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Wednesday, October 3, 2012

Hello, Iceland!

We were up at 6:00am this morning, and our hosts in England drove us to Hereford train station. Our train arrived and departed right on time, and by 8:00am we were watching the green English countryside wizz by.

Changed trains once, and the second train arrived right at Manchester airport. How simple is that!? We had to sit around for a couple of hours, but we find that time spent waiting in airports goes by fairly quickly and this time was no different. Our flight to Iceland left right on time.

The plane was only about half full, so we had a row to ourselves, and in fact the row opposite us was totally empty too. But then tourist season in Iceland ended at the end of September. One of the reasons we decided to come here now is that prices for a lot of tourist related things are cheaper after September 30.

Kind of a neat picture out the window looking down on the north Atlantic.

We landed right on time, around 3:00pm local time. The main international airport is actually at the town of Keflavik, 45 minutes from Reykjavik. We took the FlyBus Plus service that takes you from the airport directly to your hotel. It's fairly expensive. But then we've been told that everything in Iceland is expensive. Cost is 2500 Icelandic Kronas ($20.00) per person for the one way trip. Or, you can also buy a round trip ticket for 4500 Kronas ($36.00) per person. This is really the only logical way to get to Reykjavik if you're not renting a car. You could walk from the airport to the town of Keflavik and then take the local bus for cheaper money, but it's about a 45 minute walk across barren land and I'll tell you, we're glad we didn't attempt that.

Why?

Because while it's about 5C (41F), the wind will just about blow you over. Just walking to the bus was chilly, so we are glad we had the FlyBus tickets!

Barren windswept land on the way to Reykjavik.

Made it to our hotel and got set up there. I'll do a separate post about that later. But one thing I'll share is that we were lucky enough to get a fifth floor room and we have a bit of a view.

View from our hotel room.

Then we went for a quick walk, just to pick up our 72 hour Reykjavik cards from the tourists office and a stop at the grocery store for some snacks and makings for lunch tomorrow.

We have the morning free tomorrow, but after that we are going whale watching with Elding, Adventures at Sea! Can't wait for that, it's a three to five hour tour and they've been seeing a lot of whales the last few days. Should be very exciting!

Okay, gotta cut this short and go get some dinner.

First impressions of Iceland? Barren, windy, and cold. But I also see the potential for some fantastic photographs. The clouds themselves are amazingly different. We're going to make the most of the next five days and I think you're in for an exciting adventure with us!

Kevin, very happy that he bought a new coat!

24 comments:

  1. Would have thought they would have had better system of transport from the airport. Back when I was in service Keflavik had a huge Nato air base that was refueling stop for military planes.I guess that is gone now with being able to cross with in flight refueling.Have fun . Sam & Donna...

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    1. It would be nice if there was a cheaper way to get from the airport to the city but is was effiecent.

      The US/NATO Naval Air Base closed in 2006, it was then used by Icelandic Defence Agency until January, 1 2011.

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  2. Look at that brick street. Cool! Stay warm and have fun.

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  3. I dunno man, that "wind swept barren" thing kinda reminds me of my last winter on the "North Mountain" in Nova Scotia. Something I'd prefer to never experience again.
    Good luck with that.
    I'll just look at the pictures, thanks.
    Keep those tissues handy.

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    1. Yep, probably just as cold and windy but I think the scenery here will make up for it.

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  4. Iceland appears to be a good name. It just looks way too cold. But I sure am looking forward to the whale pictures.

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    1. It has been quite cold and windy for the last few days but on average it has a better average winter time temperature than New City or Toronto. In the coastal lowlands the average temperature in January is usually between -3C (26.6F) and +2C (35.6F), it gets colder in the highlands. This is do to some warm ocean currents, so really it's not as bad as it's name sounds.

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  5. Good thing you bought a new coat Kevin, it looks like you will be using a lot over the next few days......
    Brrrrrrrrr

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  6. That coat doesn't look warm enough for me!

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    1. It is actually a fairly thick fall/light winter jacket. Kevin said it is doing a good job so far.

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  7. What an abrupt change in the architecture, even that looks cold! I would imagine there should be some great photo opportunities, hope it isn't too cold for you. Kind of like Canada, once September is gone it's darn cold. We've had several night under zero and a horrible wind Monday, although I don't think it would be as cold as what it looks like you are up against there.
    Well have fun there, I hope you get to see lots of exciting things and take lots of cool pictures.

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    1. Definitely a big change in architecture from England. Still some pretty neat looking buildings.

      Yes, it is just a bit chilly but in general their temperature is better than most of Canada on average in the winter.

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  8. 31 hot and humid here in Acapulco!!!

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    1. Won't be long before we start heading that way. Looking forward to shorts and t-shirt weather again.

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  9. Wow, what a change! Makes me shiver just thinking about those low temps. Bundle up for your whale watching trip. Can't wait to see more!

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  10. Ha! Kevin, you look absolutely frozen in that windbreaker! Better take the blankets off the bed with you on that whale watching trip! Can't wait for the photos!
    Grace (in Tucson)

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    1. He is so happy to have this new coat. It is actually pretty warm, he is just a wuss when it comes to cold weather. They actually supply overalls and blankets on the trip. No fear of being cold.

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  11. Iceland's got some great geothermal spots. Try the Blue Lagoon. But there's some amazing nature on that Island.
    Can't wait to hear how things are doing there from an economic viewpoint.

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    1. We are hoping to head to a city thermal pool tomorrow moring. Not going to Blue Lagoon this trip. The country seems to have recovered very well. Kevin will do a little more research into and will try and touch on that in another post later.

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  12. Another great adventure hope you stay warm enough.

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  13. bet your glad we checked to see if you had your thermals packed.........enjoy!

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    1. Yep, his is very happy to have them. He was wearing them today on the whale watching trip. Thank you!

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  14. You are only two degrees from the Arctic Circle!

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