Icelandic

Bazflyers think the Icelandic language must have some of the most unpronounceable place names on the planet. At least it seems like that for a monolingual touring Kiwi. Fortunately, most Icelanders are not monolingual and seamlessly transition between their own colourful tongue and English. When asked they are ever willing to assist with Icelandic pronunciation of place names. 

We quickly assimilated that any word ending with "foss" was related to the name of a waterfall of which there are many. Here is a photo of Gullfoss.

Pingvellis ( pronounced 'Thing-vellis') is a UNESCO World Heritage site and location of the longest running Parliament in the world. It is also a memorable geological landscape.

Geysir is actually the source for the English word "Geyser" and is pronounced precisely the same. An English word right out of the Icelandic dictionary....!

Reykjavík

"Reykjavík is the world's northernmost capital of a sovereign state. The Bazflyers together with our friend Bill flew Icelandair B757 out of Glasgow and two hours later landed at Reykjavík's impressive new international airport. In fact as we are discovering there is much to be impressed about Iceland. For example at this time of the year daytime lasts for 24 hours.

Impressive by any standards is the Harpa. An architectural masterpiece situated on the  Reykjavík waterfront and serving as a concert hall and conference centre. 

Then there is the Hallgrímskirkja, an inspirational Lutheran church. Construction began in 1945 and took 22 years. Situated in the centre of Reykjavík, it is one of the best-known landmarks and visible throughout the city. 

Also SOLON has a shop....now that's seriously impressive!

Then there are the many corrugated iron clad buildings.....

.....and the scenic harbour.

Strandarkirkja

The Bazflyers are touring in Iceland. On our drive from Reykjavik to Nonni's B&B at Hella, we spied a solitary church in the distance sitting all alone on the south coast of Iceland. This turned out to be the beautiful Lutheran church at Strandarkirkja often referred to as the 'miracle church' in Iceland.

The church's story is that one night a group of sailors were attempting to navigate back to Iceland in a storm. The southern coast of Iceland is notorious for its hidden reefs and rough waters. The distressed sailors prayed to God for a safe return and vowed to build a church wherever they landed. When they ended their prayer an angel, seemingly made of light, appeared before their bow. The angel guided them through the rough surfs and led the crew into a bay where they made a safe landing. The sailors, made good on their promise building a wooden church at the site and named it Strandarkirkja.

Strandarkirkja is reputed to be one of the richest churches in Iceland from the donations of locals and other people hoping to have their prayers and wishes realised.

 

York

Last night turned into an early morning, or perhaps more correctly, a late morning. In the company of Kate and Bill the Bazflyers deferred sleep last night to watch the UK election results unfold on TV. Some limited sleep ensued and then with everyone satisfied with the election outcome it was a jaunt down the old Roman road to the city of York.

York was founded in 71AD by the Romans and named 'Eboracum'. In the Middle Ages it was an important wool trading centre and seat of the northern Church of England. The latter is represented by the Minister that still today presides over the city. Constructed in stages over a period of about 200 years the York Minister is one of the great cathedrals of the world and the largest gothic church in northern Europe. It is impressive...!

The Bazflyers have been to York on at least two previous occasions. However, any visit to York is not complete without walking through the 'Shambles' a maze of twisting, narrow lanes that make York so charming. These are arguably among the best preserved medieval streets in the world. Now which Bazflyer on a solo mission got lost and had to use GPS technology to find the designated meeting spot...?

    York Minister

   In every way the Minister is a most impressive structure

   Some of the many 'buskers' in the city

   The Shambles

Moving On

There's the saying, "all good things eventually come to an end," and so did the Bazflyer's time in Turkey.  The move to our next destination involved three flights, three time zones, eight hours warming airport seats and an hour forward into summer time. The sight of Kate and Bill waiting at the small Humberside airport terminal was a welcome relief after the interrogating scrutiny of an officious female from HM Customs. Instinct kicked in dictating this as one of those occasions for strictly "yes" or "no" responses.   

If it hadn't been for Anzac it is doubtful we would have ever visited Turkey. We now know what we would have missed. A modern Islamic country built upon ancient civilisations. Turkey shares boarders with no less than eight countries the security of which probably underpins the expansive network of newly constructed motorways cris-crossing the countryside. Even small rural airports we encountered had military length runways. Makes a whole lot of sense...! 

We were not prepared for the sight of high snow covered mountains, expansive fertile plains supported with ample water reticulation, geothermal power generation and examples of stunning modern architecture. Turkey clearly has many challenges ahead but given the optimism and commitment of its people the country stands as a jewel among its neighbours. 

Cappodosia

Last evening the Bazflyers arrived in Cappadocia. The region contains several underground cities largely used by early Christians as hiding places before Christianity became an accepted religion. The underground cities have vast defence networks of traps throughout their many levels. What a surreal landscape....!

Very early this morning we surrendered ourselves into the skilled hands of hot air balloon pilot Haran Yildiz. With safety briefings out of the way Haran skilfully flew us over the unique Cappadocia moonscape. There was no evidence of any wind in the early morning air. However, like magic Haran deftly controlled the burners to vary our altitude intercepting invisible air currents that enabled us to drift approximately 5 km. At times the balloon's basket almost kissed the ground while at other times we enjoyed an overarching vista. Haran advised the maximum height we attained at one point was 2000 feet above the ground. His final act was to land the basket softly onto its road trailer.

The flight was also a giant spectacle with over one hundred multi-coloured hot air balloons all in the air together. Definitely a great big wow...!

Pamukkele

Last night was spent at Pamukkele an historic centre famous for fine wool and cotton textiles as well as the site of the ancient Greek and Roman settlement of Hierapolis. Standing among the ruins of this city the Bazflyers tried to imagine how impressive it must have looked to visitors in the 2nd and 3rd centuries. Situated on a high terrace overlooking a great and fertile valley flanked with snow covered alps. Still today the valley grows some of the worlds finest cotton?

Hierapolis also sat on top of a natural thermal spring system that provided the city with an endless supply of hot water. The water from these springs flows down the side of the high terrace and its high calcium content has whitewashed the slopes over thousands of years to create a surreal white landscape. The effect is nothing short of stunning. History records the calcite deposit being a feature of ancient Hierapolis and it remains an attraction still today. In Roman times the hot springs were used for wool production.

 

    White terrace on which the ancient city of Hierapolis was sited

    Pamukkele and the wide furtile valley