Caving and the Blue Lagoon - by Daya

Ready for the cave

We started out our adventure today by driving to a cave called Leiõarendi outside of Rekjavik.Unfortunately I haven't been feeling well the past week so I stayed behind with Ms. Elaine to write the blog post I have been desperately trying to avoid. I was hoping that there would be a gift shop nearby with a cafe to get so tea for my throat but this "tourist attractions" they call a cave is actually an intricate hole in the ground in the middle of no where. They happened upon this cave when the roof fell in and left a hole for an entrance which demanded our group to head out with flashlights, gloves and helmets. It sounds very safe and I thoroughly regret missing out. The group is supposed to be back in a hour so at minute 61 Ms. Elaine is starting up the engine and getting us to the nearest police station or Starbucks (whichever comes first). The tour guide said the some parts of the cave are 5 meters tall and other parts are only a half of a meter tall, this should be interesting for our 6 ft. plus friends James and Carl. 

Inside the cave, in one of the more constricted sections.

As we sit here marveling at the luxurious Icelandic landscape Ms. Elaine and I saw a rare and majestic butterfly which is our first sighting of any form of life. It's completely silent outside because there are no bugs to chirp, no birds to sing and no plants for the wind to blow through. I could even go for a coyote howl right now. But thankfully the group has returned and everyone has made it back safely.

The group, mostly, at the Blue Lagoon.

The blue lagoon was a decadent way to end our pilgrimage in Iceland.  We enjoyed the warm silicon enriched water which was milky white and rubbed white mud on our faces to exfoliate our skin and such.  The view was incredible and we saw that God's creations come in all shapes and sizes.

A day in Iceland - by Jake

Replica dress and spear from the Saga Museum

Today we went to several waterfalls and they helped me appreciate the beauty of Iceland and nature. I also can appreciate the hardships that the native Icelandic people went through when Iceland was first settled and that they go through every year in the winter and during volcanic eruptions because of the museums Saga, Eyjafjallajokull, and Skogar.

Behind the Seljalandsfoss waterfall

Saga was about vikings and showed how hard life was during the time of the vikings and helped me appreciate the time that I live in now. Eyjafjallajokull is the volcano that erupted in 2010 disrupting air traffic in Europe and that helped me appreciate not living in the shadow of a volcano. Skogar was more modern machinery from air traffic to sea traffic and land traffic and it helps me appreciate living below the arctic circle.

Anther shot from behind the Seljalandsfoss waterfall

A picture of the volcano visitor center sign...

Since the view of the volcano was obscured by clouds.

Skogafoss waterfall

Part of the automatic telephonic exchange from 1932.This exchange was closed in 1994, after 62 years of service. This was from the Skogar Museum.

 

1931 Ford Model AA which was used for postal delivery and passenger transport in the 1930's

The trip from Glasgow to Reykjavik - by Sarah

Flying into the airport in Keflavik

For once, I actually got eight hours of sleep. McLays Guest House was the best hostel we've stayed at yet- hot consistant showers, a full Scottish breakfast, rooms with lots of space, strong wifi, and wonderful accommodations. After a relaxing morning, we all loaded on the  bus for a ten minute long bus ride to the airport (the shortest bus ride yet).

On the ground in Iceland

Once checked in, Daddy gave me his final British pounds to spend on candy. Good candy. We flew two hours from Glawgow to Reykjavik and I spent the majority of the ride watching American Sniper and the other part of the time watching Walter Mitty, preparing for our exciting day long boarding down a volcano tommorrow.

On the way from Keflavik to Reykjavik

Anyways, I changed my mind; the hostel we are at for the next few days is now my favorite. It is only a short walk from a shopping mall where we had dinner and walked around until it closed at seven. Why, I don't know. We are all relaxing in the lounge now drinking tea, a great way to end the day.

Our hostel in Reykjavik

Castles Doune and Stiriling, and the Church of the Holy Rude - by Cole

Doune Castle, where a significant portion of  Monty Python and the Holy Grail was filmed

Today on the trip, we went to Castle Doune and learned many fun and interesting facts. For instance, we saw where the scenes from Monty Python were filmed. Will, James, and I saw where the people who lived in the Castle used the restroom. As we walked through the castle we stumbled upon a stairway up to the roof where we had a spectacular view of the grassy planes.

The courtyard of Doune Castle. The staircase in the middle is where Lancelot(John Cleese) runs up while killing many guests to save what he thinks is a damsel in distress.

Some of us went to the gift shop and got some souvenirs and chocolate or lollipops. We shared our sweet treats with each other. One of us in particular had a weird experience. Joe asked if he could have some of Elise's lollipop, he slobbered all over it and left Elise scared to take her next lick. Castle Doune was by far one of my favorite places we have gone to.

The Church of the Holy Rude, where rude is another word for cross

After Castle Doune, we went to the church of the Holy Rude which had some very nice stain glass windows.

The original 500-600 year old beams in the roof, and a sample of the beautiful stained glass in the Church of the Holy Rude.

Then we went to Sterling Castle where they had very cool architecture. As we went to our hotel there was a brawl with James, Carl and I which was a very funny experience. This concludes our very interesting day in Sterling.

The main living quarters of King James V and subsequent monarchs.

Inside the impressively large Great Hall

A Trip to Iona - by Elizabeth

Loch Ness on our way to Oban. Unfortunately, no Nessie sightings.

Today we started our day with a 4:15 am wake up call. Soon after waking up we headed out to the bus and were on our way to catch a ferry to Iona. Most everyone slept like a sloth on the 4 hour long bus ride. When we finally arrived in Oban, we then had to catch an hour long ferry to Mull.

