First Day!

Turbulence is the new extreme sport! I don't know which is "funner", being shaken around in a plane smaller than a subway car @ 35000 ft, or being jostled in a 189 seater plane over the North Atlantic Ocean...well, for sheer adrenaline, I'll choose the small plane anytime! (Insert sarcasm here...) But, in the flight from Toronto to Boston we were almost 15 minutes early, and we landed almost 15 minutes early in Keflavik--the operative word being "Landed". Yay!!! Safe, not too shaken, and alive.

I have already experienced the infamous Icelandic communication style: I purchased my bus ticket from the airport to my hotel, and I was not sure which of 3 papers given to me by the ticket agent was the actual boarding ticket. I showed the most likely candidate to the driver (who was standing outside the bus watching people put their luggage in the underside of the bus), and asked "Is this the ticket?" He brusquely, but not with malice, stared beyond me and barked "Get in the bus". (Okay! Right away!)

Overall people are genuinely friendly, and very helpful. It is my perception that when Icelanders smile, they mean it, and they are not faking it.

I arrived very early at my hotel (6 hrs before the check-in time), but I was immediately ushered into the lobby, given the pertinent information, and was not allowed to carry any of my luggage. I was asked if I was going to sleep (which was very appreciated that they got it was 4am for me), and asked if I wanted a wake-up call. I was reminded that there was breakfast currently available, and felt quite pampered and respected. After a few minutes of seeking an electrical outlet shallow enough to accomodate my adapter and convertor with no success, I went down to the front desk and described my problem, which was immediately rectified by a small secondary adapter. My computer works, and I didn't fry anything or blow up the hotel!

After a 4 hr "nap" (on a firm, but comfortable bed with very good linens and duvet) I woke up, confirmed my whale watching and northern lights tours, and went out to explore downtown Reykjavik (with very helpful directions by Jon, the front desk guy.) I spent about 2 hrs walking aorund the main area of downtown, seeing the Hallgrímskirkja http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hallgr%C3%ADmskirkja , which is unfortunately covered in construction scaffolding, and the Reykjavik Viking Boat Sculpture, http://www.phototravels.net/iceland/iceland/photo-iceland-d-007.html , which is also almost conpletely obscured by an immense amount of unfinished condominiums. (Pictures of both to come shortly).

Down by the Old Harbour, I found the Kolaportið Flea Market (which is closed weekdays), but the INCREDIBLE infamous hotdog stand across from it was open. http://www.planetware.com/reykjavik/kolaportio-flea-market-isl-hb-kola.htm All I can say is mmmmmmmmmmmm....WOW! 240isk, which is about 2.50 cdn, was an incredible introduction to traditional (well, modern traditional) Icelandic food. It was small, but the raw and crunchy fried onions, and some kind of mustard, with possibly ketchup and mayonnaise was to-die-for. And I didn't even mind looking like a stupid tourist munching away on my cheap hotdog on the main drag, Laugavegur, http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Laugavegur_(Reykjav%C3%ADk) .

Reykjavik is very interesting (duh). It seems to me to be a combination of Toronto, Amsterdam and Montreal in culture, style, geography and attitude. Of course, even the "plain" people are beautiful here; everyone is gorgeous. Everyone is dressed very well. Every store has a sign in the window which I quickly realized was "SALE". About 25% of the stores are vacant with for rent signs. There are no trees (that I have seen). The homes are a mix of metal clad and some sort of stucco (concrete)? Lots of small apartment type units mixed with tall square and quaint houses. I saw a miniature black poodle in full show cut, and a beautiful, friendly, very thick-furred calico cat down by the harbourfront area.

The city slopes Northward towards the Atlantic, with a mildy steep climb towards the south end of the city. The air is fresh, very damp (even when it isn't raining), and clear; not a TRACE of polution...imagine that. (Even the snow right beside the "freeway" type road from the Airport to Reykjavik seemed only mildly beige, as opposed to the black it gets in Toronto). It was windy and raining, but almost no-one had a hood or hat on, and it was certainly not uncomfortable or cold. (Even though it was hovering aroud 1 C.) I HATE wind, but this was not a hateful wind. The negative ions from the ocean carried by the wind may be one of the reasons people from Iceland are known to be so happy.

I got some groceries at the "Bonus" grocery store (an 8 minute walk from my hotel) (my hotel is less than a 20 minute walk to the other end of Reykjavik where the harbour is). The fruit and veg was about 50% inedible, and not much to chose from, but I did get some nice apples and bananas. Food is only a little more expensive than Toronto, but we are totally spoiled for choice and quantity--a reminder to not take our wonderful grocery stores for granted. I got some rye bread, crisp bread, gouda, salami, apples, bananas, a large pkg of snow peas (from Guatemala!), a lg can of pineapple, a large container of real juice, a pack of cookies, 3 bottles of diet sprite (there only seems to be 2 choices for pop in Iceland--coke or sprite), and 4 medium containers of an incredible dairy product that is somewhat like yoghurt (but stiffer), all for under 4000 isk. (45 cdn).

Sorry, I forgot my camera today, but I'm glad I just experienced my first day instead of taking pictures. There will be many coming up. But until then, please enjoy the pics I took on the plane and of my room!