Springing back to Iceland to see it in the green! COMPLETED 6/29 - Page 21 - PassPorter - A Community of Walt Disney World, Disneyland, Disney Cruise Line, and General Travel Forums
As of January 1, 2019, we have closed our forums. This is a decision we did not come to lightly, but it is necessary. The software our forums run on is just too out-of-date and it poses a significant security risk. The server software itself must be updated, and it cannot be without removing the forums.
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There are other changes as well.
Why? Well, the world has changed. And change with it, we must. The lyrics to "We Go On" for IllumiNations say it best:
We go on to the joy and through the tears
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It's time to move on and move forward.
PassPorter is a small business, and for many years it supported our family. But the world changed, print books took a backseat to the Internet, and for a long time now it has been unable to make ends meet. We've had to find new ways to support our family, which means new careers and less and less time available to devote to our first baby, PassPorter.
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I wonder if there's snow on the mountains there year round?
Depending on the elevation of the mountain it is very possible. Here in Montana we have some mountains that have snow 9 or 10 months of the year depending on how much moisture we get during the winter months.
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Waiting for our next adventure after enjoying our Alaska cruise. Jenn
Depending on the elevation of the mountain it is very possible. Here in Montana we have some mountains that have snow 9 or 10 months of the year depending on how much moisture we get during the winter months.
Ah... exactly what I suspected. I remember driving through Colorado in mid-September and there was snow on the mountains, but then again, they had their first sprinkling of the year literally the day before.
I hope you guys haven't had the snow that I've seen on Facebook in Colorado and New Mexico over the last couple of days - that's been really amazing to see!
Then we were back on the main road that runs around the country, and in the distance, we could see Reykjavik sprawling out in front of us. It was almost a culture shock, after the desolation we’d witnessed over the last couple of days…
In the distance, you could even make out the distinctive shape of the Hallgrimskirkja,Reykjavik’s distinctive church. Now at this point, it was about six or seven miles away…
See what I mean about a culture shock? It was just like being in any other city around the world.
We made our way over to our hotel, although we missed it the first time around, as there’s no obvious signage outside.
Now this was the one night I was a bit worried about. We’d been sent our room code already, but I just worried that maybe the code wouldn’t work, or something else, but the front room slid open when we arrived, so I thought we’d be traditional and ring the bell. The woman who came out to greet us explained that after 8:00pm, you had to use the code to get into the building, and it would also work on your room… on this
The room was smaller than I would’ve liked in terms of being able to open up the suitcases, but apart from that, it was fine.
It also had BBC1, which meant I’d be able to watch Doctor Who later on. We settled down in the room, but not for very long, as we were both getting hungry. We’d asked the woman on reception where was good to eat around here, but she just told us there were lots of cafés around. Ok… time to try TripAdvisor then. We didn’t want to go too far, and settled on Brasserie Askur, which had been on my shortlist for tonight.
It had a very wide ranging menu, and was only a half mile or so away from the hotel, so we headed over there.
When we arrived, we honestly didn’t think it was open, it looked all closed up, and it was only 5:00pm. However, we were to be surprised, as the whole time we were there, people were literally thronging in. We’d count groups of six or eight arrive, although there were only a couple and a family when we arrived. By the time we left, which was before 6:00pm, the place was getting really busy. It’s obviously very popular with the locals, which is always a good sign, and so it proved to be.
Oh my goodness, the couple that was there when we arrived! They were right behind us, and every so often, the guy would clear his throat and it honestly sounded as if he was choking. It was so off putting.
I’d picked this because it had a very wide ranging menu, so I figured there’d be plenty for both of us, but first drinks. I decided to try Fresita, which I’d never heard of before, but according to Google, it was a sparkling wine made with strawberries from Patagonia, and it was very nice.
For appetiser, I went for the deep fried camembert cheese with salad, toasted bread, and redcurrant jelly, and it was nice, but it was a little under cooked, so not all the camembert was cooked through, but it did melt easily enough when I went to eat it.
