{"id":34283,"date":"2022-10-22T13:14:00","date_gmt":"2022-10-22T13:14:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/hrefna.com\/blog\/?p=34283"},"modified":"2023-07-01T13:17:19","modified_gmt":"2023-07-01T13:17:19","slug":"do-all-the-things-part-england","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/hrefna.com\/blog\/2022\/10\/do-all-the-things-part-england\/","title":{"rendered":"Do. All. The. Things. Part. England"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

[Photos taken 22 – 26 October 2022, posted online 01 July 2023. After a mostly miserable and fall-like June, we might get a week of nice weather starting tomorrow.<\/em>]<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The younger kids got two days of winter-break towards the end of October, so we decided to journey to England and say hi to (grand)dad, Shirley, and Anthony. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

I made the unilateral decision that Anna would not be traveling with us, since she was busy at university (they have four 12-week courses, followed by one 3-week group-work-course). Thus this was the first trip abroad with just Emma and Bjarki tagging along.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Saturday 22 October 2022<\/h3>\n\n\n
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Parked at Keflavik airport, which is terminally under construction. It was freezing outside, as evidenced by the frost on the ground. Brrr…<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<\/div>\n\n\n\n\n\n
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8 am sunrise in progress.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<\/div>\n\n
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We flew with EasyJet, they combine a non-insane departure time with decent prices.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<\/div>\n\n
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Hard to see, but the plane next to us was being de-iced.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<\/div>\n\n
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Up, up and away! Flying over Keflavik town.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<\/div>\n\n
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Looking towards Reykjavik, along the geological rifts.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<\/div>\n\n
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Whoa, greenery! What is this sorcery?!<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<\/div>\n\n
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We made it to Gatwick! Waiting for dad to arrive, as Gatwick is now charging people for pickups (There is a \u00a35 minimum charge for using the drop-off zones.<\/a>) and lingering is not allowed.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<\/div>\n\n
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Driving on the wrong side of the road!<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<\/div>\n\n
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Found (grand)dad!<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<\/div>\n\n
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Grapes in England?!?!<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<\/div>\n\n
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We made it!<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<\/div>\n\n
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We went out to dinner and Anthony joined us!<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<\/div>\n\n
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The other side of the table.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<\/div>\n\n
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Yum!<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<\/div>\n\n
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Emma and Bjarki were a little lost without their big sister!<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<\/div>\n\n\n

Sunday 23 October 2022<\/h3>\n\n\n
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In an attempt to get the kids to move a bit, and not just hang out in front of a screen all day, I took them to the newly opened Ninja Warrior UK Chatham<\/a> site.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<\/div>\n\n
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It’s combination of a ginormous bouncy castle, and obstacle courses.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<\/div>\n\n
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Found them.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<\/div>\n\n
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Bjarki taking a breather.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<\/div>\n\n
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The poor kids asked for mercy and a chance at some of the other activites.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<\/div>\n\n
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Motorcycle time.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<\/div>\n\n
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Checking out the obstacle courses, they got pretty hard rather quickly!<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<\/div>\n\n
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Bjarki moving nicely, until his injured wrists said stop.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<\/div>\n\n
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On they went.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<\/div>\n\n
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Yeah, that’s not going to work!<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<\/div>\n\n
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Finishing off with a game of air-hockey.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<\/div>\n\n
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Back at home-base it was time for Sunday roast!! <\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<\/div>\n\n\n

