The Land of the Vikings

We have begun our trip. Our limo picked us up at my place. It was a nice Lexus with plenty of leg room. We had some light rain on the way to the airport but we should be good for take off. This is an overnight flight; we are taking off at 11 PM and arriving at 8 AM Icelandic time. We are flying Icelandair for the first time. We are flying Premium Saga class. This sort of a cross between premium economy and business class. The flight is only 5 hours but we have a 4 hour time change.

We made it to the airport and through security pretty quickly. I'm impressed. Next up is the lounge. We have access to the Premium Plaza lounge in Toronto. I have never been to this one. It is very busy but nice. The food is good but not overly special. Laura is celiac, and we did find something for her to eat.

The boarding process was painless. Our seats are wonderful. They are 20" wide and will recline 40°. We had an amenities bag, a pillow, and a nice blanket waiting for us on our seats. We took off on time, and the flight time is 4 hours and 55 minutes. They started me off with si e crispy bread and a nice sparkling rose from Endland. Oh, and you know you're in Saga class when you actually get real glasses and not plastic. The drive ks menu has a Gin library. Yeah 7 different types of gin. I'm not a gin drinker, but I guess I could learn.

I chose the lamb for dinner. That was marvelous. Kudos to Icelandair. The lamb was tender and flavourful. The gravy was rich and tasty, the chocolate mousse and cake divine. Unfortunately, Laura was not impressed with her gluten-free offering. It was bland and just not delicious. Well, time for a nap...I hope.

Kitten slept on the plane, but I didn't. We land and head to customs. Through customs in 5 minutes. Then we catch the Fly Bus into Reykjavik. It is about 40 minutes from the airport. This is a good way to check out the landscape. The landscape here looks very barren. There are not many trees, and the ground looks like volcanic rock.

We get to the central bus station where you catch another bus to the different parts of the city. Reykjavik is the largest city in Iceland. It looks like your typical European city so far. Modern with good roads. Our driver is a very pleasant young man and he lets us know where to get off. There are a few apps that I always travel with on my phone. One of them is Google Maps. We plug in our address and Laura navigates us to our hotel. The streets are narrow and uphill (typical Europe, although Iceland is pretty flat!). We are only about 6 blocks from where are bus let us off. The streets are lined with shops and Laura's eyes are bright!

The hotel is the Midtown Hotel. As with everything these days, it is a self check in place. Our codes work, and we get to our room. It is clean and bright with twin beds. (I had enough of sleeping with Laura when she was small!) It has everything we need for a couple of days. I take a nap, and Laura goes out to explore (aka shop).

We start out walking g down towards the water. There are sooo many shops to check out. There is a lot of Icelanic knit sweaters, hats, etc. Along with sheep rugs, typical tourist stuff. There are many jewelry stores as well that feature volcanic stone. There are many artisan stores with uniquely designed jewelry. We walk all the way down to a harbour area. It looks like a place to get tour boats as well as fishing boats.

We stop at a place by the water to get some baked chard and vegies. (Yes, there are food shots) Then we make our way back to the hotel.

The natural beauty of Iceland comes through with every corner that you turn . All of a sudden there is a street with a backdrop of mountains in behind. Another thing to note is that we don't have sunset until 11 PM here, and apparently, sunrise is going to be around 4 AM. Our sleep may be a little messed up.Read more