Iceland Day 2, Part 1: Arrival at Keflavik airport, Rekyjavik exploration

6:45 am.  It’s pitch black outside as we touch down in Iceland.  The plane flight took us up and around in a northeasterly curve, flying first into deep twilight, and then full-on night.

Customs is a fast and groggy affair.  We fight our way outside, leaning against icy rain droplets and blistering wind to the bus pickup area.  It’s a 40 minute drive and still dark outside, so we close our eyes and rest.

Between a bus transfer point for other riders, and stops at different hotels, it’s almost 9 am by the time we’re at the Hilton Reykjavik Nordica.  The sky has gradually grown lighter, giving way to spartan, businesslike buildings and a flat landscape.  The combination evokes thoughts of the American Midwest, were it to be combined with Scandinavian-inspired architecture and a generous helping of umlauts and other diacritics.

Iceland Day 1: Flight from Seattle

We just spent 5-or-so days in Iceland with our friends John and his wife Audrey.  It was quite the adventure and I wanted to share.  Enjoy!

Day 1

It’s departure day morning and we’re already exhausted.  Up until near-midnight packing, and still not done.  I’m frenziedly trying to neaten things up while simultaneously chucking the piles of clothes on the floor into gargantuan, XXL-size Ziploc bags, pausing here and there to kneel on them, bearing down until all the air is gone in a great whoosh, and carefully sealing the zipper.  Vacuum-packed clothes: the only way to travel.

We interrupt our regularly scheduled programming...

...to talk about Iceland.  

I know, you're probably here looking for stories about another country that starts with the letter "I" and ends with "-land", but, alas, we just got back from Iceland and I've been working frenziedly on a trip report before work eats me alive.

So!  I should probably change the title of the blog away from being just about Ireland, but I'm out of clever blog names for now.  Suggestions are welcomed, preferably from those more creative than I.

In the meantime, I hope you (what readers I do have.  You're out there, right?  It's okay if you're shy.) enjoy these posts.  I should have them coming out over the next few weeks.

Ireland posts will begin again after Iceland is out of my system.  (Pssh.  Like that'll ever happen.  Really, I don't know why we're still talking.  You should just go to Iceland right now.  Definitely.)