Again, had an awesome breakfast at the hotel, including being given a brown seeded GF bun for me to make a turkey and cheese sandwich for later today! We then drove into Reykjavik and parked in one of the Accessible parking spots (which are free to park in all day) and walked to find the yarn store (I hoped)! Low and behold, I saw the window of yarn from across the street! We were at the Handknitting Association of Iceland!
The store was NOT accessible however I was determined to get some wool so Andrew helped me with the couple of stairs into the store and then up into the yarn section (about 75% of the store were pre-knit items) and I was then in yarn heaven! So I filled my basket with Icelandic wool, paid and then we left, visited the store across the street to get Andrew a tshirt (this store was cool – it has an orange cat on the cashier desk that I thought was a stuffed cat as it was so still, but then suddenly it moved!) and then we walked back to the car along the “shopping street” of Reykjavik which is called Laugavegur and the street on which we parked.
We picked up our luggage at the hotel and fit it plus my walker into the car (our Kia was not a large car at all but an “upgrade” from a manual to an automatic which was nice I guess so I could drive too – which I did not have to as Andrew really likes to drive) and drove the 3km to the Keflavik airport. Along the way we could see the planes on the tarmac at the “remote” boarding gates and I sure hoped we did not have to go through that process again as it is COLD outside! The airport is fairly small – only about 40 commercial flights in a day plus quite a few cargo flights which are larger planes – up to 747’s. You know when one of those is landing or taking off! The commercial flights are mostly Boeing 737’s or Airbus 319 and 321’s – all single aisle planes. There are several flights a day to the Eastern USA by various air carriers and Icelandair also flies to Vancouver and Seattle – their longest routes. Both routes used to be served by 757 planes however Icelandair recently sold off their remaining 757’s to be made into freighter cargo carriers and are now investing in the 737 Max8 which is the plane we were on to Vancouver (and also flies to Seattle). For me, at 7 hours and 45 minutes, it was the longest 737 flight I have been on based on the inventory of flights that I have recorded. We actually flew on one of the 737-300’s last flights on October 27th, as it was taken out of service on October 28th, 2024. I had a nice chat with the captain while waiting for the ambu-lift that day and he seemed sad and I did not know why other than he said that the 757 will not longer be flying to Vancouver. Now I know why!
Getting through security was pretty simple – way easier than in Ireland where even a kleenex in your pocket bothered them – however it was a bit of a walk to the lounge, half of it seemed to be through (not around) duty free stores! Thank goodness they do not make you walk through perfume sections like we do in North America! Speaking of Duty Free, it is different in Europe – you are actually offered Duty Free BEFORE and AFTER your flight – both before going through customs. I think this is a great idea with the restriction on liquids that is in effect – one less thing to carry onto and have damaged or forgotten on the plane too! We ended up in a beautiful lounge where we sat for about an hour relaxing and by the time we were ready to leave and my escort was picking us up, the lounge was almost empty! Our 5:15pm flight departure was one of the last flights departing from the airport! So we went through customs, which was a mere formality and then to the gate where there was already a HUGE lineup to board the plane – with it seemed family boarding had started due to the screaming baby.
Again, they were waiting for us (the escort was late arriving in the lounge to get us) and I explained to the lady helping me in the wheelchair the type of assistance I needed at the plane with regards to noise and she said “I understand and will take care of you”. She was excellent! She talked to the gate agents and then we went down the jetway where the 1st class passengers and families were waiting to board the plane and she excused us all the way to the front of the line, took down the barrier (never seen that before) and went up to the flight attendant and asked if I could board. The other passengers were about 15 feet away and I could not hear the baby anymore which was good. I successfully got onto the plane without much anxiety! It sure helps when the person providing assistance is trained on the different needs and key words that people say in order to make their airport experience less stressful. I proceeded to knit away while the plane boarded and very soon it was time to push back!
After a very short taxi we had liftoff! We took off in clear with high cloud weather – we banked to the right sharply which allowed for some good pictures and headed south west and above the clouds. At this time, the sky became reddish pink which showed the clouds had blocked the sunset below. That sunset continued almost for the whole flight (due to how north we were and we were flying southwest to Vancouver – which is strange to say)! We then landed in Vancouver 45 minutes later by the clock when it was still bright out! It was 1am, November 2nd, Iceland time, but 6pm, November 1st, Vancouver time. Got through customs and out of the airport really fast and we were home by 7:20pm. I was asleep by 7:30pm in my own bed!
So that was our 63 day trip to Toronto, Virgina, North Carolina, Washington DC, Montreal, Ireland and Iceland! But wait! There is one more post to come! And that is our statistics one! Hang on a couple of days! Also you will find out where our adventuring will take us next 🙂 !