The spirit of Christmas was inherent in each of us when we were young, but sadly for the majority of people this faded over the years to be replaced by some form of financial scepticism (writes Antony Hayes). This is mostly due to the fact that a time of giving has been overly commercialised by advertising starting so early in the year, and thus by the time Christmas does finally come around, it isn’t exciting anymore.

“Come to me, darling. Lean back… let your body drift. And kiss, kiss now,” Denis Cronan coos, gently cradling my body as he lowers me into an abyss (writes Amy Laughinghouse). I’ve just climbed 115 steps to do a backbend in this stranger’s arms, staring two stories down through a gaping hole in one of Blarney Castle’s ancient walls, all for the privilege of pressing my lips against a nearly inaccessible grey rock smeared with the saliva of countless tourists.

Being only 10,000 years old, Iceland is a relative newcomer to the world (writes Antony Hayes) but still carries itself with an ancient grace; and even though it is a young land, it wasn’t until the 9th century that it was settled by the Vikings and finally made an entrance into the civilised world.