed Cuzco was the bellybutton of the world, the centre of their Universe. We spent a few days here to acclimatize to the high altitude before our hike began, staying at the Aranwa Cusco Hotel, a pretty 16^th century Spanish townhouse.

Cuzco is stunning.  The best part was our beginner hike to the Incan ruins at Sacsayhuaman, where the Incan people lived a thousand years ago, and where view of the city and the valley ate up the first of my camera’s memory cards.

The next day, we began our hike up the world famous Inca Trail in style.  We met up with our porters, carried the camping equipment and supplies, and then together we made our way along the banks of the rushing Urubamba River.  At night, we set up at Llactapata, where we poked around some more ruins after the cook served an incredible dinner.  (I mentioned to David that he doesn’t cook like that when we camp back home, but he didn’t seem to hear me.)

From there, it was up to the Cusichaca Valley, through a cloud forest and out into an incredible mountain field of emerald grass.

The hike was challenging, but not unmanageable.  The hardest day with the last day, and I appreciated the work that David and I had done hiking on weekends to get ready for the trip.  My favourite night was definitely the last night before arriving at Machu Picchu.  I was giddy with excitement, and the majesty of our campsite at the ruins at Phuyupatamarca was picture perfect. The Inca name means “the place above the clouds”, and when the sun set behind the mountain peaks, I wanted to keep the moment forever.

The whole train ride back to Cuzco, David and I were buzzing.  Laughing and telling stories with our group, and so excited that we still had two days together in Cuzco to re-acclimatize again, and to enjoy more time together with our new friends in this fabulous city.

This post brought to you by Exsus Luxury Holidays a provider of completely bespoke and tailor made luxury holidays to destinations around the world including South and Central America, Africa, Europe, Asia, the Caribbean, Dubai and Oman and the Indian Ocean.

Almost as soon as we set off I knew I was a lot less fit than I had foolishly imagined myself to be. Working in and around the Cumbrian fells of the Lake District I seem to be under some sort of delusion that simply looking at those hills could make me fit … Having decided to go for a ‘proper’ walk this Bank Holiday weekend, a friend and I set off up Latterbarrow.  For those of you familiar with this particular l’al fell you’ll know it’s hardly in the same league as Scafell or Helvellyn, but for a part-time hiker like me, it was more than big enough.

I’d recently been given a pair of walking boots to try out so this was their first real test.  Before Christmas I had hurt my foot (falling down stairs and no, there was no alcohol involved, honest) and have not been able to do much walking since.  So now I needed something that would give my left foot some support and not be too clumpy to weigh me down.  Must admit, their name was rather daunting for a wimpy walker like me – the Hi-Tec Altitude IV WPi NT Enviro - did that mean I HAD to climb to high altitude? The 4th version? What was WPi?!  However, I did know what the NT stood for = National Trust, because they have collaborated with Hi-Tec to produce this “environmentally considered walking boot.”  Now. I’ll leave you to read all about “their naturally dyed reduced chrome leather uppers, recycled metal steel shanks and a durable recycled rubber content outsole”; suffice to say that they look good, feel very strong & supportive and certainly helped me make it to the top of that fell.

So, with plenty of stops en route to ‘admire the view’ we finally made it.  Stretched out on the mossy, rocky ground, rather breathless, with the Lake District fells all around, the views were so worth the effort.  Supremely gorgeous, laid out below us on one side was Windermere, sprawling sinuously out from Ambleside towards Bowness with toy yachts and dingies drifting about in the spring breeze. In the other direction the mighty Langdales swooped and crinkled away in the distance, with the cluster of quaint grey and white temptations that is Hawskead village snuggled cosily below.  A young lad and his parents came wandering up to the large cairn and posed for their celebratory photos before settling down to an impromptu picnic, no doubt feeling, as we did, that the effort to make it that far, definitely deserved a ham sandwich and a relaxing few minutes to enjoy the moment …

FELL wandering – to give it its romantic name – has become a must-do for walkers the world over. Yes, there are magnificent locations across the globe – the Inca Trail, the Great Wall of China to name just a couple – that are known for their stunning landscapes and culture-soaked stopovers.  But it’s actually the fells, mountains and dales in the North of England that are considered among the most beautiful and serene on the planet.

