Mittens 2017 - Hafnir, Iceland, 15-22 July

[AGA]

Mittens 2017 is confirmed for this house in Hafnir, Iceland from 15-22 July.

Attendees

2ma2
AGA
Disco
Esseb
Privateer Puddin'
Snarky
Tamara
yamipanda
(8)

It's that time of year again when we need to think about organising this year's Mittens. Does anyone have any suggestions? I think someone might have suggested Iceland during last year's Mittens.

Interested Parties

2ma2
AGA
Disco
Esseb
Monsieur OUXX
Privateer Puddin'
Snarky
Tamara
yamipanda
(9)

[Disco]

Iceland would be lovely. Nothing much else comes to mind that we haven't explored previously, and it would be a good compromise for location between North America and Europe.

I am fine with any time before September.

[AGA]

We're going on a longish trip early September, and have other some stuff early August, so we'd prefer sometime in July if possible.

[Privateer Puddin']

I am fine with Iceland and July

[AGA]

So I've had a quick look at villas, mid July:

10 bed cottage, close to Reykjavik and the golden circle
15 people house, similarish area
20 person house, east of the country.  This is fairly expensive though, and would require a change at Reykjavik airport to get to the local airport

There are only 18 villas in the whole country on the site I looked at.  Most of them seem to fit a fair number of people at a decent price though, so we should find something to suit our numbers.

[Snarky]

I'm in! As always, I'm all about the bathing, and despite Iceland not exactly being a tropical paradise (avg. high of 13ËšC in July!), they do have a lot of hot pools. I've been there once before; that was in November, though, so the overall impression was dark and drizzly. Seemed to be a good music scene in Reykjavik, but I think that may have been because it was some kind of festival.

I can do July, as long as we get the dates fixed relatively soon so I can schedule other stuff around it.

[Andail]

I would love to go to Iceland, but we got a new baby coming up and we'll also just have moved into a new house, so the odds aren't great. Still might be able to pull off a weekend, who knows...

[yamipanda]

I'm in!

[Grundislav]

Out of my price range, unfortunately, though it would be awesome to check out some hot springs.

[2ma2]

I've wanted to visit Iceland for a very long time. Nothing like a good excuse to pull the thumb out of my idea-repository.

[Esseb]

I'm interested. July works for me, and I've always wanted to visit Iceland!

[abstauber]

Awesome destination . But I'm in the same shoes as Andail, so no Mittens for us I'm afraid.

[AGA]

So we're eight so far. We should start thinking about booking something that I can do it in  soon. Around ten looks like a safe bet.

[Monsieur OUXX]

I'm interested but it will be a complicated summer (a wedding to attend, not much holiday left, etc.). So I can't give a final answer yet.

EDIT : not my wedding

[[delete}]

Whoohoo, Monsieur OUXX is getting married!    It'll be not complicated â€" just simply great!

/starts drawing bridegroom-to-be over Indy sprite (53px)

EDIT: /cancels DJ and ice-statue.

[Stupot]

We were planning a trip around the sane time and were super close to booking Iceland. It would have been cool if it had coincided with Mittens. As it turns out though, we're going to Prague, Vienna and Budapest so that's off the table.

[AGA]

Congratulations to Cat, but I've split all that discussion off into another thread.

[Snarky]

So, is it a plan? The 10-person cottage looks good, and is available 16-23 July. Might not be a bad idea to book it soonish.

[AGA]

Are all eight who've expressed an interest so far okay with those dates? Anyone else?

[Privateer Puddin']

I'll need to double check I can book it off, but personally yep that's fine.

[Disco]

Those dates work for me.

[yamipanda]

Works for me.

[Esseb]

Dates work for me to

[AGA]

Oh, and the original small place is no longer available on the dates (or indeed any others).  https://www.vrbo.com/3752497ha or https://www.vrbo.com/4436929ha are other small options near Reykjavik.  Second is a bit more expensive, but seems well rates and a bit nicer.  Oh and actually mentions having Wi-Fi, which the other doesn't.

