Alsguth Travel Blog

 Today we had a bus tour.  This tour showed us the place where the tectonic plates of North America and Eurasia come together, a lovely water fall, a geyser and a volcano crater.  Some pictures ... This is the plate tectonic space.  Also in this region, starting with the Vikings back in the late 900's they held an annual conference at Law Rock where they read 1/3 of the law each year.  The details are interesting but WOW - that is a long time ago! Iceland has a lot of Geothermic energy and flowing water - those two things combined supply all the energy needs of the entire country.  They are 100% renewable!  Also, they have 2 water systems into the homes, one is glacier-clear cold water (so delicious!), the other is HOT water from the geothermic "systems".  So, they get much of what they need from Mother Earth. This is Gullfoss - a waterfall.  Icelandic Horses are specific to Iceland.  They are shorter and have a different coat than the h...

 Hello~ We had an adventure getting to Reykjavik - a change in flight on Friday, delay of flight from Newark to Reykjavik... but we finally arrived at about 9am local time.  The overnight flight is only about 5 1/2 hours so there is not a lot of time to sleep.  But, we must carry on. We dropped our luggage off and started to explore the city.  Here are some of the sights: This is our street, in a walking district, our place is at #40 on this 106 block long hop-scotch!  Super fun! Just some random architecture. Church Hallgriskerkja - built 1945-1986 Georgia Boys Choir getting ready to rehearse View from the top of that church. The bells chimed while we were up there (they go off every 15 minutes).  The gleaming steel sculpture on  Reykjavik’ s splendid waterfront that resembles a Viking long-ship is the  ‘Solfar’  or ‘ Sun Voyager .’  The artist Jon Gunnar Arnason created the striking landmark. It was a long day of walking (about 4 miles...

On Wednesday, We went to see Little Shop of Horrors; slightly off-Broadway.  It was super!  Skylar Astin (he was Jesse in the first and second Pitch Perfect movies) was the main character Seymour.  There was a woman who had placed in the top 3 of American Idol in the little chorus group - she was super as well.  It was a great play to go see! We also went to the American Museum of Natural History and y'all -  if you like dinosaurs or have a child or grandchild that does - you MUST try to go there!  It was overwhelming!  We have a very good museum in Houston with dinosaur fossils, etc but this was an entire FLOOR - they have half a million artifacts/fossils! Here are some pictures I have at least one little cousin who could tell you all about these pictures and act as quite the docent - I will just leave it at that. So - now a look ahead -  Tomorrow we will fly to Reykjavik with my Mom and Dad and my Aunt and Uncle.  We will have 3 days in Rey...

 Hello! The clouds and rain finally moved out and it was a beautiful day in NYC!  We had tickets to Top of the Rock (the observation deck on Rockefeller Center) so that is where we begin.... The entrance to Top of the Rock is right around the corner from Radio City Music Hall. The neat thing about the TOR is that you can see the Empire State Building (with One World Trade Center in the background) And Central Park It is more fun with friends! Lifetime friends! Prometheus (in Rockefeller Plaza) After the observation deck we wandered through Bryant Park.  It was lovely but very crowded.  All the New Yorkers were out enjoying the great weather! Why was there not a line to play on this piano?????  Of course I had to try it! Grand Central Station The New York Public Library Times Square Central Park By the time we finished relaxing in Central Park we were tired!  We figured out that we have walked more than 50 miles so far on this vacation.  Our feet/legs a...

 Hi!  We decided to add NYC onto the end of this cruise/trip.  So, we found a cheap flight to NY and here we are! The skies have been a bit overcast and it has tried to rain on us but we have already seen a lot in just 3 days. Some highlights: We bought a 7-day pass and are using the buses and subways extensively.  It is pretty easy really.  If you go the wrong way simply get off and reverse direction or try again!  Also, Google Maps shows you exactly where to get on what bus and the stops you are passing to get to your destination. We are staying in Brooklyn - we took a nice walk on the Brooklyn-Heights Promenade.  It offers great views of Manhattan. A quick trip to Wall Street to see the "Bull". This is the "Fearless Girl" - she stands in front of the New York Stock Exchange.  This little statue was commissioned by State Street to encourage corporate Boards to elevate more women to their executive suites and boards.  It has been statistical...