Month: October 2024

After another great breakfast at the hotel, and with blue skies showing, we embarked on our last full day in Iceland (and our vacation)! Today is the famous “Golden Circle” drive. There are two “circle” drives that are popular in Iceland – the “Ring Road” which takes you all the way around Iceland and the “Golden Circle” which is a smaller day trip from Reykjavik, return. It takes 7-10 days to do the Ring Road and would be a lovely trip to do in Spring or Summer however at this time of year it is no recommended, nor do we have the time (it is 1,332-kilometer drive)! So the “Golden Circle” is what we are doing today! It is also shorter than yesterday’s epic drive!

The Golden Circle drive takes you to three of the most iconic locations in Iceland: a breathtaking waterfall (Gullfoss), a geothermal area with hot springs (Geysir), and a historic national park with gorges and ridges (Thingvellir National Park). As we filled up with gas last night as we returned from our long drive, we are ready to go! This drive is going to be about 230 kilometers in length, where yesterday we drove about 450 kilometres.

Off we head towards Reykjavík to join the Golden Circle roads to take us to the 3 different stops! Like yesterday, there were some clouds hanging about in the sky, however there remained blue sky as we first drove through the Thingvellir National Park on our way to Geysir. We stopped at a couple of lookouts in the park as we drove along, however we mainly kept going as we were not camping so we had no reason to actually stop and stay. The scenery was beautiful – however there was a change from yesterday – it was a LOT more whiter on the peaks – obviously it has snowed last night on the mountains and volcanos!

We got to Geysir and there was a nice complex with a restaurant, cafe, gift store, washrooms (important) that were NOT outside, a gas station and a hotel. There even was accessible parking! I was kind of disappointed when we drove up and into the parking lot, as I saw the standard steam coming out of the ground across the road, I wondered if that is all that is going on here – perhaps guysir means a lot of steam vents? After patronizing the warm washrooms and getting bundled up as the wind was kind of COLD, we walked across the road and along the path that everyone else seemed to be doing. There were pools with signs on how hot they were and bubbling happening – obviously this is a hot area underneath the ground!

The path was pretty accessible and had been salted (but not enough) as it wound around to what was a big natural pool area that was bubbling – I would say about 20 feet across. There were so many people just standing there watching the bubbling and steam! I had a hard time getting a place to get a picture, however finally found one and took some pictures and then the bubbling started getting aggressive, so I decided to take a video of the boiling action and BOOM! up shot a guysir into the sky about 40 feet! Scared the dickens out of me! I have included that video below the pictures. Then about 2 minutes later the same thing happened again! It is such an interesting experience watching the earth getting prepared to and then vomiting into the air against gravity! As soon as the 2nd guysir happened most people cleared out and we stayed for about another 10 minutes and saw a single guysir shoot up again and then, as I was now freezing cold (that does not happen very often) it was time to head back to the car.

Here is the geysir in action – don’t blink or you will miss it!

We safely walked back to the cafe and patronizing the gift area, we got back to the car, had our lunch we packed and were on our way! At that time, it was -5 C with the wind chill – no wonder I was cold despite the sun shining! Now it was onto our last stop on the Golden Circle – the Gullfoss waterfall.

As we drove there we continued to see snow covered mountains which were very different from our drive yesterday – it was like we were exploring a different part of Iceland, however we were still in the same area – just visiting different sites instead! As we approached the Gullfoss waterfall area, there was a sign for with a wheelchair and tour bus on it pointing showing to take a different road. I thought it was strange and I probably mis-read it, so we went to the main parking lot. Not seeing any accessible parking spots like there were at the waterfall the day before, and not seeing anything that resembled a waterfall, I was wondering if again this was a scenario where we had to walk somewhere first. I really did not feel like doing that with the wind chill factor at this time! I mentioned to Andrew that I had seen a wheelchair and tour bus sign as we towards the large parking lot and building and perhaps we could take that turn instead when leaving. Down the hill we went and onto the road that was marked for wheelchair and tour bus access and WOW – no wonder there was no accessible parking above and there was separate access for people with mobility needs – one had to take a HUGE staircase down a cliff in order to see this beautiful waterfall!