[Disco]

A couple other options that are somewhat less:

Suburban Reykjavik: 2,423 USD - Mosfellsbær (just outside Reykjavik) 3 Bedrooms, Sleeps 8

Southern Peninsula: 1,945 USD - Hafnir, about 15km from Keflavik Airport. 3 Bedrooms, Sleeps 8

First one looks like the best location for amenities, but has no guest reviews. Second is in a tiny, tiny village and about 9 miles from the nearest city.

[2ma2]

I'm available at the dates mentioned, but need to renew my passport. It shouldn't be a problem, I've got three months until due for travel.

Been looking through the possibility of taking a ferry from Norway or Denmark, but it's proven difficult. As sad as it seems, air travel appear not only faster, but easier and cheaper all around

Can't make heads or tails of AGA's estimates. The second link appears cheaper, not more expensive ($445 and $333 daily respectively). Disco's confused me at first, but it had a couple of hidden fees buried in the details. As for choice of location, I guess that anything but within walking distance of RVK will be Andail's cottage level of isolation with Nordic levels of public transportation. I dug up this treat that might aid our selection of locale: http://www.publictransport.is/

[Esseb]

The second has wifi, but the first has tiny horses!

[AGA]

This place https://www.homeaway.com/vacation-rental/p4270018 is really cheap, and looks pretty great.  Also relatively naturey, so we'd get more of a feeling of proper Iceland maybe.  It is pretty close to an airport that has car rental though...  Also only an hour's drive from Reykjavik airport, so really not too far from civilisation.  The lower price might make the cost of renting cars / a minivan worth it, especially if we can use said vehicles to aid in exploring the icy countryside.

[2ma2]

I'm not sure, but the entirety of Iceland might be an hour's drive from Reykjavik

Renting a van might be a good idea overall. There appears to be a Rent-a-wreck at Keflavik. I've got good experience from the franchise home in Falun, Sweden. Perfectly sound cars of an older make, because rentals cycle their vehicles ridiculously often. They didn't appear to have a 9-seater, though Also, there's a couple of things to consider if one would drive into the highlands, but I doubt we'd want to venture there without a guide or thorough planning anyway.

I've got a driver license. Who else are eligible?

[Disco]

Ah, had not considered rentals somehow Yeah that place in Hafnir is decently located if we can do some supply runs. Only 15 minutes to the airport, 25 to Blue Lagoon, and about 45 minutes to Reykjavik.

[AGA]

Tamara can drive, and is willing to rent.  Looks like we have a majority interested in that place at least.  Shall I book?

Oh and Snarky the dates you suggested were Sunday to Sunday, is there a reason not Sat-Sat as we generally do?  Personally I prefer to have the Sunday as a day to recover before going back to work the next week!

[Snarky]

No, it was just the dates the first house was free.

AGA's latest suggestion and Disco's second option seem to be the same house. Sure, looks fine, assuming there's somewhere to buy food not too far away. Judging from pictures from Hafnir, the place is nearly deserted and on the far tip of nowhere, but I think driving will probably be required any place.

[AGA]

There's a supermarket 15 minutes' drive away. And it looks like driving is inevitable. Shall I book then? I can cover any payment short term.

[Snarky]

(thumbs up)

[Esseb]

That place looks good to me. I'm ok with booking now.

[AGA]

I'll make the booking shortly.

[Esseb]

We should probably compile a list of potential stuff to do after booking.

Reykjavik is 44 minutes away by car so perfectly doable for excursion(s). I'm not actually sure what there is to do or see there though, other than http://phallus.is/en/ of course.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Kr%C3%BDsuv%C3%ADk is a hikeable volcano in driving distance!

[AGA]

Booking requested, Saturday 15 July to Saturday 22 July.

â,¬211.41 per person to book, with a returnable â,¬150 damage deposit p.p making â,¬361.41 each. I'll PM everyone my PayPal details. I can cover the costs for now, so no huge rush.

[AGA]

Okay, we're booked!

Hafnir, Iceland. Saturday 15 July to Saturday 22 July. Payment and booking details will be PMed in time.

[Disco]

Hooray Thanks Berian!

