Globetrotting on the Brain

HERE
OR HERE

I know I just returned from a warm-weather spot. I know, too, tht it's snowing like crazy in Chicago but not here. I know that the days are again getting longer with more available sunlight. Still...There's something about tavel that intrigues me, and I always marvel to hear people talk of their excusrsions to the grand palaces of Europe, the African safari, or the simply joy of a baguette and wine in Paris. Somehow, I've missed all of those as I was reminded today by the New York Times whose travel section featured two places I HAVE visited: Phuket, Thailand and Reykjavik, Iceland.
The deal with Phuket is the recovery from the awful tsunami of 2004, a scant three years after I'd lounged on the very same beaches that got inundated with death. On the Andaman Sea, Phuket was not yet too overrun with tourists unless the navy happened to be docking there in which case, the streets were impassible. I have three memories that will always remind me of that visit: trying to convince a friend of mine that kimonos were NOT Thai, my son sitting at the bar ordering drinks on MY hotel bill, and a wild adventure in which the wives simply vanished on a tuk-tuk with people who did not speak English: looking for cashews and Coke. Hilarious. Reading the Times article, it seems as if Phuket has emerged as a real hangout for the upper crust or at least those willing to splurge...so I probably won't be going back.
Reykjavik is the stopover on the way to Sweden, which is the reason I was there. Totally made of volcanic rock, there is no wood at all on the island since the Vikings supposedly deforested it for ship material. Indeed, all the houses are made of poured concrete. I read a book recently by an NPR reporter who made a serious study of happiness (it's in a previous post), and he opined that Icelanders are the happiest people ON EARTH! I suspect it has something to do with the fact that bars stay open until 4 a.m. and it's dark about half the year so there's nothing else to do but drink. That's just a guess, though. Wool sweaters are marvelous there and cheap as well, but the landscape is decidedly forbidding with the exception of some hot water spas and, obviously, horseback riding in the winter (really?) If I recall, it's a direct flight from Chicago as well, just in case you're thinking about going. I just might...someday...but for now, I've got to get busy planning Spring Break, but not in Phuket.