Iceland 2009 Beginning
Trip Start
Jan 22, 2009
1
4
Trip End
Jan 28, 2009
Reykjavík, Iceland
Saturday, January 24, 2009
Beginning
I left Thursday morning from Lansing to Boston via Minneapolis. I had an award (free) ticket therefore the routing through Minneapolis. I was upgraded to first class on both legs, not bad for a ticket paid for with miles. I arrived in Boston around 2:30 pm for an 8:30 pm flight on Iceland Air. I hung out in the World Club, went to the gate area and had dinner at Houlihan's. The flight was called on time and boarding went smoothly. Never having flown Iceland Air, I didn't know what to expect. I was in an aisle seat halfway back and was thankful that no one sat in the middle seat. The in flight entertainment was a cool touch screen with many movie, tv and game choices. Everything but soda and water was to purchase, the flight attendants were very nice and overall it was a very good flight. Five hours later we landed at Reykjavik 's international airport. Immigration was strange as we had to go through security to get into the airport, which I have never seen, then through immigration and then customs. Since I only had carry on, I was on the the transportation area for my bus to the city.
The airport is around 30 miles from the city and as it was now around 7:30 am, it was still dark. I came to learn that it stays dark until around 11:00 in the morning and gets dark again around 4:00 pm. The bus stops at the central station and having purchased a ticket on to the hotel, a smaller shuttle took me the rest of the way. The hotel is accustomed to arrivals early in the morning, therefore check in at 8:30 was not a problem. Since it was still dark and I was tired, I went to bed for a nap.
I awoke and wandered the area of the hotel. It is located on the main restaurant, pub, cafe and shopping street of Reykjavik. Stopped and had a couple of Viking beers @ $5.00 a pint, then back to the room for a break before dinner. I was strange to see it start getting dark around 3:30 and then dark by around 4:15 pm. I headed out for an Italian place I had spotted earlier as I wanted to work my way into the Icelandic seafood diet that I am not a huge fan of. I had a nice pasta (so I thought) of chicken, ham and mushrooms, and french onion soup. Back to the room afterwards, where I booked an excursion for the next morning known as the Golden Circle Tour, the tour that everyone takes while in Iceland.
Then the fun began...................