Instead, I just had to walk on the boardwalk that extended from the stairs and parking lot to view these awesome falls! A bit about what we saw – the word Gullfoss actually means Golden Falls – the waterfall is fed by the Hvita River, which plunging into a canyon, creates two distinct waterfalls that total around 32 meters in height. I was amazed at this power and sight- the falls reminded me of a mini Niagara Falls!

After that invigorating experience, we now pointed the Kia towards Keflavik and the Courtyard Hotel. Instead of returning on the roads that we already took yesterday, once we got to Selfoss, we took Highway 42 this time (previously we took Highway 43 that goes by the Blue Lagoon) and through a different pass in the hills. Getting to Selfoss was fine, however as soon as we left and were on a prairie like plain, it started to snow! I perhaps forgot to mention that our rental car already had studded tires on it – so we were prepared from that standpoint! The clouds became heavier and we ended up in a white out for a while (no picture of that as you could not see much)! Eventually we drove up and over a hill and back down to Highway 41 which is the main road between Reykjavik and Keflavik. All clear once we got there and it was a short drive back to the hotel at that point.

As this was our last night in Iceland/on vacation, we decided to go out for dinner. There was a 2nd restaurant, not related to but attached to the hotel, so when we arrived we checked them out for gluten free food offerings – they had them – even pizza! We went up to the hotel room to rest after our adventure (it was a bit too early to eat) and then returned to the restaurant for our final dinner of this vacation! I had a chicken/shrimp pizza that was excellent! Andrew had fish and chips which he said were also very good!

Now it is back to the room to pack and plan for tomorrow – we fly home at 5:15pm so we / I was planning on going into Reykjavik in the morning to see if there was any unique wool from Iceland! See you tomorrow! Before I go – here is the route that we drove today…

Note: Yes I know it is Halloween today – there does not seem to be a lot done in Iceland for it (such as signs, pictures, pumpkins etc) so I asked the desk clerk if it was celebrated here and he said there would be some parties in people’s houses but it is a fairly understated holiday in Iceland. Compared to Ireland where Halloween was EVERYWHERE and is heavily celebrated, it was interesting to see the differences between the two countries.

Well, it is SUPPOSED to be a nice day today with a prediction of rain later in the afternoon. So we decided to go on the longer drive which will take us to some less popular tourist sites, but still recommended, which will be past the “Golden Circle” area on the road to Vik. We will be doing the Golden Circle route tomorrow. Almost all roads in Iceland lead to Reykjavik – so after filling up the tank at 3.20 CDN a litre, we were off towards Reykjavik and then down to the south coast to do some sightseeing.

Our first stop, after a 2 hour drive, was the Seljalandsfoss Waterfall which was beautiful, and we actually could see it from the highway. We stopped and got out and walked towards it where a lot of other people were standing and admiring it too! It is 60 metres tall and one of the “features” of this waterfall is that one (if able) can walk on a narrow path behind it and take pictures looking out through the falling cascading water. There are also two smaller waterfalls to the north of the main waterfall.

After this wonderful experience, we then continued down the highway for about 20 minutes to the Skogafoss Waterfall which is one of Iceland’s biggest waterfalls due to it’s 25 meter width and a drop of 60 meters. It is hidden in the very small town of Skógar which has a population of under 100 people however it blossoms in the Spring/Summer as a resort area for hikers. At the Skogafoss Waterfall there are 500 steps going up the right side that one can climb to get to the viewpoint at the top of the waterfall. In winter these are icey due to the spray coming off the waterfall – so climb at your own risk! The waterfall was amazing and loud – along with the black sand (very hard to use a walker on) that was around the area.

