Babble

On every holiday you should leave a few things undone, so you can come back again. So we didn’t visit every swimming pool in Reykjavík, just half of them. We didn’t travel much beyond the city and the Golden Circle. I didn't buy any Icelandic music, although I wish I had picked up something by the exquisite Ólöf Arnalds. I didn't venture ...

There are days, traveling as a family, when the stars mysteriously align and tourism works for everyone. Our second to last day in Iceland was like that. I’d lined up an itinerary to cater to everyone’s tastes: the adults wanted to see more of the city and learn something about Iceland’s history, the kids were along for the ride as long as there ...

Látra-Björg was an 18th C Icelandic poet who ran away from her life as a housewife in order to wander around the country on a sort of endless tea party. She brought gossip and left amusing poems, and was thus welcome wherever she went. Tempted to ditch it all and try the wand’ring minstrel lifestyle? Best bite your tongue. As Látra-Björg’s poems ...

What did the mother volcano say to the baby volcano? “I lava you!” Well, I thought it was funny. But for my older boy, vulcanism is no joking matter and lava is the stuff of nightmares. James is both obsessed with volcanoes and terrified by them. Naturally this meant we had to go and see the Volcano Show, one of Reykjavik’s more eccentric ...

If I were a whale, I’d swim away, fast, from any boat sporting the Icelandic flag. Iceland’s decision to resume whaling last year scandalized right-thinking mammals everywhere and flummoxed the tourist industry, which had just started to earn a decent wedge from harpoon-free cetacean-chasing.  But then I’m not a minke whale. These small ...

Iceland’s entire fleet of rental cars was spoken for, so the full-day excursion was our one chance to get out of the city and see the countryside. The boys and I were there on sufferance -- originally, the outing was only for the scientists. I’d like to thank the senior physicists who quietly rioted when first told that their spouses wouldn’t be ...

There must be plenty of ways to amuse yourself if you’re stranded for two long hours in a lonely ski hut at the foot of an Icelandic glacier with a handsome young French tour-guide. I was too busy to think of any. I was trying to stop Toby from hurling himself off the dilapidated balcony onto the portapotties perched among the sharp volcanic rocks ...

All the guidebooks and everyone who’d ever been to or thought about going to Iceland were unanimous on one point: we simply had to visit the Blue Lagoon. Nothing to do with a pre-pubescent Brooke Shields in a fig-leaf bikini. The Blue Lagoon (or Bláá Loni∂ in the local lingo) is the most dramatic open-air hot pool you’ll ever see. It sits ...

We got really, really wet in Iceland. Not because of the weather -- in fact, apart from some drizzle on the first and last days, we were lucky enough to enjoy what locals swore was the best summer in 35 years. Nope, we got wet on purpose. Hot pools are a way of life here. There’s one in practically every neighbourhood or tiny town, open all year ...

James quickly got the hang of this driving business -- “If you don’t want to stop, just keep your foot on the pedal” -- and proceeded at a stately pace around the course, which has working traffic lights, a gas station (very popular in spite of the shocking price of petrol!), and even a meandering one-way street. Another kid drove at snail’s ...