Iceland

Our flight from Boston was delayed 2 hours but when we arrived at Keflavik Airport it was like early evening, then came the announcement " Welcome to Iceland where the local time is 1am!" A very expensive taxi took us to a local hotel where we crashed for the night.
28.05.15 We collected our rental and proceeded to tour the southwest tip of the island via the coast road with The Blue Lagoon as the ultimate stop. It was our 38th wedding anniversary so we had lunch in the gourmet restaurant (we had heard that food in Iceland was not great but this was excellent). By the time we finished, the queue had thinned out (at 50 euros per person the place must make a fortune) so we donned swim suits, painted our faces with volcanic mud and celebrated with some prosecco in the pool.
Civilised indeed:

After a short tour of Reykjavik we found our hotel, had a bowl of soup for supper and retired for the night.
Three quarters of the population live around the capital and the majority of attractions are within a 100 mile radius, the rest would require an internal flight or a minimum of 8 hours driving so we are staying within reach of Reykjavik. The main tourist route is the Golden Circle, nobody seems sure where the name originated but it takes in a variety of landscapes, mountain and volcano views and everything associated with geothermal activity.

 Advertised as more furious than Niagara the falls at Gullfoss are impressive.

The first Icelandic parliament (Alpingi) was formed in 930AD at Pingvellir which is now a National Park. It is a tranquil setting overlooking the lake and is also one of the sites where one can see evidence of the Eurasian Plate and the North Atlantic drifting apart (perhaps that's why they moved!). We are a little early for some of the grass to green up and the flowers to come out but it is beautiful nonetheless.

Spring across the Atlantic

The Swiss winter turned to spring seemingly overnight, no sooner had the snow melted and the valleys were turning green but we had planned a return to England where we spent 2 glorious weeks in West Sussex before 'crossing the pond'. It was with some regret that we finally sold our trusty Pajero. A strong and reliable car which has taken us many of the places mentioned in this blog, twice around Europe and all over Britain, through blizzards, rainstorms and intense heat.
A reliable transporter of wine as well!

It has been a while since we visited the Big Apple so we started our New England tour there taking in a Yankees game, a walk on the High Line and Ground Zero:

Then it was on to Connecticut to visit old college friends The Pearsons before driving to the mountains of Vermont and the lovely retreat of the Rands near Bridgewater. The pond and house.

The remainder of the trip took us to Rockport, Maine and back to Boston, the weather was a little dull so the photos are not worth sharing. It wasn't long before we were back in Bermuda, it's our favourite time of year here. I may have said it before and I still stand by it: for colour, for sand texture, for safety of access and shear beauty Bermuda has the best beaches in the world.

   

Morocco and Madrid

February 2015
In sympathy for our friends the Cooksons who live in England, where winter is not particularly pleasant  we booked a week of golf in Morocco. The first four days were on the outskirts of Marrakech and when we weren't on the course we went sightseeing: Pots for sale at a kasbah on the way to the Atlas Mountains.

Kasbah Tamadot

Leaving the red sands of Marrakech we drove through some fertile country to the coast to spend the last 3 nights in the Sofitel at Essaouira. The golf course was terrific and conditions ideal as it was not too hot. And of course the sunsets are sublime (it is Africa after all).

One of the great things about Europe is the proximity of so many different cultures and with low cost, one way flights it is easy to cherry pick cities, so we stopped in Madrid.
We love this city. It is compact, the architecture is superb with lovely parks, there are world class galleries like the Prado and Thyssen by day and the evening atmosphere, bars and restaurants are lively.
The Palacio Real: 

A new home

On December 15th we took possession of our new home Chateau Nomade, 6 weeks ahead of schedule!

Through the winter we enjoyed numerous excursions into the valleys and mountains of the Valais to snow shoe.

  
The Four Valleys ski area is massive, we live near Veysonnaz in the east and our daughter Ashley lives in Verbier at the other end. On some occasions she would ski over for lunch and a ski or we would drive to her for a meal.
Near the top at Veysonnaz:

Winter in the Alps is fabulous, lots of blue sky and not too cold. Snow this season was not plentiful (I think the northeast USA got it all!) but it was frequent enough to keep the slopes in a very respectable condition.
However, we still took a winter break.

Autumn

In mid September we flew to Pisa enroute to Radda in Chianti for a family wedding. Clare's niece Yolanda married Tom Stephenson from New Zealand in a civil ceremony. It was a small, intimate family occasion and we stayed at Villa Dievole, a classic vineyard/hotel estate in the Tuscan Hills just north of Siena.

We returned our rental car to Milan Malpensa and then took a bus to Stresa on Lake Maggiore for a night. It felt mandatory to take a water taxi over to Isola Bella before boarding the train back to Sion to check on progress on the chalet. The northern lakes of Italy can be very busy at times but we still like spending time there. Como is still the favourite.
Isola Bella

After returning to England it was time to head north to Scotland for the Ryder Cup at Gleneagles.

We took the opportunity to spend a day at Chatsworth House in Derbyshire before moving on to York for a visit to the Minster and the National Railway Museum. 

As Clare has family in Aberfeldy we always try to visit there and it was a perfect place to base ourselves for the drive down to Gleneagles. It was a great weekend to watch live golf and also the final day victory by Europe on television. Some of my walking friends had also made the trip up for the golf so we were able to revisit old times with a 9 hour walk to bag 2 Munroes on the Balmoral Estate.