I can confirm that Reykjavik does have some interesting sights, shops, nightlife, etc. (at least as of 2011), but not necessarily enough to fill out a Mittens by itself. Of course, my experience may have been limited by the Mittens Ireland property not returning my â,¬1,000 deposit until I was near departure, so I was there mostly on borrowed funds . We could likely see and do most things in about two days.

[AGA]

Of course no Mittens has ever involved the whole time being spent in the city regardless. The whole country's only eight hours' drive south west to north east, so we could probably do all the things in a week if we have cars...

[GarageGothic]

Too late to join? I am taking a loan in my apartment anyway, so who cares if it's gonna be pricey Wanted to go to Iceland since watching Sense8.

[AGA]

Well... I did notice that there are two sofas in the living room. And of course floors in every room.

[Privateer Puddin']

other than http://phallus.is/en/ of course.

Thanks for booking AGA!

I will bring a drone along to get some pretty pictures

[Disco]

http://phallus.is/en/ of course.

\o/


---

I have unearthed a website unique to the house with a few bits of information and a slightly expanded image gallery at http://www.luxuryhouse.is

[Privateer Puddin']

Has anyone started looking at flights yet? Only one coming from UK, but just to get idea of what time people would be arriving..

[AGA]

Well we're very close to the airport, and house rentals usually open around 14:00 like hotels do...  If we rent two cars it might be sensible to either all arrive at the same time, or for there to be two sets of similar arrival times.

Since the booking's in my name, we'd plan to arrive at around 14:00 to collect the keys.  We're not quite ready to book, but should be doing so over the next couple of weeks.

[Snarky]

We should probably compile a list of potential stuff to do after booking.

V. important destination:

http://www.avclub.com/article/does-iceland-really-have-best-hot-dog-world-253861

[2ma2]

Unless there's a large influx of Mitteneres that plan to arrive late at night on Sunday the 16th, I and Yamipanda* will arrive around 15:30 on Sunday at Keflavik.

*which of course is enslaved by blasphemous magick and follow my every logistical whim, be it by road, air or sea (but not across running water or out of Swindon by car, which I'm told to believe is beyond the ken of any mortal man, woman or sentient polyp...)

[AGA]

You do know that's the second day, right, not the first?

[2ma2]

...yes. Absolutely. Mm-hmm. Yup.

In honesty, I never re-calibrated my inner calendar from Snarky's initial suggestion. An understandable mistake to be sure, could've happen to anyone, it's not like the correct dates ARE PRESENT IN THE SUBJECT LINE OF THIS VERY THREAD.

[AGA]

Are two people willing and able to rent cars?  We don't have access to the credit card at the moment, so unfortunately won't be able to book one ourselves.  Of course we should split the costs of the two cars combined eight ways to ensure the drivers aren't left out of pocket.

[2ma2]

I haven't bought my airfare yet, so I'll be sure to look for promising combos of flight and car-rental. If not, I'll just book a car separately.

If available, we'll still go with two 5-seaters instead of one 9-seater, correct?

[AGA]

I don't personally have a preference for two over one vehicle... I'd just consider the price!

[Esseb]

I'd book a car, but I strongly suspect they require a license to drive? Maybe Iceland is more relaxed about these things though, I don't know.

[Privateer Puddin']

Hello! I will arrive at 17:15 on the 15th.

[Snarky]

I'm arriving in Reykjavik quite early on 15. July, at 07:55 (and flying out on the 22. at 18:35).

No driver's license, so can't help with the rentals, I'm afraid.

Are you going to want some money from us at some point for the house?

[2ma2]

Been checking up on the car rental. There's a couple of brands that offer 8- and 9-seater vehicles, but the fee matches two smaller 4- or 5-seaters, so we might as well go for two and the additional mobility. I found no good offers along with my air fare, so I can post a couple of rental suggestions in this thread. I initially thought about going with Rent-a-wreck, since I've had perfectly good experience with the franchise back home, but an emailed query return an answer with a redirection URL of www.wowcarrental.is - and since WOW is regarded as a shite company overall, I feel less inclined to try that rental service; I really don't want to hassle with a non-existent customer rep if something goes south

EDIT: Me and Yamipanda will arrive at 09:10 local time on the 15th.