Some visitors are happy to set off with a guidebook and a map to spend just a few hours among the heavenly Lakeland fell tops.  However, many are now choosing to lace up their boots and set off on a bespoke walking holiday in the area – lasting anything from a couple of days to a week and a half or more. With the lovely Dales Way, the stunning Cumbria Way and Alfred Wainwright’s famous
Coast to Coast walk – there are miles upon miles of established yet secluded trails with which to get acquainted.

With a walking tour, visitors can enjoy the enchanting scenery of the region at their own pace while the hard work of seeking out the best farmhouse B&Bs and guest houses – the hidden gems known only to those who have ventured to the area before – is done for them.  The 84 beautiful miles that make up the Dales Way wind their way from Ilkley, on the eastern edge of the Yorkshire Dales National Park, through steeply sided valleys strewn with sheep, dry stone walls and delightful hamlets, to the bustling village of Bowness-on-
Windermere, in the Lake District.

The Cumbria Way pushes northwards from the cobbled market town of Ulverston, on the edge of Morecambe Bay, through the beating heart and soaring heights of the Lake District to the country’s most northern city of Carlisle. The Coast to Coast walk – which traverses the North of England from St Bees on Cumbria’s West Coast to Robin Hood’s Bay in North Yorkshire – keeps devotees returning
to the area as they complete its 190 miles in enjoyable and relaxed stages.

It’s commonly known that walkers are always dreaming of where their next adventure on foot might take them. But it’s worth remembering that you don’t have to travel too far to feel like you’re a million miles away from everything … So do take up fell wandering and enjoy slow travel at its very best!

 This article is brought to you by Mickledore Travel Ltd, specialists in creating bespoke walking holidays around Britain.

“The first thing which I remember as an event in life was being taken by my nurse to the brow of Friars Crag on Derwentwater.”  Victorian art critic and philanthropist John Ruskin described this view as one of the three most beautiful in Europe.   Friars Crag is a one of the most popular places to visit in the Lake District, and it really is easy to understand why.  It’s a small and perfectly-formed promontory floating out above one of Cumbria’s loveliest lakes, Derwentwater.

A short, easy stroll to Friar’s Crag from Keswick town centre takes only 15 minutes; no problem for pushchairs and wheelchairs.  Wandering by the shore, huge swans demand to be fed and graceful old rowing boats wait to be taken out for a ride. The Crag may be familiar to Arthur Ransome fans as Darien, the children’s lookout point in ‘Swallows and Amazons’. It’s said to have got its name because monks used to leave from this point to get to St. Herbert’s Island where a hermit lived. There are old trees and a seat to give protection when it rains.  On a bright day the sunlight glitters across to lake in a shattering of diamonds.

There are stunning views across the lake to Derwent Isle, once owned by the very eccentric 18^th century entrepreneur Joseph Pocklington, who used to hold mock battles and horse races on rafts around the lake.

Regular ferries taking passengers around the lake; Brandlehow Woods can be seen across the water; it was the very first property acquired by the National Trust in the Lake District. Canon Rawnsley, vicar of Crosthwaite and one of the founders of the National Trust, ensured that this area was not developed. On his death in 1920 Friars Crag, Lords Island and Calf Close Bay were given to the Trust as his memorial. A plaque, unveiled by Ruskin, commemorating this is set into a wall beside the Friars Crag Path.

The curiously named Catbells undulates in the distance; the name is believed to come from the Old Norse ‘Cat Bields’ meaning ‘shelter of the wild cat’. It’s one of the Lake District’s most popular easy walks – on a summer’s day a steady stream of hikers can be seen wending their way along its spine.

Through the overhanging pine branches, the end of the lake shimmers in the mist towards the Jaws of Borrowdale, a rocky ravine leading into a beautiful valley of white-washed villages, high passes, majestic mountains and yet more lakes, tempting the visitor to explore yet more Lake District delights …