Then we got back into the car and continued onwards to Solheimajokull Glacier. This visit was a flop. We saw the glacier from the highway actually however from the “viewpoint” and parking lot one could not see the glacier. I did not feel like walking on a rocky path up to perhaps see the glacier so we then we decided to proceed to our next spot. While driving down from the glacier I read up on the Solheimasandur Plane Wreck which I had understood was close to a parking lot. However it was not – the parking lot was next to the highway and it was a 25 Euro bus trip or a “moderately challenging” 6 km round trip walk out to the plane wreck. As we got close to the parking lot, we could see the busses that were used to transport people and they were the glacier roamer type with big wheels and they would be very hard for me to get onto – so we decided to pass on that stop!

Just for the unaware – the Solheimasandur Plane Wreck is a DC3 US Navy plane which had to make an emergency landing when the weather changed abruptly on the beach. Everyone survived and the US Navy did take the parts from the plane that were important, however they left the airframe on the beach. It has now become a popular landmark and tourist attraction. I have some downloaded pictures below.

Next on our list of sights is the Black Sand Beach also called Reynisfjara Beach in Icelandic. This world-famous volcanic black-sand beach features basalt columns and the dramatic Reynisdrangar sea stacks. It is near Vik,, the southernmost village on the mainland of Iceland. While the wind was blowing a bit which made it a little chilly, it was an awesome site to visit after having to skip our last two stops. While walking to the beach there was a funny sign saying “Dangerous sneaker waves” – nope, it did not mean it was going to take your running shoes – it was a bit of a funny translation to mean “killer waves”. This was a fairly long beach as you can see to the right where we were parked and entered to the left side which was near the basalt columns. The surf was QUITE active at this time too – with it heading to the beach from the south east and south west so sometimes there was a big clash of the waves! It was HARD going using my walker on this beach as the black sand was not packed down, however I made it down to the sea and back up so I was happy with that accomplishment! To reward ourselves, we then had coffee and hot chocolate in the cafe prior to eating our lunch in the car. At that time, the weather was turning and we decided to skip going to Vik, which was just about 10km down the highway and instead turn and head back to the hotel, this time taking a different route back.

We arrived back at the hotel about 6pm – which was 8 hours after we had left in the morning! It was an interesting day seeing the southern part of Iceland. Where we drove is shown below. Tomorrow is the famous Golden Circle Drive!

Well, the sun is out today so we decided to take a drive to north of Reykjavik to check out the town called Akranes, then return on a different road back to Reykjavik for a self paced walking tour, then for 4pm, going to the surprise that I had booked which was the Sky Lagoon experience (similar to the Blue Lagoon but smaller and more accessible). So off we drove and got to Reykjavik and then started the next “segment” of the drive in Google Maps to Akranes and we got there really fast which confused me. We went over a small bridge, saw some houses being built and we were there – it was not the hour long trip that I was expecting! Then I realized my mistake – somehow the town of Alftanes had been selected in Google Maps instead – which is near to Reykjavik (see the maps below)! Oh well, now we do not have enough time to go to Akranes so we decided to just go into Reykjavik and and find parking and do the audio tour instead. However when we were driving back into town there were A LOT of police, mainly on motorcycles, on the highway which we thought was kind of strange due to the number – perhaps they were looking for someone? Then we got off the highway in order to get to the church where the self tour started and a motorcycle policeman blocked our lane and in the other direction, a police van was blocking that lane of traffic. Obviously something was going on! So I looked up on my friend Google if someone important was in town and there sure was – the Ukrainian President (Volodymyr Zelenskyy) was here for 2 days of meetings. Very soon after this we saw a motorcade of about 10 vehicles/limos pass by and then the roads were open again!

