Europe Archives • Wandering Curiosities

November 23, 2018

Bodysgallen Hall and Spa: A National Trust Hotel

Staying in a National Trust Historic House Hotel is something that I would have thought my parents would love. Not so much myself. It didn’t feel like the first a place a 28 year old would like to stay. Especially someone who apparently falls into the millennial bracket of ultra modern or nordic simplicity.

Bodysgallen Hall and Spa

A 17th Century House that has been restored in Llandudno, Wales. It has been a National Trust Property for 10 years now. It is a hotel that has fallen though space and time, but in a really good way. Bodysgallen Hall may have not been decked out in all the mod cons but the service was beyond exceptional.

There is something special about National Trust properties. They are naturally steeped in history and we love exploring them and there grounds. (For Christmas last year we were bought year long passes for the national trust) Bodysgallen Hall is no exception, the grounds and building are beautiful. There are 31 beautifully decorated bedrooms over the main house and outlying cottages.

The furniture was antique which lead honestly not for the comfiest night sleep I’ve ever had but it was worth it to just stay in such a beautiful setting! There was a fresh bottle of water (not in plastic) and some home made shortbread waiting for us in the room too. No tea and coffee tray but if you give reception a call they’ll bring up a fresh brewed pot free of charge.

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Bodysgallen Hall also, as it names states has a Spa. I didn’t have any treatments but I did try out the pool, sauna and of course jacuzzi. We went at 3pm on a Saturday and the pool was empty! Perfection. Greeted by friendly staff with towels on hand. The ladies changing room had hair dryers and straighteners as well, making for easy changing if you weren’t going back to your room to freshen up for dinner.

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The next morning we had a lovely breakfast cooked for us in the restaurant. The staff even remembered my request from the pervious evening of dairy free and brought out a tub of ‘dairy free’ butter. Just them touches that are special. Check out was 11am, so we didn’t feel rushed after breakfast. We went and packed our bags, then went to explore Llandudno.

Now Bodysgallen Hall and Spa isn’t the cheapest place to stay but it was worth it for a special occasion.

Bodysgallen Hall and Spa
THE ROYAL WELSH WAY, LLANDUDNO, NORTH WALES LL30 1RS

February 8, 2018

Is It Worth Going On An Organised Northern Lights Tour? – Iceland

One of the many things Iceland is famed for is the chance to see the northern lights. The aurora borealis. They are elusive and notoriously difficult to predict, but they draw 1000s of tourists every year to Iceland on a hunt for these magical lights.

Spoiler alert: We didn’t see them.

So is it worth going on an organised tour to hunt for the northern lights?

Kind of. Hear me out on this will you.

Aurora the greek goddess of Dawn, it makes sense when you think about it. Dawn brings the light. Aurora Borealis. The Northern Lights are inspiring and captivating. They say seeing them once is never enough.

What Causes the Northern Lights?

My non astro physicist, GCSE science explanation is: The sun throws out solar flares (think of the sun been sick), these travel through space on the solar winds and hit Earth magnetic field. This is where the particles from the solar flares interact with the gases in our atmosphere. These then appear as the northern lights. Green most commonly seen is the interaction between these gasses and solar particles with oxygen, other gases such as nitrogen produce different colours.

If you want a elegant more technical explanation you can check out NASAs website.

Icelandic Mythology say the Northern Lights can predict the weather; if the lights are still in the sky there is good weather ahead, if the lights are dancing there are storms coming. Also more obscurely, if a pregnant lady looks at the lights while in labour the baby will be cross eyes and if she does not look at the lights she will have a painless birth.

Hunting the Northern Lights on an Organised Tour

This is where things get interesting of sorts. So our holiday had 2 tours included and one of these was a Northern Lights hunt. They call it a hunt because there is no guarantee you will see them. (If you don’t see them many tours will take you out again for free the next chance there is).

I’m going to be honest here, I was a little disappointed. In my head I expected to go with a small group of people into the country side miles away from no where and have this ‘romantic’ hunt for the lights. It most definitely was not that. We got on a coach, drove around an hour outside of Reykjavik to a golf course. It just happened that this was the choice of the evening for multiple companies and 10+ other coaches turned up too. Thats a lot of people in one area. You’re looking at close to 600 people. All looking for the Northern Lights.

The location wasn’t necessarily a bad one, there was a church to one side and they had some huge flood lights which made it difficult to see the night sky. (You can see in the bottom left of my picture the light bleeding in)

Even though there were lots of people around we managed to bag a spot away from the crowd and I set up my tripod and camera. And patiently waited.

We stayed in the location for around 3 hours, the clouds parted a few times and I managed to get some lovely pictures of the milky way but no elusive lights. I was expecting to go to a few different locations in one evening hunting the lights. But I guess that this would have been difficult with a coach load of people. More so that some people got fed up after an hour and went to sit back in the coach.

Is Worth Booking an Organised Northern Lights Tour?

So I guess is an organised tour worth it? I’m sticking with kind of. If you don’t have your own car then yes, the tour will take you to a relatively dark area which has a good chance of a clear sky. The staff will check the weather and take you to where they think is the best spot to see the northern lights. There is no guarantee though. You literally are at the mercy of the solar gods.

If you have your own car, I would recommend going hunting by yourself. The Icelandic Met office has its own website that tracks the solar flares and cloud cover so you can have the best chance of seeing the lights. But ultimately you need to remember a few things, 1. you need to be patient 2. there is no guarantee you’ll spot the northern lights and 3. get away from all light pollution.

