While driving and camping around Icelend, Linda and I noticed something interesting. There is so much pasture lands in Icelend, and we saw hundreds of herds of animals. Mostly we saw sheep. Like Ireland, sheep are highly domesticated animals, prized for their wool and meat. We also saw dozens and dozens of herds of horses; more than we’d ever seen anywhere else.

What we didn’t see were many cows. In fact, we never saw cows at all until our third day while we were driving in the interior, near Mt. Hella. We are used to seeing cows all around while in the states. One of my favorite pastimes is to roll down my car window and moo at cows while driving by. I never got to moo in Iceland.

I was quite curios about the lack of cows there. On the second day of wandering, while stopped in a small town for a coffee break, I asked Google (who knows everything) if there were cows in Iceland. There are, as we found out the next day.

We were both curious about the vast number of horses. Do people raise that many horses to ride? Do they raise them to race? Linda asked Google if people in Iceland eat horse meat. Google responded something like this:

“Horsemeat is a staple of Icelandic meals, although when Icelandicars raise horses, they keep horses they eat separate from those they ride, and don’t usually name the horses they raise for food”.

Most of the meals we ate while there we cooked while camping. As far as we know, we never ate any horaemeat. I’d hate to think that we had a Appaloosa Stew or a My Friend Flicka Burger. But again, when in Rome . . .

Contrary to what I may have led people to believe, I did not actually steal a beer glass in Copenhagen. By nature, I am not a thief. I try my hardest to honor the 8th Commandment (thou shall not steal). I also honor the 2nd Commandment, as I have no graven images adorning the walls of our home. But back to the glass.

Linda and I wandered around the harbor of Copenhagen one fine morning. Exploring a new city was on my mind – thievery was not. The morning walk took us to the docks and beyond, and on our way back into downtown Copenhagen, we stopped for a beer. We found a small pub with an outdoor sitting area, right on the most famous street in Copenhagen. We ordered a beer. I don’t remember what Linda drank, but I ordered a Grimberger Lager. It was delicious, but better than that, it came in a really cool glass. Quite regal looking. It reminded me of the Holy Grail.

Of course, though, it isn’t the real Holy Grail (I have that at home, a rare find of mine from an office White Elephant gift exchange years ago). I joked about stealing it, but again thought about the 8th Commandment.

Luck though was with me. As we sat there, three tourists walked up to have a look. I coerced them to sit down by telling them how good the beer was and how friendly our waiter was. They sat next to us and ordered food and drink. A few minutes later, five more people did the same. I convinced them also to sit, and they did. Finally, a couple from Argentina strolled by. Once again, I mentioned how good the beer and waiter were. They sat down – with us.

By this time, I had brought ten new customers to the bar. The waiter was quite appreciative. He bought me a second beer, took away the first glass, and told me I could keep the new grail. I did.

Our new, Un-holy Grail will sit on a shelf in our home, next to the real deal.

It’s been a whirlwind of an adventure since we left Germany. We spent time in Copenhagen, a few days visiting my son Jason in Sweden, and then we went to Ireland for almost a week. We’re in Iceland now, surviving the cold weather while enjoying the beauty of this country.

After two days and nights in Dresden, we flew to Copenhagen. We had two days there, although the first day was mostly travel, flying south to Munich so we could board a second plane to fly over Dresden on the way to Copenhagen. After a few trains and streetcars, we found our apartment, dropped off our bags, and went wandering around looking for a place to eat. We found a really good pizza joint.

We went into town the next morning. Downtown was great. The harbor is what I’d always thought it would look like, with the colorful buildings, boats, and coffee and beer joints. Linda and I walked and walked and walked, and drank both coffee and beer. After a long day downtown, we went back to our apartment and chilled.

One of the highlights of my trip was traveling to Stockholm to see my son Jason. Jason moved to Sweden over ten years ago, and I’ve only seen him three times since, all in the States. When are arrived in Stockholm, and rode the train from the airport, Jason was downtown to meet us. Seeing him was especially great as it was my birthday. Being with Jason and Linda was the best gift I could want.

Linda and I spent three days in Stockholm. We found a lovely apartment in a quiet neighborhood, and found it quite easy to get around using busses and streetcars. We spent one entire day walking around downtown, visiting museums and parks.

Our last day in Sweden was short. We had a flight to Dublin in the early afternoon. We woke up early, packed, and rode a train to Uppsala, the city where Jason lives. He and I walked around while Linda watched our luggage, and then we said goodbye until the next time we meet.

Next stop, Ireland.