We got parked in the hospital parking lot which is just behind this church – which you can see the church from almost anywhere in downtown Reykjavik. It was below freezing at this point with the wind, however we started out on the walking tour that was supposed to take us about 90 minutes. Please notice the weather in the church picture…. We then walked down to the waterfront (about 6 blocks) and by the time we got there, in the 6th picture, the skies opened up and SOAKED us with a torrential rain storm! With no where to go all we could do is walk towards the closest building which happened to be the Harpa Building – which is their conference centre like the Conference Centre West in Vancouver, and also where the meetings were going on with the Ukrainian President! Looking like drowned rats, we were able to go to the cafe in the building, however due to security issues, all the washrooms were closed! So we had some warm drinks and a creme brulee and waited out the rain storm! It was interesting that one of the Marriott Hotels that I looked at staying at was right next to the Harpa building – it was also one of the more expensive hotels for points redemptions! Then we continued our self guided tour until we were both too cold and tired. At that time we went back to the church and retrieved our car and drove to the Sky Lagoon.

Now back at the car, we decided to warm up and drive to the Sky Lagoon. I am not sure that Andrew knows what he is getting himself into however it should be a fun experience despite the spitting rain and slight wind! We arrived about 20 minutes later and as we were about 40 minutes early and we could see 2 small tours entering, we decided to sit in the car for a while until our entrance time that was booked for 4pm. I was having fun knitting and watching people! Finally the time came to go to the Sky Lagoon so we proceeded inside after taking some pictures.

The Sky Lagoon is an oceanside geothermal lagoon that is like a huge infinity pool surrounded by rock structures. In the lagoon there are lots of places to hang out in the various “channels” and there also is a swim up bar and the entrance to the Skjól Bathing Ritual hut which melds into the scenery with a grass covered roof. The capacity of the Sky Lagoon is only 350 people where the more famous, Blue Lagoon is triple that. The other reason why I picked the Sky Lagoon was it is more modern and thus has better accessibility standards. Lastly, it has AWESOME ocean views which are not present at the Blue Lagoon.

So once we arrived, they gave us each two wristbands – reminded me of Disneyland – one black so we could get into the Skjól Bathing Ritual hut and the other one had my credit card attached so if we wanted something at the bar, we could order something and put it on our account along with the magnet in the band opened and closed our lockers for our clothes. We were then escorted to the “Accessibility Suite” which I was AMAZED at the facility. I have seen around the world (less in Canada/USA) accessible accommodations in airports/pools etc however this one had thought of EVERYTHING a person with a variety of challenges might need. If we had not needed the “Accessibility Suite” there were private changing rooms for each person to use that contained a chair, sink, shower, shelves and mirror. Back to the Accessible Suite that they had set aside for Andrew and I – it had an adult sized bed that could be raised or lowered. It also had a lift system (if you brought your sling which is normal). A wheelchair accessible toilet, a commode, a shower chair, an accessible shower stall, an accessible sink and then various other items at the proper level like hair dryer, paper towels, plastic bags for ones bathing suit and a water wheelchair. So Andrew and I got changed and put our clothes into the lockers in the suite, took the towels they provided and I took the wheelchair, as I left my walker in the suite, out to the lagoon area. They also had a wheelchair lift into the lagoon (instead of the seat swing so many pools have) which I could have used, however I chose to go down the 4 stairs instead. Oh was the water LOVELY! It went up to my shoulders if I slightly swatted and walked that way. The water was also very buoyant! So we made our way from the entrance which is like in a cave, to the front of the lagoon where the infinity edge of the pool was.