Mark had the bbq chicken wings with fresh salad and BBQ sauce:
For entrée, he went for the Askur Deluxe, a grilled hamburger with cheese, bacon, ham, iceberg salad, onion, bell pepper and Bearnaise sauce, and look at the size of this thing!
I had the seafood pasta, penne pasta with mixed seafood in a garlic-cream sauce, and I don’t think I’ve honestly ever had a seafood pasta with so much seafood in it. It was excellent value… well considering how much things cost here.
All in all, we were both really pleased with this as a choice, and we were glad we got here early, as it’s obviously a popular place, and with good reason.
Brasserie Askur
Appetiser 7½ 8½
Entrée 9 8½
Service 8 8½
Atmosphere 8½ 8½
Value for money 8 8
Average score: 8.30
On the way back, we passed the leisure area, including the swimming pool complex, botanical gardens (where I had thought of going), and the national football stadium. I tried my best to get some photos, but didn’t do too well.
We headed back to the hotel, and settled in for the night. We watched Doctor Who (of course!) and a bit more TV, and eventually headed to bed…
The weather today was dry and sunny, with just some light rain, and temperatures in the high 40s. The best thing today was seeing scenery that we were familiar with looking completely different. The worst thing today was the wind in places – it nearly took you off your feet! Today we tried taking the Golden Circle tour on our own in the spring And the result was it was much more enjoyable, taking it at our own pace and seeing it without the snow. There was so much more variety in the colour of the landscape and it was amazing to discover there were lakes in the national park! The most magical moment today was seeing the cows in the dairy.
Reykjavik did pop up in the middle of nowhere!! Those photos approaching the city remind me of coming into Vegas. Your hotel looks very interesting and dinner sounds like a winner!! The seafood pasta looks delicious!!
Reykjavik did pop up in the middle of nowhere!! Those photos approaching the city remind me of coming into Vegas. Your hotel looks very interesting and dinner sounds like a winner!! The seafood pasta looks delicious!!
Yes, Vegas is another good example of a city in the middle of nowhere...
Great choice for dinner. I suppose they have access to so much seafood so that makes it easy to fill the dish?! But annoying you had a cougher during dinner.
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Tanya
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Great choice for dinner. I suppose they have access to so much seafood so that makes it easy to fill the dish?! But annoying you had a cougher during dinner.
I'm sure that's the case. They have plenty of water to fish in, after all...
I hope you guys haven't had the snow that I've seen on Facebook in Colorado and New Mexico over the last couple of days - that's been really amazing to see!
Luckily we just had one day of rain to snow. It was big flakes with lots of water in them, but by the next morning it had stopped. We actually had a warm spring afternoon yesterday and had to run the ceiling fan in the bedroom over night due to stuffiness in the room. Welcome to spring in Montana.
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Waiting for our next adventure after enjoying our Alaska cruise. Jenn
The barn was pretty cool with your boys there! Such beautiful scenery you are seeing with all those amazing snow capped mountains! Your dinner looked very nice and glad you enjoyed it.
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October 6, 2017-Enjoying an amazing dinner at Victoria & Albert's with PP's Dot and Drew
My TR from my most recent trip is now underway. Includes: Universal Studios Florida, Disney World and Sea World Orlando Trifecta TR -Updated December 10th! TR is now COMPLETED!
Dinner looked good. I'll have to check the map to see how close it is to our hotel.
It is quite out of the way. It's near to the Hilton, but it's probably a mile or so out from the Hallsgrimka church. Actually... you might want to keep an eye on the Perlan. I originally wanted to eat there on this evening, but they're revamping it completely and we saw when we went there later in the trip (spoiler!) that they've got another restaurant going in there, I think, over the summer. It would certainly be worth checking out for reviews, as the view is spectacular from there.
Luckily we just had one day of rain to snow. It was big flakes with lots of water in them, but by the next morning it had stopped. We actually had a warm spring afternoon yesterday and had to run the ceiling fan in the bedroom over night due to stuffiness in the room. Welcome to spring in Montana.
So basically what you're saying is your spring is about as crazy as much of the rest of the country then? I know it's been about as variable in New England over the last couple of weeks, although I'm guessing Florida's now settled into its hot period!
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