We've been back for a week now, and so some of the magic has worn off, as is the case when reality and jobs so rudely intrude. Still--and perhaps especially because of the weather--we keep thinking longingly of that lovely little island.
The sun had not yet risen over Reykjavik. It was about 10am.
Our flight left Manchester a little after 11:30am on Monday, with a stop in Glasgow before continuing on to Keflavik, where the international airport is (about 50km/31mi from Reykjavik. Despite some people's complaints, this is not that far. Heathrow is an hour by tube from central London, SeaTac is in Burien, which is still a good 15-20 minutes south of Seattle, and so forth). We hit our first snag before we even got to Glasgow; Adam had the window seat--he whines less that way--and so he saw why we suddenly slammed on the brakes in mid-air. Apparently there was another plane there. I have no notion if our pilot, their pilot, or ground control screwed up, but yeah, slamming on the breaks in mid-air does not make a happy Katie. The cockpit (probably wisely) never said anything. I rather doubt most people saw the other plane--I didn't. Other than that, the flight was uneventful, and that plane had seatback entertainment systems. Not bad for a flight that took about 4 hours, including stops.
Kevlavik airport is very Scandinavian; clean, nice, pretty. It is, however, an airport, so we got out of there as fast as we could, and hopped on the FlyBus (an expensive, but useful service that also runs in Dublin and other various airports; buy round-trip tickets in advance) into Reykjavik, where we got dropped off at our hotel. Our hotel, by the way, was the old international terminal when the international airport was in Reykjavik. IcelandAir still owns it (they've got the tourist industry by the balls in Iceland, with some help from Reykjavik Excursions). It wasn't as bad as it sounds, but if you know that, you can see that it used to be something else--something crappy. Also: the star definitions for hotels in Iceland are not perhaps what you're used to in the States. The IcelandAir Hotel Loftleidir is considered 4 stars, but, well...regardless, it was clean and nice. It was also backed onto the runway for the domestic airport (not a problem, never heard a plane inside), and about a 20 minute walk from the centre of Reykjavik, but they run shuttles throughout the day (to and from, though the ones back to the hotel were never at a convenient time for us), and walking is healthy, provided you can find a way across the busy roads (pedestrian bridges). Or, as was the case on our last night, find the path at all (lots of snow).
IcelandAir Offices, as viewed from our hotel room.
So our first night we got to the room, dropped our stuff, and decided we were hungry. Adam went through our hand LonelyPlanet Iceland, and decided he wanted to eat at Santa Maria. Yes, that's right. We flew to Iceland to have Mexican food. And by God, it was good! Adam is addicted to burritos, and though I don't generally like mole, I had the enchiladas mole, and it was fabulous. The nachos were suitably American and tasty, and the chocolate cake we split for dessert was to die for. We were soaked on the walk back, but we did meander a bit through the area around the church, and it was lovely (minus the rain). Then we slogged back to the hotel, and to bed.
Yes, those are two separate beds, with two separate duvets, and a weird thingy over the foot.
This seems to be the norm for hotels, from what I can tell.
Clearly, they do not wish to encourage intimacy.
Tuesday we decided to explore Reykjavik. So we went to the church (Lutheran), went to the top of its tower (freaky with all the wind), visted an art museum (skip that one), and generally just wandered around and shopped--I got a hat, and Mom did not get a lovely cloak for her birthday, because it was approximately eleventy million dollars (or 30,000 ISK). We also ate Big Boats, which I think is the slightly bizarre translation for subs. Or maybe it was just that sandwich bar. Regardless, they weren't quite a foot long, but they were certainly delicous, and everyone in the itty-bitty stand thing seemed to be local laborers. The bread was soft on the outside, lightly toasted on the inside, and mine was filled with beef and grilled onions and sauce and general goodness. Adam's was the same, but with lamb and cooked red cabbage. Definitely worth a visit for lunch, and a good bargain (comparitively) for 1100ISK each (including a drink). The museum was the low point; Reykjavik has an art museum divided over three sites, and this one was pants. It featured Erro, whose work it turns out I don't really like, and some travel art, installations, and a weird travel video thing that was just kinda creepy. That was at the Hafnarhús, and I would totally give it a miss. Maybe with different exhibitions it would be better, but I think Erro is a permanent exhibition, and the building was awkward for an art museum.
I did not take this picture.
Or this one.
This one either.
Or this one.
I did take this one, which is why it's blurry.
And why this one is dark.
Tuesday night was the Northern Lights tour. Absolutely worth doing, but I would suggest trying to schedule that with a smaller tour (SuperJeep maybe?) if possible. The good thing about Reykjavik Excursions is that they seem to have a bunch of different options of places to go, and people who call in and tell them if the skies are clear and such. We did actually see the Northern Lights, and despite what Adam claims, it was not some dude in a helicopter shining a green light on some clouds. We even got some pictures of the Northern Lights.
The funniest--and most obnoxious bit--about the tour was the crew of people screaming "no flash" every time someone used a flash (accidentally at first). They kept doing it, so I think people started intentionally using their flashes. Adam and I would have, except my camera died out there. We don't know if they were part of our tour or part of the caravan of cars that were following our tour to the viewing areas. Either way, I'm not sure what they expected. Idiots.
I have a feeling this post is plenty long enough for the moment, and I have to get ready to go look at a house shortly, so I will post more about our trip later.
Point-and-shoot digital cameras don't have long exposures.
Aren't they pretty?
This is not what we saw.
The funniest--and most obnoxious bit--about the tour was the crew of people screaming "no flash" every time someone used a flash (accidentally at first). They kept doing it, so I think people started intentionally using their flashes. Adam and I would have, except my camera died out there. We don't know if they were part of our tour or part of the caravan of cars that were following our tour to the viewing areas. Either way, I'm not sure what they expected. Idiots.
I have a feeling this post is plenty long enough for the moment, and I have to get ready to go look at a house shortly, so I will post more about our trip later.
4 comments:
hehehe
Awesome pics!
One more thought.
I was looking at the hotel beds and laughing because it must be a European and Middle Eastern thing. The same thing happened in Jerusalem. Two separate beds, and every time you want to snuggle close the beds would have a crack in it that seemed to keep growing. haha
The rating system is interesting in Europe. Given that 3 star means you have your own bathroom and that there's a waste-paper bin, I can imagine that 4 star might well just mean it has those and a carpet ;)
Claudia
No. No carpeting. From what I've read, that also seems to be lacking in Iceland. Room was plenty warm though, so it was fine.
It also doesn't seem to refer to the number of TV channels. There were about 6, one in German, Bloomberg News (US), BBC News (UK), one in Arabic, and I think two in Icelandic. One of those might have been a music video channel though, which was in whatever language they felt like at the time.
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