Once at the edge of the pool, there were rocks in the water (man made type) where there was a bench that you could sit on instead of constantly floating (well Andrew did not float but I sure did) and trying to keep ones feet on the bottom of the pool. We were quite enjoying our seats until it started the pour! Nice being up to your neck in warm water however rain on your head is COLD especially if your name is Andrew who does not have a lot of hair up there! So we went over to the bar area which had an overhang and hung out under there. The bar was doing a VERY good business – which I found very strange as mixing being in water and drinking usually is a no no. There were lifeguards watching pretty carefully everyone in the lagoon area – especially around the bar. Once the shower stopped, we decided to go to the Skjól Bathing Ritual hut. I had been told to find a lifeguard and they would help me. My legs were acting like rubber at that point due to the warmth so they brought a wheelchair out (it was cold to sit on as it was plastic) and I climbed the stairs out of the lagoon and got into the wheelchair. Thank goodness the lifeguard brought me two towels so I could cover up a bit as it was SO COLD being outside of the lagoon! Andrew then pushed me into the hut and through the different treatment areas. They are as follows:

• Laug – which is being in the lagoon and the geothermic waters
• Kuldi – the “cold plunge” I SKIPPED THIS – they have a hot tub like structure before the door where you can take the plunge – just getting out of the water and into the wheelchair was enough cold for me!
• Kulr – the dry sauna overlooking the Atlantic through Iceland’s largest single window
• Suld – cold mist – again, Andrew and I skipped this!
• Mykt – an invigorating sea salt scrub which also contains almond and sesame oils
• Gufa – back into the steam again so one’s skin can absorb the elements of the sea salt scrub
• Saft – which is an elixir made with the crowberries from the lava fields that embodies that is the essence of krækiber – the spirit of our land. I had 2 shots of this as it was SO GOOD! It was like a cold tea.

After this, we got back into the lagoon – another cold experience being outside and getting into the lagoon was like a warm blanket! We hung out on one of the “arms” of the lagoon out of the wind until we were raisins basically and then, as it was dark, we decided to depart. It was a VERY relaxing, calming experience! I would do it again in a heartbeat! As I did not want to take my cell phone in the pool (it was not allowed in the treatment hut) here are pictures that I took in the facility and pictures from the lagoon that I have gotten off the internet that represent our time there.

After leaving the Sky Lagoon, we had a very relaxing drive back to the hotel and I fell asleep on Andrew pretty early! Oops! Oh well, I was pretty relaxed and warm like a candle! Tomorrow again, we will decide what we will do – we have two planned drives to do – one to Vik and the black sand beach and the other the Golden Circle. It depends on the weather which one will will take on – if the weather looks to be nice – we will be doing the longer one along the south coast of Ireland to the Black Sand Beach and Vik (town) with a couple of stops on the way there. If not, we will be doing the Golden Circle which is a shorter drive to some well known tourist areas. It will be a mystery of what we do until tomorrow! Here is our route from today:

Good morning from Keflavik! It is a beautiful day today and we plan on taking it easy – I am a little sore from being jostled around yesterday on our flight and with transportation (despite the nice wheelchair at the airport) so we decided to just go on a shorter drive around the Reykjanes Peninsula to see what Iceland is all about! This drive actually includes the area where the recent volcano eruption occurred, which cut off access to the town of Grindavik and the much touted Blue Lagoon. First, we had breakfast which was in the hotel lobby/restaurant area and was pretty close to a standard Marriott breakfast. They had gluten free Cheerios which took me by surprise as in Canada Cheerios are not allowed to be marked gluten free. So I passed on them and thought I would look them up later when we went to the grocery store to get some lunch items and drinks. They also provided some very nice brown round dinner roll type bread for me with seeds on top! It was delicious! The yogurt they make in Iceland is very thick and also quite good – reminded me of the yogurt that Fayzeh makes, however it was a bit sweeter.

However, before we went on our drive, I had a surprise for Andrew! Near the airport was the Iceland Rock and Roll museum – why not continue the trend started in Ireland and visit this museum too! So off we went to see about the rock and roll musicians from Iceland – which I could only think of one – Bjork. Once there – Andrew did recognize a few more names – he listens to the radio way more than I do! It was interesting learning about music from a country that really the North American music scene does not have that much influence from – they have their own awards shows now in Iceland and often participate in European events.