[Disco]

...and since WOW is regarded as a shite company overall, I feel less inclined to try that rental service;

I was going to ask if anyone had any experience with them in this thread, as it is the best fare for me by over $100, even including bag fees (I normally bring a single backpack anyways).

Are they any worse than the likes of easyJet or Ryanair? I would not be traveling return with them, so may be willing to take a chance on a single five hour overnight flight.

[AGA]

We booked WOW.  They're actually headquartered at Keflavik, so who knows, maybe those routes are well served...

[AGA]

Hey Disco, would you be available to rent a car?  Being American, I assume you can drive?  If finances are a problem we could probably work out some payment in advance.

[Disco]

Hmm, checking into it. I am not necessarily opposed, but would likely need a refresher course on manual (I have not touched a stick in about 17 years!), but I expect it would come back quickly.

Also, is $600-1000 USD per week normal in Iceland? I nearly fainted when the prices came up on three different sites. I guess living less than 100 miles from Detroit has some benefits.

[AGA]

I think car operation in general is significantly more expensive in Europe than the US.  Did you ever rent a car in Europe before?  And Iceland is apparently one of the more expensive countries in Europe.  So sounds about right!

[Disco]

Nah, I have never rented in Europe... only a handful of times in Michigan and California. Admittedly I never really felt 100% comfortable with the idea, which is why I casually left my name out of the car rental discussion

Passenger van?

[AGA]

If it's a similar price to get two smaller cars rather than one bigger van, that might be better (as Linus says, to offer more flexibility/freedom).  But of course that's dependent on two people being willing to drive.  But if a van's cheaper, then if Linus is willing to drive it you could avoid being discomforted...

[Disco]

I have been convinced... Not just out of pure necessity, but also because I want to see you all keep smiling, keep shining...Knowing you can always count on me, for sure...That's what friends are for.

we could probably work out some payment in advance.

Since this is a European rental, I would appreciate that

[AGA]

So rentalcars.com has four seaters for â,¬260 per week.  If we took two of those, that would work out to â,¬65 per head.  Would people be okay with that?  That would give us much more flexibility of movement, and potentially allow us to explore the Icelandic wilderness more freely.

If that's okay with everyone, would Disco and 2ma2 both be willing to rent one each?

[Disco]

That sounds good to me.

I shall be arriving at 04:50 (!!!) on the 15th. Departure is 15:00 on the 22nd.

[Esseb]

â,¬65 sounds good to me too. I should look into flights also probably.

[Snarky]

Would people be okay with that?

[AGA]

That's most of us then. Yamipanda and 2ma2, what about you?

We should probably try to make a booking ASAP to avoid missing out on relatively low prices.

[Privateer Puddin']

Works for me!

[2ma2]

Car rental is fairly expensive overall in Europe, mainly because regulations require recently released rides (alliteration a-hoy!); hence my like of Rent-a-wreck here in Sweden, they're perfectly good cars, around 5-10 years on the road, and much more affordable.

WOW have a bad rep here, probably equivalent to Ryanair and their ilk. There's of course a bias towards negative reviews since happy/content consumers rarely voice their opinion. The main issue seems to be that if anything DOES go wrong, like a delay with missed connections, damage or lost luggage etc., you'll have to bitch and hassle with an outsourced customer service that just dgaf. Amusingly enough, our organization for customer protection (Råd & Rön) has a "black list" of companies in different sectors that advice you against using Icelandair but not WOW - the former refused to reimburse a lost tent, claiming it was packed inappropriately. Make of that what you will

$260 is an excellent fee for a week. Almost suspiciously low. Either way, it appears to have been booked full at the moment of writing We've got 4-5 seaters from â,¬410-460. I looked through the rental agreements for Firefly and Greenmotion. Both offer unrestricted distance with full-out full-in fuel policy, all good. There's a deposit of â,¬2200-2500 upon retrieval, though, which is fully reimbursable of course, but reeeaaally effin' hefty. I'll mail a couple of rental firms to ask how this works in practice. It's all and well if you use a credit card, but I'm not entirely comfortable waltzing around with â,¬2000+ on my debit card

[AGA]

Yeah well, enough complaining about WOW Air, since some of us have already booked with them!

I can help with a huge deposit if necessary.  I work as a contractor, so I'm obliged for tax reasons to have massive amounts of tax money saved up all year.  As long as I get the deposit back, that's all fine.

[yamipanda]

Sure, that's fine. I don't really know what rentals are supposed to cost, so if the rest of you think it's ok I trust you there. XD

[2ma2]

The money is not the issue as much as where it's kept. Still, it appears as most vendors require a credit rather than debit card upon retrieval. I'll look into attaching credit to my card to see if it is worth the hassle visavi the hassle of NOT having it... In the meantime, SADCars offers a â,¬370 Toyota Yaris rental with debit card but:

• You must buy the insurance bundle of â,¬28/day (â,¬196) - which I'm fine with, I'm not keen on replacing rock-shot windshields and whatnot.
• You deposit â,¬1000 (refundable) - which is much less worrisome to have sitting on your debit account.
• You pay â,¬50 (non-refundable) - kinda annoying, so I'll weigh it against the banks fees for a year of attached credit.

They also have a 9-seater in their fleet, but it didn't show up in my quotes, so I'm mailing to see if it's available at the 15th to 22nd.

[AGA]

So what do we think?  We really need to make a booking soon, or they'll only have extremely priced cars left, if any...  Your most recent suggestion sounds fine, if you prefer it to credit attachment.

[Disco]

While Linus waits to hear back on his mails, I have found some better rates than my previous attempts through the car hire links on the Keflavik Airport official website.

Renting with Budget from 11:00 on the 15th to 11:00 on the 22nd is giving me a handful of cars between 320-400 EUR. Even an automatic is not substantially greater in price (and one less thing for me to worry about ), and I could not find anything on outrageous deposits.

I may have been selecting some inopportune pick up/drop off times in previous searches. These prices are within the margin of error.

[AGA]

Budget are a big name, so I'd hope they're reliable!  Price sounds fine to me.

[Esseb]

Fine to me too.

[Disco]

It is for a small four seater (Hyundai i10 or similar), but it is not like we'll be sleeping in the thing. I should be able to make the booking on Saturday if we decide to do this.

[2ma2]

SADly, they had no 8+-seaters...

I've talked with my bank and will apply for credit instead of messing around with debit workarounds. Budget looks good, I'll most likely apply for the second smallest, a "VW Polo or similar" at â,¬309 (34 200 ISK), which gives is a bit of leg room, luggage space an additional inch of reinforced steel between our fleshy shells and whatever may stray into the road*. Scandinavia is stick-shift country, so nemas problemas Manuél for me.

In conclusion, I will book the following as soon as possible:
- A group "N" car from "Budget" at Keflavik Airport
- From the 15th of July 11:00 to the 22nd of July 11:00.
- At an estimated cost of â,¬309

*There's fuck all in regards to trees and large wildlife, so my main concern is other vehicles and elves.

[AGA]

Go for it!

[Disco]

A car is booked Turns out I could have done it all along as they do not take card details at the time of booking, only at pick up.

It may be the smallest, but we only need to seat four in each car, so it meets our needs exactly! Luggage should not be an issue as we will only likely need to travel 10 minutes with everyone's stuff on the first and final days.

Anyways, here are the details of one of our sweet rides!:
- A group "D" car (Hyundai i10 Auto or similar) from Budget at Keflavik Airport
- From the 15th of July 11:00 to the 22nd of July 11:00.
- At an estimated cost of â,¬314 (35,200 ISK)

[AGA]

Great!  What about a second car, 2ma2?

[2ma2]

Still awaiting confirmation that I've been approved for credit. It's true that you don't need to give card details until pick-up, but I'd rather know for sure I'll be having one before booking. (I freelance so I have a wonky income flow, yet a fair amount of savings, so I hope the bank are rational about it. On the other hand, there's been a mid-week holiday in Sweden, perhaps they just haven't got around to it yet. Annoying none the less.)

