The parrot is back from Iceland, half a pound lighter.
on 11/12/16 4:47 pm
Got back from Iceland a few days ago. Iceland in November, you say? Are you nuts? Well, yes I am. That's the "psychotic" part of my name. My husband and I went for a week in hopes of seeing the Northern Lights, a biggie on my bucket list. No Northern Lights due to the almost constant cloud cover, but the trip was worth it nonetheless.
We saw geysers, volcanoes covered in snow, glassy fjords, small Icelandic horses, and beautiful treeless landscapes everywhere. For those interested in astronomy, we were 66 degrees north, just under the Arctic Circle, and on the one clear night we had, I saw Polaris, the North Star, almost directly overhead. We also bathed in volcanic thermal outdoor pools in 40-degree air temps. It was wonderful.
But now to the important stuff -- the food. Iceland has a 40-day growing season, which means they must import nearly all vegetables and fruits, which means there aren't many of them and they're expensive. But what Iceland does have in abundance is fresh, succulent seafood, and I made the most of it. I had a minkh whale steak (tastes like beef), which means I won't be joining Greenpeace any time soon (the minkh whale, BTW, is not endangered, and is only eaten on occasion by Icelanders, with tourists like myself eating the majority). Gravlax, fish chowders, and broiled fish made up the majority of my diet there. I indulged a bit in Brennivin, Iceland's own liqueur, locally called Black Death. Yum.
I fully expected to come back to find I had gained a bit, given the Brennivin and the richness of the chowders. Imagine my surprise on my first-day-back-home weigh-in and found I lost 1/2 pound! I've traveled quite a bit this year (Nicaragua, a Canadian maritimes cruise, Iceland) and have either lost weight or maintained during my trips. The tried-and-true formula works no matter where I go -- eat high-quality protein first, supplemented by fresh, low-starch vegetables, and all will be well, even with a few indulgences here and there.
Beautiful Iceland
Terrain and architecture in southwest Iceland
The parrot in Reykyavik, already anticipating this evening's fish entree (and maybe some Brennivin?)
psychoticparrot
"Live for what today has to offer, not for what yesterday has taken away."
on 11/12/16 8:02 pm
Well, the Northern Lights stood me up in Iceland, so they're still on the list. I'm now playing with the idea of killing two bucket-list items at once next year.
There's a small town called Churchill in Manitoba, Canada, located on the Hudson Bay. Churchill, as small as it is, has a unique claim to fame. It's where polar bears gather in October, scavenging for food (including people, if they can get them****il Hudson Bay freezes over and the polar bears can move out of Churchill onto the ice to their winter hunting grounds.
Churchill has capitalized on this phenomenon by offering polar bear tours every October and November. They take tourists out of town in heavily fortified treaded buses to see the polar bears up close and personal. Details are on this site: http://www.everythingchurchill.com/experiences/polar-bears/.
Churchill is also far enough north to offer a ringside seat for the Northern Lights, which are also most active in the fall, by pleasant coincidence. Polar bears and Northern Lights -- what's not to love? But I have a lot more research to do before deciding on this location next year.
In the meantime, in August 2017 I'll be traveling with my brother and his wife to Oregon to check off a different bucket list wish. Oregon has been reckoned by astronomers worldwide to be the best spot on Earth to view the upcoming total solar eclipse in 2017. I've wanted to see one since I was a child, and my brother, who is an amateur astronomer with his own miniature observatory he built in his backyard, is panting to see this eclipse. They kindly included me in their trip arrangements. Another total solar eclipse will probably not occur in the U.S. in our lifetimes (we both in our 60s).
psychoticparrot