Now we started on our drive towards the Blue Lagoon and Grindavik. As you will see – there was a lot of moss and rocks on the ground and then it turned into a lava rock field as we got closer to the Blue Lagoon. Also at that time the highway changed to a temporary road that routed us to the Blue Lagoon and then down the slope to Grindavik. It was VERY obvious that Iceland had done a lot of work to make the Blue Lagoon which is their biggest tourist attraction available to be accessed. There are busses that transport people to it from both the Keflavik Airport and downtown Reykjavik and back each day, along with the people who rent cars. Due to reviews of its accessibility, we did not visit the Blue Lagoon – I had something else up my sleeve instead! Once we drove around the Blue Lagoon area, we drove up a hill and from the summit we could see the road ahead down to Grindavik that we were going to travel. Still a temporary road until we got close to the town and the houses. We drove around the waterfront, however there was not much to see so then we continued on our path to the south and around the south west part of the peninsula and then we stopped at a grocery store for some goodies prior to going back to the hotel for the evening.

Now back at the hotel, I was FINALLY able to get hold of the company that hosts my website and work out the issue with why I could not upload pictures very well. On top of there being an issue with my website, the wifi at the Courtyard, despite being on the Enhanced Plan, was extremely slow! The hotel was good and did call their support agency however they told me that it was operating properly. When I went down to the front desk to check the speed in the lobby of the hotel and to see if it was different, there was another person down there working on their laptop. So I asked him how he was finding the wifi speed and he told me he was barely able to work it was so slow. Glad it was not just me experiencing the issues!

Tomorrow we are going to see what the weather forecast is when we get up. The weather here changes SO FAST that I was warned to not make final plans until each morning. We will heed that advice!

Here was our drive today:

We got an extra hour of sleep last night! Ireland changed back to standard time at 2am this morning! I now remember this happening when we were in Australia and wondering why the whole world does not change on the same day… I know we will be changing in North America in two weeks. Makes calculating time zone changes so complicated now! I just realized that our flight today is actual flying time and no time change is happening as Ireland and Iceland are now on the same time zone. So it was not hard to get up at 7am to get everything organized and ready to check in to fly to Iceland today – also a new airline (Icelandair) to try out!

As we filled up with gas last night, all we had to do was to get to the EuropCar rental car return, which was kind of an interesting experience! Using Google Maps, I entered the Car Hire Return lot as all returns are in the same place, and it took us to the airport instead (much to Andrew’s frustration)! So leaving the airport we saw the Car Hire Return sign and managed to get to the return area for EuropCar, and unpacked our car only to have the return agent come up to us, as I was putting some bags on my walker, to tell us that we could have returned the car to Terminal 1 (where we had already been and where we were flying out of) due to me having a disability. Really??? NOW Andrew remembers being told this when we rented the car – was I told? Nope. I would remember things like that as getting into the rental car van is usually a challenge (Andrew has to push me upwards to into the front due to how tall they are). We still arrived on time, 3 hours prior to our flight which was good! As I had spent some time walking around this medium sized airport when we arrived a month ago, I knew where the elevator was and where we were going to check-in. We quickly got checked in at Icelandair and the gentleman told us to go through Express security and the lounge is on the other side. I also THOUGHT he said that the VAT refund was next to our departure gate number 102, at gate 103.

Got through security with the normal issues – they had to check my knitting supplies (NOT YARN) and my medical stuff and then we got to the lounge. The lounge was used by all the international carriers that used T1 (about 10) and it was very BUSY with travel lice standing around and blocking the places where people had to get to – such as the inspection tables for the CATSA type people.

We found our way to the lounge – indeed it was right next to security! The downside to this lounge was not only for Business Class and Elite program members of the 8 or so International Airlines that T1 served, they also admitted passengers buying their way into the lounge for 60 Euros per adult! So we all had to line up and the line was slow as they were turning away people who wanted to pay as the lounge was already almost at capacity. Finally, we got in and remained there for about 2 hours where we had breakfast and I was finally able to upload some pictures to my website – they have very fast internet at the Dublin Airport!

At 10:30am we left the lounge to walk the “10 minutes” the check in agent told me, to the gate. I am not slow at walking like some people who use rollators are, however I am not ultra speedy either! Even using the moving walkways and walking instead of standing on them (they were wide like in the Chicago O’Hare Airport), and walking a kilometre, we finally arrived at the gate for our flight and there was no VAT refund nearby (it was gate 303 instead in a different wing)!

There was no one in the gate area though, so I was confused. I then looked out the window – and there was an Icelandair jet but it was NOT connected to a jetway! It was now 10:45am and everyone was either on the plane or waiting to climb the stairs with 45 minutes yet to go until the doors closed. Wow. They board EARLY here! I then noticed a guy with a hazzard vest on, who shortly came up to me and asked if I was Lynda, which I confirmed and he said he would call the Ambu-Lift for me to get onto the plane. The gate agent then scanned us onto the flight and said to me “why did not one help you get here”? I said no one offered wheelchair service nor told us accurately how far a walk it was! The Ambu-Lift then arrived and we went down to the tarmac and got onto it.

We sat in the Ambu-Lift for about 5 minutes – normally this lift boards people from either door 2 (front right) or door 4 (right side before the wing) exit doors. I could see this was a 757 – which was interesting – I have not been on one of these planes for about 25 years – they have mostly been decommissioned/sold off by North American carriers. Both the airline doors that are normally used by the lift were blocked with equipment that would have to be moved – especially the power unit that was hooked up to the plane. The driver of the Ambu-lift went out to see what he could do. Eventually we drove around the back of the plane to door 1 instead (the stairs people climbed up were at door 3) which was quite convenient to our seats – which were 2D and 2F – right across and in front of the bulkhead from the door! There was no row 1 on this plane which was interesting and a surprise! I do not remember selecting bulkhead seats but was happy to get them. We also seemed to be the last people onto the plane… As I got seated, I saw my walker ride the conveyer belt into the hold and then we waited 15 minutes until it was time to leave (11:15) and off we taxied to the runway. It was a beautiful day for a flight as you will see below –

The flight was about 2 hours and 40 minutes “gate” to “gate” in a Boeing 757 which I often call the cigar tube plane as for me, it looks like a giant cigar tube, fairly high in the air due to its large engines. We stayed at the Courtyard by Marriott hotel in Keflavik which is about a 3 minute drive from the airport, on one of the main roads. The hotel is about 3 years old and while very nice, it really is in the middle of nowhere right now. There is a grocery store being built next to it, however right now, there are 2 restaurants in the hotel, a bar and a pharmacy across the parking lot. There also are electric car charging stations at the far end of the parking lot – about 8 of them – which they look to be a popular site to visit due to the express charge that they provide. We could have stayed at a Marriott Hotel in downtown Reykivik, however when I looked at the points needed to stay in those hotels (as their room rate was higher than I would pay) I just could not justify the number of points for a 5 night stay, even if the 5th night was free. It was half the cost to stay at the Courtyard – besides – we planned on being out enjoying Iceland each day as we were not going to be there for long – so why spend all the extra points!

On the flight, which you might notice above, I had the best gluten free meal that I have had on an airline in decades – one thing that bothers me is I often get the main meal which is correct however due to not a lot of gluten free meals being made these days as meals are only provided in business class domestically and then when flying over an ocean in both business class and domestic, they can be plated incorrectly like a regular bun instead of a GF bun and instead of a cool dessert like chocolate cake, we get fruit. This meal was awesome – it was chicken, that was seasoned really well (not just salt), crisp veggies, rice, a gluten free bun, and for desert – a chia pudding that was not too sweet – perfection! I know from my experience with United Airlines and getting the GFML change system wide when I travelled for my job installing software around North America and in New Zealand, that I was not only the highest consumer of the GFML, but less than 1% of the meals served at that time were gluten free. That causes airlines and flight kitchens to combine meals – such as bland/diabetic/gluten free together and sometimes they are not very palatable. When I get one this good it is a surprise!