[AGA]

Any credit yet?  Tamara can book if you're having difficulty?  Time's running out!

[2ma2]

No, the bank has decided to be fuck me over. My initial application was turned down, so I asked them to confirm my savings and reconsider the application. Not a word, so I hunted them down by phone today, only to be told that they haven't even touched my ticket. I'm fucking livid.

Tamara can do the booking. You may put me up as an extra driver, so we at least can share the driving duty. PM or messenger me if you need additional personal information. I can cover the cost of an additional driver myself. Feel free to shop around for better deals as well, the rental price at Budget has ballooned during this pointless, miserable fucking delay.

[AGA]

Tamara has booked a second car.  Chevrolet Spark or similar, â,¬355.64 total, 11:00 15 July to 11:00 22 July. 

[Esseb]

Cars seem useful.

I guess we'll split the gas bills and rental fees at the end of the week? Or we could paypal the car rental shares ahead of time and deal with only gas at the end of the week?

[AGA]

~I think Tamara's fine to wait, but can't speak for Disco...

However, in the past we usually took turns paying for petrol filling sessions, so splitting that separatelt at the end, having paid for the rental in advance, might work.

[Disco]

I have been attempting to find an estimate of the hold that Budget will place on the card during the rental period. In the US it tends to be $200ish, but figuring it would be in another country with higher rates and a more expensive currency it would be prudent to look. Nothing on the official site, just a vague "fees and holds vary by location".

A credible-looking post on Tripadvisor states the hold is usually equal to the excess damage coverage, which in this case is somewhere in the $700 range :o :o Nevermind, that information was wildly inaccurate. An email from Budget KEF revealed that the security deposit hold tops out at â,¬170.


The total between the two rentals is about â,¬680, or â,¬85 per person. Since I have not yet paid for my spot in the house, perhaps everyone should send their car rental shares directly to Berian/Tamara, as three car shares combined are just over one house share.

[AGA]

Makes sense.  I'll PM the non car people about the outstanding balance.

The deposit on the house and cars aren't included in these totals, but of course if someone does end up exploding something there will have to be some further collection of funds.

[Snarky]

See you in Reykjavik, Mitteneers!

[cat]

Have fun guys and gals!

[m0ds]

Have a great time!!



(..that scene in Iceland with Ben Stiller and Steve Ince)

[milkanannan]

This sounds like so much fun! Hope I can go one year.

[milkanannan]

And hope you guys are having fun right now of course!

[Stupot]

How's things going over there? We want pics.

[Monsieur OUXX]

How's things going over there? We want pics.

+1!

[horusr]

+1!

+1

[Tabata]

How's things going over there? We want pics.

+1!

+1

+1   

[m0ds]

Presumably they've got the standard Mittens internet connection (none)...

[abstauber]

You think somebody downloaded Gabriel Knight again, which voided all remaining traffic?

Btw. some pics are currently on FB.

[horusr]

what facebook? Is there a secret group that you guys don't tell us?

[abstauber]

Dont worry, usually they upload a whole bunch of photos after Mittens is over.

But nope, there's no secret group that I am aware of

[horusr]

Oh, so you follow them in person? Because I checked facebok page twice, no pics

[abstauber]

Yes, at least Snarky and AGA.
But I hardly ever use FB anyway.

[Snarky]

Presumably they've got the standard Mittens internet connection (none)...

Get with the times, Mods! There's free international roaming these days. Half of Mittens has just been everybody sitting around looking at our phones.

I don't take many photos, but let me paint some word pictures:

-Most of us sitting in the hot tub on the deck while Custard flew a drone around filming from the sky
-Driving around the "Golden Circle", just to turn back at the very far point (and skipping the Thingvellir national park and historical site) because we had to get to a liquor store before they closed
-A day it rained so heavily that we just stayed inside playing and riffing on Contradiction, the FMV game ("Do you recognize... THIS? [makes devil horns]")
-So much licorice!
-Another drive to see several waterfalls that you could walk under/close to, none of which got us as soaked as the rain at a black sands beach famous for its killer (literally) waves
-Half of us "playing" Duolingo on our phones at the same time
-Trying to come up with things to do in Reykjavik, and ending up with: eating hot dogs, taking an elevator up the church-tower to look out (and discovering that the low clouds meant we couldn't see anything), and the Penis Museum

[LimpingFish]

...and the Penis Museum

Now I'm jealous!

