We were picked up promptly at 6:00 a.m. and driven to the airport. As usual, with airports, it was a little confusing. We had no problems with our checked bags. That was easy. When we went through security Sandy was stopped, not because of her hip implant but for her forgotten pedometer she had put on that morning. They had to use the wand on her. Kathleen‘s carry-on was also checked. I think this was one of those random checks that security likes to conduct. Once in the airport we wandered through the duty free shops. We actually had no choice as this was the way to the gate.
Just before our gate there's a shop for all things Iceland that tried to entice us to buy, but what got my attention in the store was the big troll standing there. Their Christmas centers around trolls: The 13 Icelanic Yule Lads. This finally made sense as we were finding trolls all over the country. Our food tour guide had told us about the Yule Lads; a child who has misbehaved will find a rotten potato in his/her stocking. THEN, the child has to take the rotten potato to school and tell the class. Stefon claims this is why there is better behavior in Iceland as this is traumatic for the young–no one wants to take their potato to school!
Just before our gate there's a shop for all things Iceland that tried to entice us to buy, but what got my attention in the store was the big troll standing there. Their Christmas centers around trolls: The 13 Icelanic Yule Lads. This finally made sense as we were finding trolls all over the country. Our food tour guide had told us about the Yule Lads; a child who has misbehaved will find a rotten potato in his/her stocking. THEN, the child has to take the rotten potato to school and tell the class. Stefon claims this is why there is better behavior in Iceland as this is traumatic for the young–no one wants to take their potato to school!
Nothing very dramatic happened as we boarded the plane to head back to the United States. Once in the states, we collected our luggage and carried it over to the rechecking desk for JetBlue. I was surprised to find that we had to go through security all over again but once through security we located our gate and settled in for the very long wait, 11 hours.
I should explain that this occurred because when we bought our plane tickets, back in November, we booked a flight on JetBlue that's supposed to leave at around 2:00 in the afternoon. After a couple of months they canceled this flight and put us on the only flight to Richmond they had that day. It left Boston at 9:55pm. We were a little upset about this because it put us in Richmond close to midnight, but the plans were already made.
We sat at the gate most of the day; taking walks, going to find food, and reading. I worked on this blog until we got an announcement they had moved our gate. We all had a feeling that might happen since the plane prior to ours had been delayed at least 4 times over quite a few hours.
Once back in Richmond we gathered our luggage and went our separate ways. I want to thank my friend Dell for picking Mary Ellen and I up at the airport.
I want to thank Linda Heuser for her wonderful navigation skills. With all the driving we did, we never got lost. I missed a turn twice but that was it. Without Linda, who knows where we would have ended up. I also want to thank Mary Ellen for being the best proofreader ever. Without her, there would be so many big mistakes in this blog.
I should explain that this occurred because when we bought our plane tickets, back in November, we booked a flight on JetBlue that's supposed to leave at around 2:00 in the afternoon. After a couple of months they canceled this flight and put us on the only flight to Richmond they had that day. It left Boston at 9:55pm. We were a little upset about this because it put us in Richmond close to midnight, but the plans were already made.
We sat at the gate most of the day; taking walks, going to find food, and reading. I worked on this blog until we got an announcement they had moved our gate. We all had a feeling that might happen since the plane prior to ours had been delayed at least 4 times over quite a few hours.
Once back in Richmond we gathered our luggage and went our separate ways. I want to thank my friend Dell for picking Mary Ellen and I up at the airport.
I want to thank Linda Heuser for her wonderful navigation skills. With all the driving we did, we never got lost. I missed a turn twice but that was it. Without Linda, who knows where we would have ended up. I also want to thank Mary Ellen for being the best proofreader ever. Without her, there would be so many big mistakes in this blog.
Now I can give you some thoughts about Iceland.
It is a very cool place to visit. Driving there is an experience. Our travel agent created the itinerary to cover most of the Ring road around Iceland. The country is beautiful. Once outside of the metropolitan area of Reykjavik the roads are only two-lane and 90% of all bridges are only one-lane, so you really do have to slow down and be careful when you come upon one of those bridges. The view out the window is covered with waterfalls, glaciers and/or massive lava fields. There are some areas that are so desolate they look like something out of a science fiction movie. The speed limit of the country is 90 km an hour or about 55 mph. We were warned by another traveler that they do have hidden speed cameras along the way so you do have to be careful. They're also very long stretches of road where you see absolutely nothing: no billboards, no buildings, no trees. Every once in a while you'll pass a sign that says WC which is a water closet but they were few and far between. If you read online to be careful when you pull off the road to take pictures, I don't think you have to worry about this anymore. There are a lot of lookout points that have been created along the roads that we traveled.
During the period that we were there it never got totally dark. The sun would go down but it would be more like almost twilight. The hotels have blackout curtains and some blackout shades as well. But it really does not block out all the sunlight so if you're traveling to Iceland I really do suggest a sleep mask. Usually around 10:30 at night, I would close the curtains and /or window shades and announce that it was now night time. This seemed to help put my brain in the mood for sleep. We did leave Iceland the day before the longest day was supposed to happen.
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The weather is cool there in June but not freezing cold. I did end up using leggings under my pants a couple days and a wool short sleeve shirt as one of my layers. And I did have my lightweight winter jacket with me which I used often. I would switch this out with my quilted vest. But I didn't wear all of these at the same time. They said to bring hats and gloves, which I did. I will say that I use my baseball cap mostly because the threat of rain was everyday, and I really didn't want my glasses to get wet. But most of my friends are wearing their hats as you can see in the pictures.
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The cost of the meal is $45.28 when converted.
Food is very expensive. Luckily for us, the hotels where we stayed were Bed and Breakfast hotels so that was at least one meal a day. The lamb and seafood in the country are phenomenal. The lamb does not taste like lamb here in the United States; it is not gamey at all. This was because in Iceland the sheep are not stressed as the only predator that they might see would be the Arctic fox. And the water that they drink usually comes from the glaciers so it is clean and pure. Most of the fish we had could not be any fresher.
And speaking of water. Whatever you do, don't buy water in Iceland. They actually encourage you to use their tap water. So make sure to bring an empty bottle with you. You can take an empty bottle through customs, you just can't take a full one.
Food is very expensive. Luckily for us, the hotels where we stayed were Bed and Breakfast hotels so that was at least one meal a day. The lamb and seafood in the country are phenomenal. The lamb does not taste like lamb here in the United States; it is not gamey at all. This was because in Iceland the sheep are not stressed as the only predator that they might see would be the Arctic fox. And the water that they drink usually comes from the glaciers so it is clean and pure. Most of the fish we had could not be any fresher.
And speaking of water. Whatever you do, don't buy water in Iceland. They actually encourage you to use their tap water. So make sure to bring an empty bottle with you. You can take an empty bottle through customs, you just can't take a full one.
The trip was fantastic. We had experiences we could not have had elsewhere. I will definitely go back when I have the chance.