The usual length of our travels is a month or longer. But, in 2019 my daughter, Pamela and I took a five-day sojourn to majestic Iceland—in the beginning of February.
The current winter weather reminds me of our experiences. It was definitely the “coldest” we would ever be. My wife, Kathie, wanted nothing to do with this adventure as it would be too cold for her. Kathie’s intuition proved so correct in this case.
We planned nearly a year out. We picked a tour company that would take us out for three days. About a month to go, we found out that tour company went “bust.” We had placed our down-payments 8 months before. Pay Pal would not refund our monies–$1800.
Luckily, I paid with my Gold American Express Card. I called and they refunded our monies. I am a true believer in American Express.
We flew a United Flight to Newark, NJ. At about 9:00PM, we then flew Icelandic Air—the national airlines of Iceland. I was able to take this picture of NYC as we flew out.
I would highly recommend Icelandic Air as the leather seats were comfortable. The flight was five hours. There was no food. We knew that before boarding and had a delicious Greek meal before at the Mediterranean Bistro at the Newark airport.
At the time of this writing, Icelandic Air offers a neat deal of traveling to Iceland for up to seven days, and then going on to Europe all on one ticket. I would like to take Kathie there one day—Iceland is special.
We landed at 5:00AM in the morning. We had to get off the plane via the tarmac and unto a bus. I will never forget that blast of sub-Arctic air when we reached the door. The Keflavik airport is just not big enough for all the planes.
My first impression of Iceland is through the airport. Everything looked ultra-modern. Pam had already seen Iceland the year before during the summer taking a 12-day sojourn around the island.
There was no need to rent a car as there is a comfortable bus—the Flybus– to take you 30 miles into the capital of Iceland, Reykjavik.
The bus trip lasted 45 “dark” minutes. Most of the way it is barren. The airport was once an American airfield during WWII.
Our place of stay and our base for four nights was the comfortable Icelandair Hotel Reykjavik Marina. We upgraded to a “sea view “ room.
There wasn’t much of a sea view as there was a giant boat being worked on. Like the name, it is a “marina” area.
The boat eventually moved out and we were afforded a grand view.
The room was small. It did have two reasonably comfortable single beds.
What was nice was the unexpected large shower.
We found the staff to be extremely friendly and accommodating. The front desk was circular in nature and had no barriers. Before Covid-19, you literally were next to the clerk checking in. The process is definitely different than the USA.
The Marina is artistically designed.
I loved the basement area as it had eight extra bathrooms—four just for males– that no one ever used them —except for myself.
Breakfasts in the morning at the Marina is special.
The staff are mostly Polish people. We found out that there is a sizeable Polish population in Iceland.
As we had arrived early, we had a few extra hours. We decided to have breakfast at a local restaurant nearby—Kaffivagning.
The sun does not come out until 11:00 AM in Iceland’s February. There is only about five hours of sunlight in early February. We were not in Florida any longer.
The omelet I had was good but a bit different.
What I remember most was in the center of the restaurant was a group of eight men in a “coffee klatch.” It was indeed interesting watching them interact with each other. If you look at the center of the picture, you can see these men.
The snow was everywhere. Our table provided some interesting views to the outside.
In leaving I noticed this chocolate cake at Kaffivagning. We never did make it back to try it.
Walking the streets of Reykjavik, it was very common to see a “lone lost glove.” When I see discarded pandemic masks today, I think of those single lost gloves in Reykjavik.
One of the major areas of interest is the Harpa Center.
This is where conventions and famous entertainers come to. At the time of our visit, a show of “Freddie Mercury” was being advertised.
On our way to Harpa, a fierce wind—almost gale like—was blowing. As I remember, Pamela fell down due to the wind and ice. She later purchased “crampons” which connected to her boots to dig into the ice. Pamela is smart. I kept on slip sliding away.
One day we saw a children’s technology conference going on. Seeing the booths was free. There was a good assortment of free candy and even ice cream!
What was most fascinating about the Harpa Center is the “Hanging Moon.” It is quite large and makes an interesting picture to say the least.
About a half-mile down the coast is the famous “Sun Voyager” Statue.
Along our walk we came across a sailing vessel in the harbor where I took this picture.
The 1986 stainless steel “Sun Voyager” is designed as a Viking ship representing, in part, the migration to Iceland.
Nearby, across the street, is the Hofdi House.
This place is best known as the site of the 1986 Reykjavik Summit meeting of President Ronald Reagan and the General Secretary of the Soviet Union, Mikhail Gorbachev. One could argue that the Cold War ended here. The house is closed to the public I found out.
Pam and I did take the “Hop-on-hop-off” bus from the Harpa Center. We quickly found out that the upper part of the bus was not heated.
We did get off at the Perlan Center. Large Water tanks on top of a large hill were converted to make an artful museum. We both enjoyed the planetarium.
Lunch was served at the top level.
We both broke down and had a hamburger.
The views on top of the Perlan Center are outstanding on a clear day.
Besides the planetarium, there is a neat museum in the complex. We saw a replica of the largest Cod ever caught off of Iceland.
An Arctic Fox was displayed. We had no idea that this far north there were foxes. They are, apparently, afraid of fences.
There was even a replica of a “Ice Cave.” Pam and I would actually be in a real ice cave which is explained in the next expose.
One of the more interesting and tasty restaurants we tried while visiting Reykjavik is the “Fish Restaurant.”
The Fish & Chips are excellent. I had “The Chicken and Chips.”
There was no need for a translation as everything is in English.
We did notice on our walk-abouts that the most popular restaurants are, yes, Subway. Food is expensive in Iceland and this is where people on a budget go to eat.
One night we did find the “Lebowski Bar.” As we are fans of the movie, we had to go in. Everything about this bar is about the movie. I don’t see how they get around the copyright laws—but they do.
One could not lose their way to the bathroom.
And if you had any prejudices, you had better leave them out in the cold.
One of the most popular churches is Reykjavik is the Lutheran church of Hallgrimskirkja. It is also the tallest at 244 feet high.
If you don’t have claustrophobia, one could take an eight-passenger elevator to the top.
There are indeed commanding views of the entire city.
There was no question that we were in the middle of winter in Reykjavik.
We found Reykjavik to be an extremely interesting and modern. There are a number of notable artwork of homes and sculptures.
Even though it was winter, the people never lost their sense of humor:
