Tölting on Icelandic ponies!

We arrived in Iceland after a mild delay in Helsinki. I say mild as though it was delayed by three hours, we were in no rush. We were prepared and outfitted with our own cross stitch patterns and a new crafty skill. Thanks Fammo. While it did pass the time and only cause mild eye strain headaches, it was apparently very distracting to other passengers. I have decided that there are a lot of closet cross stitchers who all have a story to share on a transatlantic flight. There are even those who dream of becoming closet cross stitchers, like the Japanese man sitting one row behind me who leaned over me shoulder humming to himself and giggling every time I completed an "x".

Iceland day 1:
After a late sunset kissed arrival to Reykjavik we checked into our guesthotel prepared for a full day of riding in the morning at Laxnes farm. The horses are known for their pack animal attitude and their 5 gates including the tölt, which is claimed to be so smooth you can drink a glass of wine while riding and not spill a drop.




















The landscape was absolutely amazing! No real trees but gorgeous tundra and the first bit of sun we had seen in a long while!

Note for riding tölt: Icelandic horses do not always ride in tölt and the 4 other gates are in fact still a bumpy ride. So be cautious with the wine if that is your mission.

By the end of our day we figured out how to get our horses into tölt most of the time with an occasional gallop.

The other thing I didn't fully comprehend was the extent of pack animals they were. These horses loved being as close to each other as possible. The would bump into each other rub on each other and clean each other. I kept expecting to get kicked by the neighboring horses as is my experience with other breeds. It was amazing how relaxed they are, and when they are tired they just laid down. Again to my surprise as I assumed if a horse laid down it was sick. Silly, ignorant me...

where have we been?

Ok, sorry it has been so long since our last blog entry. Since then we spent a couple days in Helsinki wrapping up, spent a couple days in Reikyavik, Iceland, pit stopped in Boston and finally arrived in Portland, Or about a week later. We have been back stateside for about two weeks and have been running around trying to pull together the last details for the wedding and going to school/working. I just like to think we work better under pressure.

So here's the plan quick catch up on the last of the trip and then we'll be caught up and focus on the festivities!

we might need to buy galoshes.

Sorry, no fabulous pictures today, the rain was too heavy to get any decent ones... maybe we'll find some older ones to post. Our adventure today was getting from Porkala, the island community where Cora's grandmother lives, to Helsinki via Ikea. This trip was surprisingly soggy.

After a fun handful of days with Fammo and Tetta, her sister, we decided it was time to get back to Helsinki to do laundry and see everyone who had requested coffee or dinner with us, the famous Americans. This is a picture of me dodging the paparazzi, since, you know, I'm a famous American. I'm not sure Tetta was excited to meet this famous American at first, but the morning after she picked us up rowing the boat (see below), she gave me a big hug and introduced herself. Phew!


We planned to leave in the morning after a run, but it was raining, so we decided to wait a bit. Seconds later the chimney sweep came by with Fammo's neighbor Gitti. Chimney Sweeps are a lot less musical and a lot more speedy than in Mary Poppins. No songs, not even a hum, and they were in and out in about 20 minutes after cleaning 2 chimneys. No popping up the chimney when the wind blows either, they work with ladders.

As thanks to Gitti for her help organizing the non-musical chimney sweeps, we decided to have some coffee and cake. However, I had so been looking forward to that run that Cora gave in and found a way for us to slip out for a quick run before coffee. The timing was perfect, the second we laced up our shoes, the heavens opened up, and between the short boat-ride and the short run, we were soaked for the first time today. The run was nice though... a beautiful country road that was only slightly hard to see with rain in the eyes. Thank you, Cora. After a much needed shower we had a lovely coffee, and Gitti was a lot of fun. We had a difficult time cutting her off, but decided we should make our way before the rain hit too hard again.