 I have  wanted to take Clare to the Lake District ever since I passed through there in 1993 so we drove to Grasmere. It was about 4pm when we first set eyes on this lake, the light was beautiful and the next 2 hours around, up and over the hills was almost a religious experience it was so perfect. 

A gold star for the writer for romantic!

The builders were moving at pace on our new home so we took a short hop to the Alps to check progress and make some final selections. It was the first time we had been in the Valais in November and it is quite spectacular. The blend of colour on the changing leaves on the mountain trees with those of the vineyards along the valleys from the train was gorgeous. 

Chateau Nomade 

Hot summer

We returned to Switzerland again on our way back to England as negotiations to purchase a plot and build a chalet were advanced. The first time we saw the land it was covered in two feet of snow but we liked the location above Sion. It is close enough to the city for easy access and seven minutes drive to the nearest lift station, or we can set off walking right outside the front door. The views are gorgeous.

After a short time in Somerset we returned to spend 3 weeks in Bermuda, spring is lovely, not too hot or humid and the greens are in good shape!
By the time we arrived back in the UK the weather had improved significantly and it was the beginning  
of the best summer for many years and we played quite a few rounds locally, in Herefordshire and with the Bermuda Seniors Tour to Surrey and Norfolk.

Our friends The MacLeods have taken to sailing in a big way and for the second season we were invited onboard, this time in Turkey. Marmaris is not the cheapest place to fly to so the decision was made to incorporate Rhodes into the itinerary. The city of Rhodes is a hectic place in the summer but we enjoyed the Old Town and visiting the rest of the island by quad bike.

Travelling to Marmaris on the ferry is interesting. First one must by a ticket, then queue up for a boarding pass in the sun and once this has been achieved you queue all over again for passport control,
there must be a better way! All this was quickly forgotten when we arrived in Orhaniye to board the Aquila. Sailing in the Aegean south of the Datca Peninsula we found good wind and lovely places to spend the evenings: Bozburun, Bozukkale, Sarsala Bay and this little gem, known simply as the Buzbuku Yacht Club. A more tranquil and stunning setting would be hard to find, the water is crystal clear and provides welcome relief from temperatures over 40 celsius.

In contrast to these more remote landings the writer spent his 61st birthday at Yacht Classic, a beautiful marina in Fethiye, our hosts could not have chosen a better place to wine and dine. We returned to Marmaris for an overnight before catching the return ferry to Rhodes, Saturday night there is quite something, it's warm, it's colorful and busy and you will hear more foreign languages than anywhere we have been, including London.
The central and southern parts of Rhodes are very different to the north, big hills, pine forests and empty beaches are a stark contrast to the masses around the city. Our hotel was just around the corner from Lindos, a 'must visit' town on the island. Yes it is busy and hot but a walk to the acropolis is worth  
the effort. Throughout our time, with few exceptions, we found both the Greeks and the Turks to be very hospitable people, why don't they like each other?

    

Winter in France

After the dramatic time in India and Bhutan we returned to the UK for the month of December, to recharge the batteries, pay the bills and spend the Christmas season with family and friends. The long range weather forecast for our ferry to France was not promising, with winds over 50 knots predicted, so we opted for Le Shuttle and a drive to Switzerland instead. This gave us a few days together with both our girls, a rare opportunity these days, and we made the most of it over New Year before driving down to our rented accommodation in Neffies, Languedoc.

This part of France was blessed with a very mild, warm winter and we were thankful not to be in the floods in Britain during January and February. From our location there is much to do and over the 3 months we covered a large area, usually on day trips but in some cases for longer.

The first of these excursions was to Font Romeu in The Pyrenees, leaving bright sunshine at sea level we found ourselves in a heavy snowstorm which is interesting without snow tyres but we crawled into town and stayed the night as planned, the following day revealed a stunning landscape.

We played a few rounds of golf and took daily walks through the vineyards, up in the hills or along the Canal du Midi.

We also ventured into Spain, just a 2 hour drive to Cadeques on the Costa Brava, The Dali Museum
(highly recommended) in Figueres, various medieval towns in the region and Girona, well worth visiting.

Besalu is one of the old Catalan towns just north of Girona.

We were fortunate to have a number of friends visit for varying lengths of stay and we were able to show them a variety of places including: Carcassonne, Nimes, Montpellier, the caves at Roquefort,
Pezenas, Bezier and this little jewel at the border, Collioure. Famous for anchovies and Banyuls red wine  we liked it so much we went twice.

Neffies is conveniently located at the foothills of the Herault within a 30 minute drive of the Etang de Thau.  Perhaps our favourite circuit was to start in Meze for coffee and a walk around the port before a seafood lunch in Bouzigues overlooking the oyster beds, followed by a drive to Sete and the spectacular viewpoint of Saint Clair from where one can see down the coast towards Spain, up to Montpellier and across the Etang to the mountains of the Herault and the Pyrenees.

Every time we went the skies were blue and clear and you could see for miles.

Our French has improved, our appreciation of the food, wine and people of France has grown and we plan to return again soon. Special thanks to our hosts at Maison Dix, Erica and John. You won't find a better place to stay than at their house in Neffies.