Disney Springs Christmas Trees 2022

Unlike previous years (2018, 2019) the Christmas Trees are scattered throughout the shopping areas of Disney Springs rather than clustered together in a special area – better for the shops no doubt as it makes people walk around … We walked from end to end yesterday and I think we caught all of the trees and a few other decorations (though it was busy so maybe we missed something!)

Asian Lantern Festival 2022

Last year we visited Sanford Zoo to see their spectacular Asian Lantern Festival; in fact it was so good we went twice last year – and last night we returned, taking friends with us. Amazingly we saw almost no repeat designs from last year, with everything different but just as spectacular as our previous visit – and here of course, are lots of photos …

A number of the “lanterns” are animated (some even interact, responding to banging drums nearby!) so here’s a video compilation of some of the moving displays:

Iceland 2022 Reykjavik

Our first visit to Iceland in 2017 was with an organized group; it gave us a great taste of the country but having to do what the group has planned, is a bit awkward sometimes. That trip only spent an evening in Reykjavik so we had added a few days to the end, to see the city (here). In 2021 we completed skipped Reykjavik though we did spend time in the other “major” city, Akureyri.

So this year we re-visited Reykjavik – it was a bit cold for walking about but we did it anyway. We also visited Perlan to walk through a FREEZING COLD manmade ice cave!