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Here’s a comprehensive summary of the issue. (If a topic can’t be explained to me in less than 7mins of edutainment, it’s too complicated to care about. Right?)

Click PLAY or watch it on YouTube.

… a mainer to my vein

Click PLAY or watch it on YouTube.

I can QUIT coffee any time. I’ve done it a dozen times.

Thanks Warren.

I arrived the night before Ironman France – Nice to surprise Dave Adlard. I’d join his support team.

Much to my surprise, Dave’s not registered!

Turned out he’d registered in another Ironman, … for SOME reason …

Dave Adlard is a tad worried about the start of his first Ironman.

… If he survives the 2.4 mile open water swim, the 112 Mile Bike and 26.2 Mile Run should be a breeze.

GOOD LUCK DAVE.

There are only 2,399 opponents to best. (approximately) How hard could that be?

Stay close to two-time world champion Craig Alexander, Dave, and things will turn out well.

official website

International jet-setters like moiself spend a lot of time cursing airports. (The terrorists have already won).

Ultra-modern airport in Dublin is a superb … shopping mall. I spent 20 minutes walking through shops carrying near identical over-priced product just to get to my departure gate. Do many travelers make impulse buys out of boredom?

I assume they do.

By contrast, the Geneva airport needed a serious renovation … in 1995. How can one of the richest cities in the world have such a crappy airport?

For the first time ever in an airport, I saw a fellow going from rubbish bin-to-bin collecting recyclables. Do homeless people (aside from me) live there?

… But I experienced a magical incident in the Geneva airport. Confused hovering over a ticket machine, trying to navigate my way by train to the centre of town, an elderly German gentleman appeared my shoulder. He quickly got a ticket (from another machine) and delivered me to the departing train. … With specific instructions on how to get to the Hostel.

By the time I’d lifted my suitcase on board, he was gone.

I write from City Hostel Geneva, one of most enjoyable in years. UPDATE: By the end of my 2-day stay hostel staff had bungled my reservation, the washing machine flooded and the promised long term luggage storage turned out to be a myth.

Geneva is ranked as the fourth most expensive city in the world, though. I find it surprisingly run down and disorganized. It’s not my 4th favourite city in the world.

I’m organizing to travel to Corsica for hiking next.

The GR 20 is about 180km long.

The walk for most people takes around 15 days. I’m hoping to finish in 8 or 9 nights.

It’s a busy track this late in June, alpine huts and hot meals available. The first few days, including the “Cirque de la Solitude”, are the most intensely scenic. Unfortunately that’s when my pack will be heaviest.

Sarkozy willin’ and the ferry don’t sink, I’ll start trekking Sunday afternoon, June 26th.

I was a week in Galway, my first visit to the McCharles ancestral homeland. All four of my Grandparents were Irish.

I was hosted by Iro-Canuck Rob Fuller and his family. Thanks mate.

more photos from Galway

My most poignant inspiration in visiting Iceland was a music video called Glósóli by Icelandic band Sigur Rós.

Magic. Exotic. Ethereal. Stark.

That’s Iceland.

My random photos from a number of days wandering quirky Reykjavík.

… the capital and largest city of Iceland. Its latitude at 64°08′ N makes it the world’s northernmost capital of a sovereign state.

… population of around 120,000 (and over 200,000 in the Greater Reykjavík Area) it is the heart of Iceland’s economic and governmental activity. …

Much of the action is centred around Laugavegur, the main shopping street.

You can watch them via slide show … or skim the thumbnails.

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With this set, all my photos from 2wks in Iceland have now been uploaded to flickr.

Delta Air Lines is now flying JFK New York to Keflavik International 5 times a week during high season. More competition for those wanting to get to Iceland is a good thing.

Icelanders laughed when I told them I was flying the discount airline, Iceland Express. IE is famously BAD compared with full service Icelandair. And not always cheaper.

What happened to me is that my direct flight KEF to EDI EI0255 on the 17th was (for some reason unexplained) rerouted via Oslo, Norway making for a much longer flight. AND a missed connection.

I arrived at my final destination, Galway, Ireland, perhaps 6hrs later than my original itinerary.

If you are considering visiting Iceland one day, some tips:

• consider shoulder season (before June 15th or after Sept 15th) or even off-season to get great prices and near unlimited availability of accommodation.

But be aware that many tours only run high season.

If you do go in the Icelandic summer, it’s probably best to book all transportation (aside from bus) and accommodation (aside from tenting) months in advance.

A standard short itinerary is the Golden Circle near the capital.

Much better is what I did, a week or longer in a rent-a-car touring the Route 1 or the Ring Road, something that many Icelandlubbers have not even done.

Cheapskates will like the rent-a-car / hostel package as I did.

Alternatively, you can take a bus around the Ring Road, tenting and hosteling as you go, but most feel a private vehicle is worth the higher cost.

Be award that regular vehicles are not allowed on the truly heinous (F rated) mountain roads. For that you need a high clearance rental.

Leave a comment if you’ve additional tips on this wonderful holiday destination.

These are a few of my favourites from a collection I called Iceland Random. You can see them on the slideshow, or click on any of the thumbnails.

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These photos come from all over the island nation over a period of two weeks.
See all 122 pics in this collection on flickr. On that site you can see both date and geographic location.