As for the flight and Icelandair, they were fantastic – I sure lucked out sitting on the starboard side of the plane and being able to see the volcanoes and blue water as we flew over the southern peninsula of Iceland and then banked left to land to the east at Keflavik airport, which is about 45 minutes south of Reykjavik. We really lucked out with the weather for this flight – being able to see the volcanos and blue water from the sky was amazing – the topology was so different than I have seen in other parts of the world. The white peaks that are so sharp and sticking out of the clouds below truly were a sight to see and I was looking forward to exploring Iceland even more!

However Iceland is COLD! The Kefilik airport does not have a lot of jetways attached to the airport building for some unknown reason – instead they have jetways that are permeant structures out on the tarmac, so we pulled up next to one of them. Everyone got off and went down the escalator and then onto waiting busses to be transported to the terminal building. There are no elevators in these buildings so they had to bring the Ambu-lift out for us – it was a brand spanking new lift truck! I imagine they do not get a lot of people requiring wheelchair assistance arriving in Iceland – we shall see what we run into this week in terms of accessibility! Andrew and I were taken to the terminal and then I was put into a VERY comfortable wheelchair to be escorted through customs and then to the baggage area and out into the terminal where we then walked to the Hertz car rental counter. The escort was very nice however for a small airport the process of going through customs and to the baggage claim was VERY confusing! You had to go up to the 2nd floor and across and then down to the 1st floor and then up to the 2nd floor to exit and then down to the 1st floor again. No idea why however the escort was really helpful and made the process fast and as painfree as possible. I just wish that happened in Canada at our airports!

When we got to the Hertz counter to pick up our car – it was one time that I was very thankful that I had frequent renter status with Hertz! We went into the Gold line and the agent questioned if we were in the right place, I gave him my name and he confirmed that we were and proceeded to “upgrade” our car from manual to automatic as he thought it would be easier to drive. There is a significant different between the price of manual cars (cheaper) than automatic cars in Europe, so that was nice of him to do! He also gave us a KIA hatchback which was nice – however it was small – my walker would not fit in the trunk without one of the back seats down! So he gave us directions on how to get to the onsite car lot to get to our car and we walked out of the airport and it was like hitting a wall of cold – wow! That was one chilly walk to pick up our car 2 small parking lots away! I did not realize how cold it was when we were transferred from the Ambu-lift to the terminal – it was now about 4pm and it was COLD and windy! Time for those long johns!

We arrived at the Courtyard without many issues and quickly got settled in our room. As we had to go through customs and not knowing the rules for food, we did not have any dinner supplies so we went downstairs to the Tokyo (Japanese) restaurant in the lobby. While I love Japanese food and there is an excellent GF Japanese restaurant in Vancouver, I did not bring any GF soya sauce with me so a lot of the menu items were off limits to me and I really did not feel like just eating sushi. So I asked one of the waiters what they would suggest and he said they can make plain rice, salad and salmon for me – sounded good! It does not break my fish rule (being 1 timezone away from the ocean to consume fish) as we are surrounded by ocean! Andrew had a chicken donburi (chicken, egg, glass noodles, onions, soya sauce on rice). WOW, was my salmon good! I have had the luxury of having many different types of salmon, with Copper River being one of my favourites (out of Alaska) however this salmon was melt in your mouth! It actually was Atlantic Salmon (which in general I do not like), but this Atlantic Salmon is caught in Iceland which makes it more fatty and delicate from what is caught or farmed off the east coast of the USA. I will definitely have Iceland Atlantic salmon again! After that lovely meal, it was time to hit the sack – tomorrow morning I am going to do some planning and map out what we are going to do for the next 4 days in Iceland!