Void of Inspiration

Destination J

Posted on May 25, 2011 by Author

And here I am – safely in London! I went through a bit of a flight delay in Iceland but made it out OK. I met a lovely couple and a nice woman on the flight who were very helpful. When I arrived I met a lovely woman named Hadas who got me on the Heathrow Express for free and was too kind in helping me find the right lines on the Tube to my hostel. I cannot thank her enough for it would have been a long journey indeed! She did not have to go out of her way to help me but it was wonderful for Void’s sake that she did. There are such nice people in this world and I am fortunate enough to run into them time and time again. More updates to come, but for now, it is time to relax and get ready for the work day tomorrow.

Posted in Project | World, Project | Ellipsis | Tagged London, United Kingdom | Leave a comment

Time for the sun to go down

Posted on May 24, 2011 by Author

Here I am, on my last full day in Reykjavik, Iceland. It is by far the most wonderful location on my journey! No actual sundown has been experienced here and it is about time that I see some stars and a bit less volcanic ash – so on to London I go. Tomorrow, Void sets off for the UK to find some more inspiration. Some new paintings have been added to the Europe pages and when I find time, highlights of pictures will be added to Visual, as well as more to add to some of the other pages. Onward to the next island – can’t seem to get enough of them! This time at least, I will be able to take a bath without any sulfur in the water… or at least here is to hoping! On a bright note, the sulfuric water does wonders for the skin!

“The question does not come before there is a quotation.”

“This which was so kindly a present was constant.”

“What is the wind, what is it.”

“A cool red rose and a pink cut pink, a collapse and a solid hole, a little less hot.”

– Gertrude Stein, Tender Buttons

Lava doesn’t stop me

Posted on May 22, 2011 by Author

Min and I took an amazing tour on this sunny Sunday. There were only 6 of us on the tour so we were allowed to spend quite a bit of time in each location. I must admit, our guide was the best I have ever had the pleasure to experience. He was very informative and talked a lot about the landscape.

We saw the cod drying racks in the middle of the lava beds, the cod museum where they had an excellent exhibition and around the surrounding towns of Reykjavik. He drove us through the dried lava beds, explaining the years that they flowed through, adding some information about the local farmers whose land was covered by them and how the local towns came into development. He stopped at a shark meat drying shack where we all tasted a bit of shark (a bit salty) and a little of the schnapps that is made locally. He also brought a ton of bread with him and allowed us all to feed the horses on a local farm.

We saw all sorts of local hot springs where we played in the sulfur steam, walked down to the lovely lookouts on the shore and hiked across the bridge back to America. Yes, here you are able to walk from one tectonic plate to the other – so we entered America from Europe and back without a passport! On we drove to a glass blowing center where we saw a nice demonstration and picked up a few pieces as souvenirs, and last but not least we went to visit the great Viking ship that was uncovered in Vinland.

In order to complete our trip, he dropped us all off at the famous Blue Lagoon where we took a few hours to relax in the natural geothermal pool. Although I do not have pictures of actually being in the pools, you can only imagine how amazing they are! We floated around in the steamy pools surrounded by dried lava with silica mud masks on, eating ice cream and drinking Blue Lagoon cocktails. It was by far the most amazing experience ever!

On the way home we had to pass through the thick cloud of ash from Grimsvotn that had erupted the day before. Still no idea yet if I will be stuck on this island, but after being in the Blue Lagoon… well, I wouldn’t much mind another go!