It’s Sunday the 30th. About to go to bed (at the hotel in Reykjavik). We started our journey in the early morning on the 29th, so it’s been a long trip.
There was no food except pretzels on the Alaska Air flight to Seattle. Wi-fi would have been $8 for the 2 hour flight. Pass. It was free when we flew on Hawaiian.
We had no checked luggage, so saved ourselves a trip to baggage claim, and a subsequent trip back through security. We simply met Susan, Marcus, and the rest of the group at the gate for the Iceland Air flight.
Fortunately, there were free movies. I watched War of the Rohirrim, and Cinderella’s Wish (pretty lame). Since we had cheap seats, it was hard to sleep. I did try.
It was, of course, dark when we got to Iceland at 6:15 am. They’re on GMT. The temperature was about 2 ℃, which wouldn’t have been so bad by itself, except that it was super WINDY. So windy that they had to land the plane away from the terminal, and have us go down a ladder. Several of us fell, pushed by gale-force winds on the slippery airport ice. The wind was like the Pali Lookout on a strong day. It was about a 50 yard walk to the terminal.
We clocked in with our passports at the kiosks, then exited through the “Nothing to Declare” path, which was just an unsupervised door, leading to an unsupervised gift shop with self-service checkout. There is high trust in Iceland. It took 90 minutes from landing to get out of the airport.
I later found out that other flights to Keflavik (Reykjavik Airport) and been canceled on account of the wind – we had just made it.
1 hour bus ride to the hotel, then a 5-minute walk to the hotel door. Would have been simple, except that we were tired, and the wind.
By then it was 9 am or so, and the hotel was not ready to check us in. We could check in “early” by paying an extra $35, which entitled us to go down to the breakfast buffet. The buffet closed minutes after we got there but I got a reasonable meal. Not a big one.
Our room was ready at 11:30. Room 766, on the 2nd highest floor. A view, but not of anything spectacular. The shower was not as small as some of the negative reviews would suggest. It was suitable for a wheelchair to roll into, and I think 10 people could have fit at once (tight pack). Marcus and Susan’s room, 742, had a fantastic view of the Plaza, and the Church.
We walked around town a bit – gift shops aren’t really my thing.
Both of us took a nap in the afternoon.
We had dinner with Susan and Marcus. I searched for Fish and Chips, and one of the highest rated ones was just down the block. Despite what Google said, FishMkt was not really fish and chips, but an upscale restaurant; no fish and chips on the menu. Much of the menu was Japanese type food, which was nothing special to people from Hawaii.
Prices were Special, though. Merrianne got Black Sea Bass with Miso (Butterfish Misoyaki), and I got a Halibut Steak. Our portion of the check was 15.400 KR ($120), and that was without drinks or desserts. About double what Fish and Chips would have cost at other nearby places. Maybe 3x what it would cost at home.
We later met other tour group members who ate at other places. Bistro 101, where the F&C was about $40. At the Food Hall (Food Court), it was more like $30. Another place with all kinds of Icelandic food. A Tapas place a block away that supposedly had Puffin on the menu. That I want to try.
We walked around town more at night. Still cold, but no longer so windy that it was hard to walk.
Good thing I brought all my electronics. A USB wall charger is 5.500 kr at the store ($44).
No pictures, to post, yet. I’m taking them, but still setting up my environment here. For one thing, I need to install GIMP on this old netbook. UPDATE: Obviously, it’s working now. I continue to add pictures, even after the trip.