May the luck of the Norse Gods be with you.

You can read about my other Icelandic adventures here

February 7, 2018

Is It Worth Visiting The Perlan Museum? – Reykjavik, Iceland

Sat on top of a hill less than a mile outside of Reykjavik is the Perlan Museum, housed in a huge glass dome, the Perlan is hard to miss. It has been undergoing a renovation over the last couple of years and is now open to the public again.

On our last day in Iceland the weather really took a turn for the worse and between gale force winds and heavy rain we decided that a museum day would be a good idea. Especially as we went to Hallgrimskirkja on our first day in Reykjavik all ready. I had read about the Perlan Museum and it’s observation deck and as I’m a sucker for a good view. I decided that we must visit.

Now the Perlan runs a free shuttle bus from outside the Harpa Concert Hall, this is near the Sun Voyager sculpture. There is a bus every half an hour and it is easy to find. It is covered in Perlan Museum branding. It is a short ride to the museum, once inside you can either pay to enter the museum and ice cave, the observation deck or just go to the restaurant or cafe on the top floor.

We choose to visit the ice cave and look around the glacier exhibition, also included in this price was the observation deck.

The ice cave was one of the best parts of the museum, at -10c it mimics an actual ice cave that can be found on a glacier only much colder. You are given a guided tour around the maze of tunnels by a member of staff that is clued up about all things ice cave related. The tour was in English and there was around 10 of us went into the cave. We spent around a quarter of an hour in the ice cave and this included time after the guided tour to wander around and take any extra photos we wanted too. There was also a warm fleece jacket that you could wear if you felt like your coat wouldn’t keep you warm enough. Do we warned though after 10mins my camera decided it hated the cold and stopped working until I came outside and warmed up.

The views from the Perlan observation deck are pretty impressive, even on a day where the weather was against us. 360 degrees around the glass dome roof gave us views that took our breath away. I can only imagine what it would of been like on a clear day!

Cost

An Adult Ticket is 2900isk (approx. £20, $28)

A Teenager Ticket is 1450isk and Children under 5 are free

There is also family ticket for 5800isk which covers 2 adults and 2 children/teens

Is it worth visiting the Perlan Museum?

Even though it is not a cheap activity, yes I think it is worth visiting the Perlan. The ice cave tour was guided and the ticket price also included the observation deck, 360 degree views over Reykjavik are amazing even more so if the weather isn’t blowing a gale. In 2018 new exhibitions are also set to open and these look really good. So if you are torn and not sure about paying £20pp I’d say go for it, especially if you are going when the new planetarium opens Fall 2018.

February 5, 2018

Finding Amazing Street Art in Reykjavik

Something that I wasn’t expecting to find in Reykjavik was amazing street art. Everything I read about Reykjavik never mentioned all the colourful art all over the city. Independent stores commissioning murals for their walls, public art seems to be a big deal around these parts. I wish Leeds and Wakefield had more public art work. It not only adds colour to the city but also adds to its personality.

I wish we had spent more time in Reykjavik it’s self so I could hunt down all the street art in the day light.

The stores with art work on their walls also made me happy. It seems such a simple thing to have the store logo painted on the your store front, it made the store stand out and well I had to go inside and have a look around. Yes I’m a sucker for good marketing.

I hope you enjoyed this post! Hunting out all these pieces of art was my favourite and I would love to come back to Reykjavik in the summer months to try to find all the art around the city. I can only hope more street art will appear closer to home.

You can find most of these amazing pieces of art while walking to the Hallgrimskirkja Church

February 3, 2018

Visiting Hallgrimskirkja Church – Reykjavik, Iceland

Iceland seems to be the place to go at the moment, but it has been on my list of places to visit for the longest time. The magical landscapes and the short flight seriously grabbed my attention for a long weekend.

Grabbing an early flight leaving Manchester at 07.20 meant we landed at Keflavik airport at 10.30, it’s only a 45min drive to Reykjavik. We arrived at our hotel by lunch, decided to drop our cases and head straight out into Reykjavik. It was around a 30min walk into town, which was easy to navigate even if a little slippy underfoot.

Hallgrimskirkja Church

Visiting the Hallgrimskirkja Church to see the iconic views over Reykjavik with the colourful houses in neat rows, was high on my list to visit and it’s easy to see why. It is the largest church in Iceland and when you reach the top of the Tower the views are spectacular. The tower can be seen from almost everywhere in Reykjavik, serving as a landmark for the town but also for the 1000’s of tourists that visit every year.

The church is a relatively new building with construction completed in 1986, it is home to the largest concert organ in the country which is pretty impressive by its self.

There is a small lift that fits 6 people and this takes you up to the top of the tower, there are then a flight of stairs to take you to the view platforms. There can sometimes be a queue to reach the top of the tower depending on how busy it is.

It is chilly at the top so make sure to wrap up warm to stay and enjoy the views.

Cost

Entry to the Hallgrimskirkja Church is Free
Entry to the Tower is currently 1000isk for Adults (approx.. £7, $10)
Entry to the Tower is currently 100isk for 7-14 year olds (Approx. 70p, $1)

Is it worth visiting?

For the relatively low admission fee to the tower, most definitely yes. We spent a good ½ hour at the top of the tower watching the world go by below our feet. To my knowledge there is nowhere in the city that you can get views like this for free. Even the Purlan observation deck isn’t free anymore.