http://www.travelingshoe.com/ en Copyright 2010 Mon, 04 May 2009 11:13:49 +0000 http://www.sixapart.com/movabletype/ http://www.rssboard.org/rss-specification On our way home to Reykjavik we stopped at Hrafnseyri, another important medieval power center and the birthplace of Jon Sigurdsson, father of Icelandic independence. After a visit to a nearby waterfall, we headed up into the mountains then back down through the fjords and on to the south. http://www.travelingshoe.com/2009/05/hrafnseyri.html http://www.travelingshoe.com/2009/05/hrafnseyri.html iceland Mon, 04 May 2009 11:13:49 +0000 Onundarfjordur is connected to Isafjordur by a 5-mile one-lane tunnel under the mountain. It was also where we stayed on Saturday and Sunday nights, and where we went bird-watching on Sunday evening. http://www.travelingshoe.com/2009/05/onundarfjordur.html http://www.travelingshoe.com/2009/05/onundarfjordur.html iceland Sun, 03 May 2009 11:09:30 +0000 The largest town in the Westfjords (clocking in at 4000 people) is centered around the fishing industry. Situated between two mountains, Isafjordur doesn't see the sun for seven weeks of the year. Fortunately it does in May, when we visited the local maritime museum and nearby coffee shop. http://www.travelingshoe.com/2009/05/isafjordur.html http://www.travelingshoe.com/2009/05/isafjordur.html iceland Sun, 03 May 2009 11:06:08 +0000 This fjord was the setting for much of the action in Gisla saga and was also important an fishing ground in the nineteenth century. http://www.travelingshoe.com/2009/05/dyrafjordur.html http://www.travelingshoe.com/2009/05/dyrafjordur.html iceland Sun, 03 May 2009 11:02:27 +0000 The farm at Vatnsfjordur was a major medieval center in the Westfjords, and many ruins remain of that time, including a long house and a huge cairn that was used to watch the surrounding countryside. http://www.travelingshoe.com/2009/05/vatnsfjordur.html http://www.travelingshoe.com/2009/05/vatnsfjordur.html iceland Sat, 02 May 2009 10:58:45 +0000 Next on our way west was the Archaeological field school at Reykjanes, where some of us swam and some of us wandered around the old farm. http://www.travelingshoe.com/2009/05/reykjanes.html http://www.travelingshoe.com/2009/05/reykjanes.html iceland Sat, 02 May 2009 10:52:48 +0000 On my last weekend in Iceland, the Medieval Studies MA program headed north to visit the Westfjords, led by our intrepid director Torfi. Our first leg in included a stop at the local sorcery museum and a night at a nearby farm. http://www.travelingshoe.com/2009/05/holmavik-kluka.html http://www.travelingshoe.com/2009/05/holmavik-kluka.html iceland Fri, 01 May 2009 10:49:14 +0000 My fifth trip around Iceland's Golden Circle was a blast, as my cousin Melissa was visiting and we got to see an extra amazing waterfall, Hljapafoss. http://www.travelingshoe.com/2009/04/golden-circle-5.html http://www.travelingshoe.com/2009/04/golden-circle-5.html iceland Sat, 11 Apr 2009 10:44:47 +0000 Andrea, Carl, and I finally made the trip to the Pearl on a beautiful early April Day. The complex, a Reykjavik landmark, contains everything Icelandic: a saga museum (complete with wax Snorri), two fake geysirs, great views, and bad ice cream. http://www.travelingshoe.com/2009/04/perlan.html http://www.travelingshoe.com/2009/04/perlan.html iceland Sun, 05 Apr 2009 10:41:21 +0000 Once more unto the ring: I finally took a trip around the Golden Circle with Elizabeth in March. Although it was my fourth time seeing Geysir and Gulfoss, it was great to get a new perspective on Thingvellir, shortly to become very important to me as part of my thesis. It was also nice to have one more chance to nail the elusive picture of Strokkur just as it erupts. http://www.travelingshoe.com/2009/03/golden-circle-4.html http://www.travelingshoe.com/2009/03/golden-circle-4.html iceland Sat, 21 Mar 2009 23:47:59 +0000 Though it's only a hour's walk from my house, I had never been to visit Reykjavik's lighthouse on the Seltjarnarnes peninsula before March. Elizabeth and I walked there on a cloudy afternoon, and I was pleasantly surprised by the refreshing openness of the area, a remarkably bare expanse within view of the harbor. http://www.travelingshoe.com/2009/03/seltjarnarnes.html http://www.travelingshoe.com/2009/03/seltjarnarnes.html iceland Fri, 20 Mar 2009 23:47:56 +0000 On Saturday, after some epic some organizing by Aidan, seven of us climbed into two Ford Fusions for a weekend trek through southern Iceland. After stopping at Skogafoss, we had lunch at Vik, which was the furthest my previous travels had taken me. We continued on through worsening weather to cross the glacial wastes below the Vatnajokull glacier before we reached Holmur, where we spent the night at a farm, and Hofn, the city that was our ultimate destination. On Sunday morning we retraced our path back, stopping at a glacial lagoon where we were momentarily blown under by a snowstorm, and then headed back to Reykjavik through Vik and past the waterfall Seljalandsfoss. http://www.travelingshoe.com/2009/03/the-road-to-hofn.html http://www.travelingshoe.com/2009/03/the-road-to-hofn.html iceland Sun, 15 Mar 2009 23:45:41 +0000 My next outing from Reykjavik, this time with my fellow Fulbrighters, was an unusual tour of the same region of southwest Iceland. It included a trip to the horticultural college at Hveragerdi, a visit to one of the most famous horse farms in the country, a really spooky ghost museum/haunted house on the coast, and a lovely meal at the home of a Fulbright alumna. http://www.travelingshoe.com/2009/02/fulbright-fieldtrip.html http://www.travelingshoe.com/2009/02/fulbright-fieldtrip.html iceland Sun, 08 Feb 2009 23:41:35 +0000 Back in Iceland in January, I took a great trip with Magnus Berhardsson, a professor from Williams and an Icelander, and his children on his person tour of the highlights of southern Iceland--including, of course, Geysir and Gulfoss. http://www.travelingshoe.com/2009/01/golden-circle-3.html http://www.travelingshoe.com/2009/01/golden-circle-3.html iceland Fri, 23 Jan 2009 23:37:44 +0000 The Chora Church, located on the edge of Roman Constantinople, was the last redoubt of the Byzantine leaders as the Ottomans broke into the besieged city. Fortunately the conquerors were content to merely plaster over the church's amazing mosaics and frescoes, which were uncovered and restored beginning in 1948. Although the church is quite small by Byzantine standards, its art puts it among the most glorious spots in the city. http://www.travelingshoe.com/2009/01/chora-church.html http://www.travelingshoe.com/2009/01/chora-church.html istanbul Wed, 07 Jan 2009 23:35:37 +0000