Having family here has made for the trip of a lifetime! From the time we rendezvoused in Reykyavik to the time their flight departed from Heathrow, the journey with my dad, mom, and brother was a grand tour.

I'll begin by breaking down the trip into mini-series like segments, but prepare for two long entries!

Chapters of our trip:

Part I

Chapter 1-Reykjavik

Chapter 2-Paris

Chapter 3-London

Part II

Chapter 4-Carlisle

Chapter 5-Scotland

Chapter 6-Cambridge

Chapter 7-London (Take II)

Chapter 1- Reykjavik:

My flight to Reykjavik landed the night before the rest of my family so I checked into the home stay we had reserved, crawled into bed, and awoke the next morning to the best possible thing in the world, the arrival of my family! After a short nap for recuperation purposes, it was into the city for the afternoon. This included the trip to a outdoor swimming pool fed by natural hot springs. We began by eating lunch in the Pearlan and explored the city's sights. Unlike my last troll around Iceland, the weather was moderately kind, although a bit wet. Luckily the rain cooperated with our plans the three days we spent exploring Iceland. Following our day in the city, we drove to tour the Golden Circle- a similar path to my first guided tour around Iceland's natural wonders including stops at Gullfoss Waterfall, Geysir, and Þingvellir National Park. While rumbling down the motorways we passed a horse drive and became well acquainted with one of many unpaved, and lightly pockmarked roads. The next day involved a trip down the southeast coast of Iceland and more views of this truly majestic landscape. The first stop of the day was Seljalandsfoss, where my brother and I unknowingly skirted around behind the falls like Ewoks and hunted for cave dwelling trolls. While driving around the fjords and valleys we also passed Eyjafjallajokull glacier and the location of the volcano which caused such air traffic grief. Our farthest destination of the day was a town called Vik, the southern most village in Iceland whose main attraction was an incredibly beautiful black sand beach. The drive back was peppered with two more stops along the coastal cliffs and at Skógafoss. The only thing on the agenda for our final morning in Iceland was a relaxing dip in a beachfront, outdoor hot tub fed by natural hot springs.

Chapter 2- Paris:

From the desolately beautiful wonders of Iceland to the Parisian metropolis was quite a change of pace for our family adventure. However, our first night in Paris took us to fantastic French restaurant called the Les Enfant Perdus where we may have had the best meals of our lives. The next day we hopped on a bus to tour the sights of the city: the Paris Opera House, the Louvre, Notre Dame...By the time we got to the Eiffel Tower the skies looked as though they were going to fall down on us and soon enough we witnessed a torrential thunderstorm under the largest lightning rod on earth. The rain let up after a while, leaving enough time for a dinosaur hunt! I had known of an art installation of a t-rex near the Seine and had coerced my family into searching for it with me. After asking many confused Parisians (some of whom told us that we were a couple hundred years too late) we found the T-REX! The statue was smaller than I had imagined and someone was about to strangle me following the search. We concluded our second day in Paris with dinner and a trek up to the beautiful views of Sacre Coeur. Our third and last full day in Paris consisted of more busing around the city, taking a boat ride along the Seine, and exploring the Muséum national d'Histoire naturelle and Jardin des Plantes. To celebrate surviving the busy, busy city we wrapped up our stop in Paris by once again dining at Les Enfant Perdus where the dishes were once again a life changing experience.

Chapter 3- London:

A two hours ride on the Eurostar, under the channel, and we had made it back to London. As we traveled to our accommodations, the tube adverts promptly reminded us of the birthing excitement that we had missed while in France.The next few days promised for some relaxing shopping and catching up on lost sleep. Our first night in we visited a small country pub near Hampstead Heath for a few ciders and ginger beer. The remainder of our time in London was occupied by going to the Camden Town and Portobello Road markets. Most notable for my brother Kevin was a lengthy trip to Oddballs, the Camden juggling store.

To be continued...