Reynisfjara Beach, Iceland
WHEN you first set eyes on Reynisfjara Beach (also known as Black Sand Beach) at Iceland’s southernmost town, Vík í Mýrdal, more commonly known as Vik, you will feel as if you are at the end of the world. Dramatic rock pillars (the Reynisdrangar basalt sea stacks) rise from the sea against the backdrop of bleak, jet-black sand and white sea foam, fierce Atlantic waves and ever-changing light under hexagonal cliffs.
As you take in the moody atmosphere, you may imagine you’re in a film set and, indeed, the beach appeared in Game of Thrones. The sea stacks feature in ancient legends and are home to thousands of seabirds, such as puffins, guillemots and fulmars. However, the beach, which is about 112 miles from the capital, Reykjavik, is not for swimming: the waves here are dangerous. You should keep well away and never turn your back on them.
Live in Iceland
Almost next door to the Icelandic House of Parliament, this villa has five bedrooms, elegant reception rooms, including a beautifully panelled entrance hall, and murals by Swedish artist Greta Björnsson. $4.2 million (about £3.34m), Sweden Sotheby’s International Realty (00 46 31 182 200; www.sothebys realty.com)
Tharros Beach, Sardinia, Italy
هذه القصة مأخوذة من طبعة June 22, 2022 من Country Life UK.
ابدأ النسخة التجريبية المجانية من Magzter GOLD لمدة 7 أيام للوصول إلى آلاف القصص المتميزة المنسقة وأكثر من 9,000 مجلة وصحيفة.
بالفعل مشترك ? تسجيل الدخول
هذه القصة مأخوذة من طبعة June 22, 2022 من Country Life UK.
ابدأ النسخة التجريبية المجانية من Magzter GOLD لمدة 7 أيام للوصول إلى آلاف القصص المتميزة المنسقة وأكثر من 9,000 مجلة وصحيفة.
بالفعل مشترك? تسجيل الدخول
Tales as old as time
By appointing writers-in-residence to landscape locations, the National Trust is hoping to spark in us a new engagement with our ancient surroundings, finds Richard Smyth
Do the active farmer test
Farming is a profession, not a lifestyle choice’ and, therefore, the Budget is unfair
Night Thoughts by Howard Hodgkin
Charlotte Mullins comments on Moght Thoughts
SOS: save our wild salmon
Jane Wheatley examines the dire situation facing the king of fish
Into the deep
Beneath the crystal-clear, alien world of water lie the great piscean survivors of the Ice Age. The Lake District is a fish-spotter's paradise, reports John Lewis-Stempel
It's alive!
Living, burping and bubbling fermented masses of flour, yeast and water that spawn countless loaves—Emma Hughes charts the rise and rise) of sourdough starters
There's orange gold in them thar fields
A kitchen staple that is easily taken for granted, the carrot is actually an incredibly tricky customer to cultivate that could reduce a grown man to tears, says Sarah Todd
True blues
I HAVE been planting English bluebells. They grow in their millions in the beechwoods that surround us—but not in our own garden. They are, however, a protected species. The law is clear and uncompromising: ‘It is illegal to dig up bluebells or their bulbs from the wild, or to trade or sell wild bluebell bulbs and seeds.’ I have, therefore, had to buy them from a respectable bulb-merchant.
Oh so hip
Stay the hand that itches to deadhead spent roses and you can enjoy their glittering fruits instead, writes John Hoyland
A best kept secret
Oft-forgotten Rutland, England's smallest county, is a 'Notswold' haven deserving of more attention, finds Nicola Venning