Sounds like a blast, though. I hope everybody is having a good time.

[tampie85]

AGA and I are safely back home. We had a great time! Thank you Disco, Esseb, snarky, yamipanda, Privateer Puddin' and 2ma2 for the great company.

Here are some of my pictures:

https://www.facebook.com/media/set/?set=a.1476698862392533.1073741863.100001572990822ype=1&l=e3b17b39b2

[Privateer Puddin']

I am in my Heathrow hotel! An excellent time was had, thanks to AGA for sorting everything out and to Tamara and Disco for driving. I will have photos and video up tomorrow.

[Disco]

I have just arrived at my destination safely 72 hours in Chicago before I am home home though. Thanks everyone for participating this week

Photos to follow soonly!

[Privateer Puddin']

https://www.youtube.com/embed/rJsL3TI4iTQ

[Andail]

Wow, I've always wanted to visit Iceland. Sounds like you had a blast

[Tycho Magnetic Anomaly]

would you ever consider Hong Kong as a venue?
I don't live there, but would love to visit.


Very nice video , did one of you bring a drone with you to get the aerial footage?

[horusr]

That museum looks... interesting...

[Privateer Puddin']

would you ever consider Hong Kong as a venue?
I don't live there, but would love to visit.


Very nice video , did one of you bring a drone with you to get the aerial footage?

As I'm moving to Hong Kong, I fully support this suggestion!!

Yup, I had a drone. Here's a video from the village we were staying in :  https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=dmwx1WJpcAQ

[AGA]

Can you post the group photo, so I can add it to the wiki?

[Privateer Puddin']

Will do when I get home

[milkanannan]

Cool vid. Nice drone footage

[m0ds]

Great video Tom! Looks stunning, well all except that fitting tribute to george a romero near the end there, with papa laz-AGA glad you folks* had fun!

*I believe in the week you've been away London decided it's politically incorrect to define groups of people by gender "guys, gals" etc. But you know that, you had superfast 4G etc etc

[abstauber]

Really looks like you had a great time again, thanks for sharing this jealousy inducing material

One day Iceland, one day...

[Esseb]

Here are my photographs: http://esseb.com/photographs/mittens_iceland/

I mostly used a mobile phone instead of a stupid big camera this time, so apologies for the blurriness.

It was fun seeing everyone again!

Edit: Excellent droning, Tom!

[milkanannan]

You guys only got 4-5 hours of darkness a day?

[FruitTree]

looks like great fun! and such bautiful sights! great video!

[2ma2]

Much thanks for yet another good Mittens, with special thanks to organizers and drivers!!

I had planned to buy y'all a round, as apology for wasting time and money on the car rental; since we never got out to a pub, I had to settle for a batch o' "Cold Begone" back home instead (The recipe of which is: 1 tsp of brown sugar, 3 freedoms of pear/apple cognac and 1,5 dl of holy water*.)

Great personal memories from this years installment include, but are not limited to:

• Making an involuntary blood sacrifice in the ruins of a Norse pagan temple
• Being snuck up on by the North Atlantic Ocean
• Learning to enjoy FMV games
• Being pleasantly surprised by buttsex

I also managed to spend ALL of (mine and other's) remaining coins at the airport, down to a single Icelandic crown! There was a large jar by the shops that allowed you to donate Icelandic currency to charity before departure, which frankly is a great idea - petition your nation's airports today!

*you boil the hell out of it

[Disco]

Here are my photographs, at long last: Mittens MMXVII

I had quite the fun time, and miss everyone already Looking forward to doing this again in.....some other place.


Edit: Just seconds after posting this, I remembered I have some photographs spread across two rolls of film that I have yet to develop, so this is just a teaser. Stay tuned (much later)!

[milkanannan]

What kind of beer is in those gold cans?

[Disco]

Víking Gylltur