Looking back at Oban on the ferry to Mull

After we arrived in Mull, we then proceeded on a jam packed bus ride that took us through many twist and turns to arrive at yet another ferry!

On the Island of Mull

After waiting in lines that seemed to never end, we finally made it to Iona. Only, there was a problem. Over half of our group was missing! We figured out that they had just been farther behind us in the line to get on the ferry, so we decided why not have some fun as we waited for them to arrive. While we were waiting, we went and played in the ocean, slipped on grass, climbed on rocks, collected memories, and had a picnic lunch When the other group arrived, we went on with our adventure to the Iona Abbey. While walking there, we passed through private property walking past baby cattle and mama cows. We had to be careful of our surroundings and watch out for the poop.

Highland Cattle

While up in the abbey we saw so many wonderful and breath-taking views, and not to mention the interior of the abbey.

Iona Abbey

All was the same coming back home, it just seemed to by much slower. Going to bed was easy for everyone, especially because we had the whole hostel to ourselves! June 20th was filled with many adventures and memories no one was ever going to forget!

Deacon Karen and Mother Marilyn at Iona Abbey

Aberdeen and Inverness - by JJ (Now With Pictures!!)

The inside of St. Andrew's

Yesterday we rode a lot of buses. We rode from Edinburgh to Aberdeen and saw Saint Andrews chapel. Saint Andrews had a lower ceiling than most of the other cathedrals. It was also mush newer than all the other castles and cathedrals that we visited. Of course, in the UK, new means it was built in the early 1500's.

The beautiful cross hanging from the ceiling

 I noticed that in the UK, 500 miles is a long distance, and in America 500 years is a long time. Still, the cathedral was not in new condition, in the front left corner there was a spot where the ceiling was falling apart. There was also a hole in the floor about the size of my fist. the tour guide also hinted that it didn't follow all the regulations for safety.

After having the building not collapse on us for about one and a half hours, we had to get out of the church so they could prepare the church for a wedding. We broke into small groups for lunch in Aberdeen after that. We went to a small pizza place, and one of the kids bought twelve inch pizza for himself. Went we had to leave due to a time crunch, he wasn't finished yet. So he just took the last piece of pizza with him.

The tablet inside Marischal College noting the spot near where Samuel Seabury was consecrated

As we were crossing a road, a seagull swooped down from nowhere and snatched it out of his hand. We then rode the bus again to Inverness, and went to bed early. We all woke up a 4:30 today so that we could see Iona. None of us saw Nessie on the ride to the ferry.

Robert the Bruce

Durham to Edinburgh

Durham to Edinburgh

This morning we woke up in a nice hotel in Durham. It was a lovely overnight stay. Beds were plush. 2 or 3 people per room and showers for every room. It is the only hotel stay of the pilgrimage. We booked it because there is no youth hostel within a reasonable distance that had space.

The broken TV

In the middle of the night three of our boys were awakened by a crash as a television fell off the wall and landed on one boy’s bed and a table corner. The television was mortally wounded and the boys were fine. This is the only place where there even are TV's on this pilgrimage. It was quite the topic of conversation, so we had a poetry contest to describe the event.

The winning poem was penned by Cole Callihan:

You have heard of the things that go bump in the night

and to see most of them, you might need a night light

but the one that we encountered was a little bit interesting

As it was in a different area and also very frightening

the television jumped and leapt off the wall

Crash was the sound that was heard by all

Awake and startled, we went over to look

by the sound that caused tristan's bed to shook

lying on the ground was a giant flat screen

this terrible sight that caused us all to scream

half-asleep and stretching out, we could barely function

and we knew that we would be blamed for all this destruction

"Let's clean up and make sure that we are spiffy,

then lets take our stuff and get out in a jiffy"

The plan sounded good so we did comply,

and then we convinced everyone that we did not lie

the maintenance man trusted us and believed our tale

 

Youth on Hadrian's Wall

so after everything was over were not sent to jail.

After a fabulous Full English Breakfast we left for points north. We stopped briefly at a section of Hadrians Wall. This wall used to stretch 80 miles from the East to the West coasts of the UK. It was built by Rome to protect the Northern edge of the Roman Empire back in 122AD from the wild Pict folk. 10 feet wide and 10 feet tall, it made for an imposing barrier back in the day. The part we saw remained about 4-5 feet high in spots. Amazingly the concrete that held the old wall together  was still holding fast. 2000 years of walking and weather have not destroyed the wall completely.

Further north, we stopped at the Holy Island of Lindesfarne.  This was a lynchpin in the Celtic story thread for the pilgrimage, Lindesfane was and remains a significant site of pilgrimage. Lindesfanre was started by Aiden who was sent from Iona. There is plenty to learn about both. Almost everyone took the hike from the bus parking lot to the castle. Some made it to the Priory as well. With the stories of St. Aiden and Cuthbert fresh in our heads it was possible to imagine life in the 700’s. Wild, hard, meager but manageable until the Vikings arrived.

After leaving Lindesfarne we continued north into Scotland. And ended our day in Edinburgh with a tour of the castle and dinner.

Juliet in Edinburgh Castle

Rev. Judi inside Edinburgh Castle

Fred and Tena inside Edinburgh Castle

Each morning we are on the bus we pray morning prayer. When possible we also share evening prayer before leaving the bus. Each day is filled with thoughts of loved ones and supporters back home. More flathead photos will be up soon. They are scattered over many cameras.