I've wanted a drone for awhile now but have held off until the software was smarter. Mostly because previous experiences with flying things remotely has never really gone well for me, and flying $4,000+ over a cliff does not appeal to my inner Scrooge.  The DJI Spark was released which not only has intelligent flight modes, but an excellent return-to-home feature which appealed as a place to start.  Day 1 I almost lost a finger. A month or so later I pulled a muscle, or nerve or something, jumping a fence to retrieve the drone from the gorse dense bush behind my house.  To View More >>

Verona, the city of Shakespeare's Romeo & Juliet and also the name of an essential Kiwi song. I won't get into which is better, because Mercutio and his plague would rain on all of our houses, but you can't possibly be a kiwi and not sing Verona every chance you get while there.  The train ride wasn't that long but due to large quantities of prosecco and strawberries I slept most of the way. Emma, charming soul that she is, documented the trip for me in a series of snaps. Mostly of me sleeping. But she's creative, and made sure to use snapchat filters. She's good like To View More >>

A priest waits outside Chiesa dei Santi Michele e Gaetano A priest waits outside Chiesa dei Santi Michele e Gaetano Patience is a Virtue or something Our second day in Firenze we spent exploring the city by wandering somewhat aimlessly which has beceome my favourite method of touristing.  Whilst wandering the streets, we came across the  Santi Michele e Gaetano, where I made poor Emma wait so I could get the photo of the priest standing alone outside the church in just the right spot. He paced back and forth for nearly 10 mins before he stopped there.  We also came To View More >>

After our short stop in Pisa and the Italian McDonalds we took the train to Firenze. The Firenze train station was a short walk to our accomodation, Chez Aline (located on Via Ventisette Aprile)  which is a sweet and inexpensive hotel with the world's tiniest elevators. As it turns out, elevators are exceptionally small in a lot of Europe. We just managed to fit both our suitcases in then ran up the stairs to collect them two floors up.  Aline is a good location, nearby to museums and a two minute walk to a laundrette (Lavanderia Il Delfino) . There's also a pharmacy and some great To View More >>

Spinning up some sunrise We were booked to stay in Guesthouse Gerði in between Jökulsárlón  and the village of Höfn. After being blown away by the Glacier Lagoon, the bar was set pretty high. As the sun set over Höfn, the sky lit up. Not with the Northern Lights, but with the last rays of the day.  Mini Pallet Coasters! Mini Pallet Coasters! The Þórbergur Center is a cultural centre with an exhibition dedicated to the Iceland writer Þórbergur Þórðarson (1888 – 1974) who grew up To View More >>