July 10-11 En Route: Got to the airport before 9:00 PM. Fast through TSA given the time of night. Jeff and Donna arrived soon after and we all met at the gate. Boarding was interesting in that they started an hour before takeoff. I got on right away since I was in Biz Class (!!!) with Priority Boarding. Seems as if they boarded the rest of the plane from the back to the front so Jeff and Donna who were in row 3, got on at the end of the process. And then there was quite a stir. Seems as if a smaller plane than scheduled had been substituted. This meant that instead of two rows of Biz Class Big Seats – two to a side, eight overall – there was only one row, four seats in total. Luckily, it was the first row, the one I was in. Folks who had paid for Big Seats were in three-across second row. Same leg room, just narrower seats. Was quite a scene as the ground personnel tried to explain and calm the folks who were upset about all this. While I usually never book bulkhead seats, sure glad I did this time (and on the return flight as well).
However, even with people being moved around, we took off on time. Into the flight, they served food which was for sale. But mine was part of my ticket. Guess I didn’t remember that it was on the outbound flight. Thus, at STL midnight, I had a club sandwich. Took a sleeping pill, but really didn’t get much sleep, perhaps an hour or so overall.
The plane is quite nice. The folks in the back have really cramped knee space, but they are the “cheap seats.” I went to the back to the lavatory and had to dodge feet in the aisle. There are three lavatories with one in front and two at the tail. The one in front is not always available since it’s in the area where the flight attendants are working. For a long flight, seems as if there are too few places to pee. Flight attendants are all Icelandic, young, pretty, and dressed in purple, of course. In STL, those at the check-in counter and at the gate were all African American. Interesting contrast.
July 11 – Reykjavik: Flight arrived ahead of schedule. No jetway. And it was raining, windy, and cold as we set down stairs onto the tarmac. Bus to terminal. Fast through passport control. We stopped for a skyr and espresso snack before going to the baggage claim area. Nice move. Our bags were waiting for us on the carousel. Went to Hertz, got keys, fished out rain jacket from suitcase, heading to Skoda Octavia and drove out of the airport and to the AirBnB. Lovely place, two bedrooms, nice kitchen/common area, one bathroom. Floors are all radiant heat (hot water) room by room, so you can be as toasty as you want. Owner met us, is very pleasant. She put stuff in fridge for us, showed us we could use the clothes dryer in her house which is next to the bungalow we’re in.
Drove into the center of Reykjavik onto Laugadegur St., which has lots of shops and places to eat. Had an egg and avocado toast at Nat. Very tasty. Then walked down the street going into wherever tickled our fancy. And it spit more rain as we went. After going several blocks, we headed on a diagonal street up to the huge church, Hallgrimskirkja, knowing that we’d be back with our regular camera gear since it was all back at our lodging. Beautiful. Then to Valdis for gelato (mango for me) and back to the car. From there we went to a small grocery store near where we are staying to get basics for breakfast and lunches on some days we’ll take food with us.
Went out about 7:00 to Rok where I had the creamy seafood soup filled with mussels, shrimp, langoustines and three small lamb chops with slaw and hummus. Also had a shot of Icelandic aquavit. Yum. Back here at 8:30. Up early tomorrow since we have a ferry to catch at 9:45 and it’s about two hours from here.
So, cold and rainy, but having a great time.
