A TOUR REPORT

1. Trip to France & Iceland started for 18 students accompanied by Dr Manohar Patil and Mr Sanjay Kokate of Kamps Holidays on Thursday evening (10/11/2022) from Mumbai airport. Reached Paris airport, Charles de Gaulle airport (CDG)? on same day.
2. Day -1: In our one day in Paris, our top priority was to visit the Louvre museum and the Palace of Versailles. Most of the time went into exploring these 2 places, leaving little time for the rest of the city. Of course, we visited the Eiffel Tower and even did the Seine River.
3. Day 2: The main destination of course was Iceland. After going through Keflavik airport from CDG, we immediately hopped on a bus and our first stop was Pingvellir National Park. Here, we were able to observe a rift between the North American tectonic plate and the Eurasian plate, a site on the Mid-Atlantic ridge (where the Eurasian and North American tectonic plates meet) ,and then to light house . We spent the rest of the late evening and night in hotel Vellir, Hafnarfjorour, Iceland. Night at about 11:30 pm we experienced the magic of the ‘Aurora Borealis’ the Northern Lights.
4. Day – 3: The day started early at 7am with a delicious breakfast of waffles, toast, cereal, fruit and more waffles. Then we all piled onto the coach for our first full day excursion in the Golden Circle, the first spot was Perlan Museum, there we had Planetarium experience and northern lights-the wonders of Iceland.  Next stop of ours was at Thingvellir National Park where we witnessed Volcano museum, and headed off to Gullfoss, the Golden Waterfall. Gullfoss runs in the freezing cold glacier and has formed a two-step waterfall, plunging down into a deep, narrow gorge. It is one of the most beautiful waterfalls in Europe, and was a beautiful sight to see. Our final stop on our Golden Circle tour was at Strokkur, one of the most active geysers in the area, which spouts up to 20 metres every 7 minutes. We all stood with frozen hands, desperate to capture the perfect shot of the Geyser eruption, which, for some, was the perfect time for their phones to run out of battery. After a rigorous day we were back to the Hotel Stracta, atHella.
5. Day 4: We Continued our excursion .We were able to walk behind thundering veil of water at the stunning Seljalandsfoss waterfall, and then to the incredible views from the top of Skogafoss waterfall. Next, our favourite part of the trip was the black sand beach, at Reynisfjara, where the sand was made of ground up basalt. The bay had a majestic appearance of the caves, which towered above us which seemed almost man-made because of the hexagonal columns. On the way we experienced glimpse of the famous volcano/glacier at Eyjafjallajokull.
6. Day 5: Early morning started our journey to Skálholt and visited the new cathedral, the tomb of bishops, the museum, and the collection of ancient books in the tower. We proceeded to Friðheimar, tomato farm, despite Iceland’s long dark winters, tomatoeswere grown under artificial lighting in greenhouses, throughout the year. This farm house welcome visitors to see greenhouses, and then enjoy taste of the crop.  We were fortunate to see breedingcentre of Icelandic horses and their stable, and they put up a horse show for our students. After a small sojourn to Reykjavik, with a look at the famous Hallgrimskirkja church, we were back to hotel in the evening.
7. Day 6: Early morning, after the breakfast, started our day with visit to the magical Blue Lagoon, a thermal pool heatedup by hot springs, and surrounded by mini geysers. We spent few hours there in the steaming hot pool, relaxing, chatting and appreciating our surroundings. After enjoying the thermal pool, we had lunch and then had a walk in Reykjavik city.
8. Throughout the journey, we were lucky to have an amazing tour guide, Mr Gunnar, whose name in Icelandic language meant Brave and Bold warrior. He provided us with excellent information about Icelandic culture and the sites that we went to.
9. Day 7: The spectacular trip concluded.Started our journey back to India. Reached school campus on Saturday (19/11/2022) early morning.
10. The Iceland trip this year has been so much more than what we expected. The memories that we made in Iceland will always be cherished and we are grateful to School Management, Principal and Parents who provided us with this amazing experience