Monday 24 October 2022<\/h3>\n\n\n
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Toboggan-time<\/a>!<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<\/div>\n\n
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Bjarki and Emma being pulled up the hill.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<\/div>\n\n
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Coming down on the other side.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<\/div>\n\n
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For a little bit we were the only ones there, and they didn’t have to wait at all between turns.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<\/div>\n\n
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The elders being boring and not participating. Earlier that morning, Finnur had taken the train up to London to work at the Google office.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<\/div>\n\n
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Bjarki waving, while a group of people practice skiing in the sun.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<\/div>\n\n
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Snow made out of brushes!<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<\/div>\n\n
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Shirley and dad dressed up to go bowling (do bowls<\/a>?).<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<\/div>\n\n
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Finnur had taken the train up to London to work at the Google office, so it was just the three of us. We decided to check out the nearby playground, and found it in a sorry state.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<\/div>\n\n
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Aside from the kids being kind of too big for the equipment now, a lot of stuff had been removed, and nothing installed in its place.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<\/div>\n\n
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We walked the long way home, and spotted a squirrel.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<\/div>\n\n
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Looking towards the playground.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<\/div>\n\n
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Pretty autumn colors and lights.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<\/div>\n\n
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Prepping for a shopping trip the following day. Emma was wearing H&M size 154, and needed a size up. (Nowadays I’m buying 170 clothes for her…)<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<\/div>\n\n\n

Tuesday 26 October 2022<\/h3>\n\n\n
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In Bluewater<\/a>, the epic shopping mall.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<\/div>\n\n
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Customary refueling stop at Cafe Nero.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<\/div>\n\n
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The kids doing the tickles.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<\/div>\n\n
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H&M price tickets, the exchange rate is fascinating! Also, not everything I bought is available in Iceland (ISK).<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<\/div>\n\n
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We left these socks for our next visit.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<\/div>\n\n
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Walking to dinner.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<\/div>\n\n
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At a very nice Indian restaurant.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<\/div>\n\n
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They had this same photo in different colors on the walls.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<\/div>\n\n
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Anthony managed to join us again!<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<\/div>\n\n
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Father and son. The food was delicious! <\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<\/div>\n\n
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Walking back, we were reminded that Halloween was just around the corner.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<\/div>\n\n\n

Wednesday 27 October 2022<\/h3>\n\n\n
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Finnur getting a good-bye hug as he was about to take the train to London again. He would be finishing out the work-week in the UK, whereas we were returning to Iceland later that day.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<\/div>\n\n
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Group-photo as we were about to drive to the airport.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<\/div>\n\n
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Very English.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<\/div>\n\n
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Gatwick goodbyes!<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<\/div>\n\n
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Expert packing! (20 kg allowance).<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<\/div>\n\n
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Waiting for the gate to be announced.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<\/div>\n\n
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Want a self-help-book?<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<\/div>\n\n
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Our plane, being prepped.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<\/div>\n\n
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Bjarki passing the time.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<\/div>\n\n
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Up, up, and away, again!<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<\/div>\n\n
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No more greenery. Sigh.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<\/div>\n\n
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Off the plane. We drove home, found Anna still alive, and then life as usual kicked in.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<\/div>","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

[Photos taken 22 – 26 October 2022, posted online 01 July 2023. After a mostly miserable and fall-like June, we might get a week of nice weather starting tomorrow.<\/em>]<\/p>\n

The younger kids got two days of winter-break towards the end of October, so we decided to journey to England and say hi to (grand)dad, Shirley, and Anthony. <\/p>\n

I made the unilateral decision that Anna would not be traveling with us, since she was busy at university (they have four 12-week courses, followed by one 3-week group-work-course). Thus this was the first trip abroad with just Emma and Bjarki tagging along.<\/p>\n

Saturday 22 October 2022<\/h3>\n
\n
\"\"<\/a>
Parked at Keflavik airport, which is terminally under construction. It was freezing outside, as evidenced by the frost on the ground. Brrr…<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<\/div>\n

Read more<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[17,9,18],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-34283","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-hrefnas-family","category-uk-traveling","category-us","post-container col-md-12"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/hrefna.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/34283","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/hrefna.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/hrefna.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/hrefna.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/hrefna.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=34283"}],"version-history":[{"count":2,"href":"https:\/\/hrefna.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/34283\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":34352,"href":"https:\/\/hrefna.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/34283\/revisions\/34352"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/hrefna.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=34283"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/hrefna.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=34283"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/hrefna.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=34283"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}