We made our way right as the rain hit too hard. To get to Fammo's you have to take a small, old, aluminum boat across an inlet from the parking area. The engine no longer works in reverse, which can make parking difficult, which is part of the reason Tetta prefers to row. Taking the boat back to the car, we could barely see through the pelting rain.

We were soaked to the bone by the time we got to the Merce, the 1982 Mercedes which is trying to hold it together as we make our way around Finland. The Merce, however, has a few problems.

First, the key no longer opens the passenger door, which was, until recently, was the only way in. Fortunately (?), Raz rolled down the back window a few weeks ago and it stubbornly refuses to go back up. We can push it up, but the motor piece is still down, so unless the car is stationary, it slides down. This happily means that we can get into the car by pushing down the back window. This also means that when we are moving, the window falls down on its own. When it's raining, it's a bigger problem. Also a problem in the blinding rain is when the windshield wiper on the drivers' side flies off dramatically, as ours did on our way home from IKEA.

Making it to Helsinki in one piece was no small feat. Making it out of IKEA with only what we went to buy may be equally grand of an accomplishment for the two of us!

Then we arrived...ahhh... and then the power went out. We called around, fidgeted with the ancient, European, breaker-box until we could no longer imagine a solution and settled in to wait for Cora's uncle to help tomorrow. Inexplicably, two hours later, it came back on. Typiskt?

The Perfect Day, Part III

This perfect day is so amazing, it bodes well for my typically stressful dreams... Check out this amazing sunset!! We looked up from our books and ran outside to see fish jumping all over the area I had been waterskiing over hours earlier, and the sun putting on the best light show we've seen yet. Since there aren't even enough fish to be able to buy them in the local market, this was quite remarkable on its own.

ps, we also saw a moose in the woods today! There we were, chit-chatting away on our bicycles when, all of a sudden, something came crashing through the woods. About the time we heard it, it heard us and we saw a Moose tiptoeing through a marshy area just beyond the trees, trying to make less noise so we'd think we were just hearing things. Just as we steadied the camera for a quick shot it gave up on tiptoeing and went on, crashing through the next wooded area. It was too covered to get a good picture then, but it was still pretty awesome.

pps, watching awesome sunsets over very still waters = lots of mosquitoes.

The Perfect Day, Part II

We rented 2 bikes at Bjarne's in Rosala and biked 8km to Hittis, the next village over. We cruised through the forest, over a bridge and into town thirsty and hoping for a little break. Sadly, the store we were so hoping would sell us vegetables had closed early for Saturday. A brief ride down the road and we found Cafe Kardemumma, and left some money for a Finnish lemon soda. It was an adorable cafe, and it seemed like they were having a grand old time in the backyard area with their small children.



We sucked down our soda in the Hittis Church yard and then walked around for a look. It's a beautiful church built in the 1700's, and like most churches on the coast, its beautiful and antique but still used, Lutheran, and has ships flying thorough the isles.


After getting a good look we headed back to Rosala to retrieve the boat and head home. Exhausted, I made Cora drive the boat back and we came home for a traditional Finnish meal of hamburgers, baked frozen french fries, and frozen green peas.

The Perfect Day, part I

Just as we were about to head to Rosala to ride bikes, I slipped into the water while trying to test the temperature. Since I was already wet... we altered our plans.



I shimmied into an old wet-suit and jumped in for the warmest and least windy day of the summer. The water was like glass. Thanks to my training in Austin (thank you Auntie, Uncle Vic, Gus, Elizabeth and my Mom), I got up on the first try and took a handful of spins around the space in front of the house. I tried to get up on one ski but it's been a little too long, and the boat was a little too little to compensate for the passage of time. Cora was a great driver too! It being her first time driving with a skier... I was only sad I couldn't let her go for a spin, perhaps another summer. After my legs and back could take it no longer, I swam to the dock, managed to get out of the very-stuck wetsuit and Cora and I went for a swim before continuing on with our plans. She even let me drive the boat!

Finally a sunset