BILL AND RAY'S EXCELLENT ADVENTURES IN 

ICELAND

31 JANUARY-7 FEBRUARY, 2018

On 31 Jan. Ray and I checked into our motel at Los Angeles airport awaiting our next day's departure to Iceland. This short trip was inspired by the  fact that Iceland was on our bucket lists and because we were attracted to some bargain flights offered by WOW airlines.

1 FEBRUARY, 2018 THURSDAY

Our 9 hour non-stop flight to Rekjavik departed at about noon and we decided the WOW seating comfort was acceptable although this total no frills airline took some getting used to.  A small cup of coffee cost about $4 and one has to pay extra for any luggage and even for carry on bags.

As we were boarding the plane we noticed a couple of customs officers escorting a young man onto the aircraft. We assumed he was being deported but we learned nothing about it.  The young man did not look very happy about his coming trip to Iceland.

2 FEBRUARY, 2018 FRIDAY

Our flight arrived at Reykjavik around 4am local time (around 8pm PST) and at this time of year and these high latitudes we knew it would not be light before around 10am. We had decided to hang out at the airport and wait for the 7:30 bus which would take us to our first destination, The Blue Lagoon, which is one of Iceland's most popular tourist (trap) destinations. The lagoon is a large, outdoor swimming and bathing lake which is geothermal heated and provides many opportunities for tourist to start spending money in Iceland.

Speaking of money, the local  currency is the krona (ISK) and $1USD buys about 100 ISK. However, currency is not really needed if one stays close to Reykjavik since all merchants accept credit cards and every small purchase is easily charged.

After a long wait at the airport  it  was time to go outside and catch the bus for the Blue Lagoon.  GADZOOKS!! We had a sudden introduction to the winter weather in Iceland! The wind was gusting with hurricane force and icy cold rain was blowing horizontally. Soon we joined about 1000 other  tourists all trying to stay dry and get on the busses bound for downtown Reykjavik and the lagoon. Soon the busses dropped us off and we were dragging out luggage in the dark, wind and rain to the lagoon check in and baggage storage. Finally, in our bathing suits  we made the mad dash outdoors and into the warm water.

 We spent most of our time in the lagoon floating under a little bridge to keep the wind and rain off our bald heads.  It was finally daylight and at 11am we resumed our bus journey from Keflavik (airport area) to downtown Reykjavik and by 1pm were checked into our rooms in the FossHotel Reykjavik which would be our home for 5 nights.

3 FEBRUARY, 2018 SATURDAY

We started out our first full day with a $27USD buffet breakfast at the hotel.  By this time we were already used to the idea of $25 hamburgers and $5 bags of chips.  There are no bargains in Iceland.

Fortunately, the very popular Icelandic Phallological Museum was only one block from our hotel and this was our first destination. This penis museum has an impressive collection of several hundred penises from Icelandic mammals. We did not see any human specimens but the ones from whales, a polar bear, seals and walrus were impressive. According to posted documents several gentlemen have pledged a donation of their packages after they have died.

During the day I strolled down to the old town region to check out the whale museum, the northern lights center (free coffee!), the Old Harbor and the modern Harpa performing arts center.

Our scheduled "northern lights" tour was cancelled due to bad weather. Sadly, we did not see any northern lights due to cloudy weather on this  trip.

4 FEBRUARY, 2018 SUNDAY

Today we had our first bus trip to the "Golden Circle" with Reykjavik Excursions. The weather was blustery and  wet with temps around 40 degrees F.  The Golden Circle included, first, a stop at the Thingvellir National park for a look at the locations where the world's first parliamentary forms of government arose in 930AD and, for us, an exciting chance to see the geology of the spreading zone where the Euroasian and North American tectonic plates are slowly separating.  Actually, from this experience and from our later studies with relief maps I learned that the spreading is far from obvious and we must accept the geologists' interpretations.

 Our second stop was at Geysir for a look at hot geothermal springs and to observe Iceland's old faithful, Strokkur erupting with a hot water explosion. Unfortunately, it was pouring rain, I was soaked and decided not to stand around for the next gusher.

The final stop was at the "golden falls" but rain discouraged a walk to see the falls in detail.

We returned to Reykjavik at about 4pm and were dropped off from the bus for a two block walk back to the hotel.  Our pleasant (but wet) tour turned ugly when the two of us encountered a local thug who bumped into my umbrella and he went into a murderous, aggressive rage with  lots of f-bombs, go back to your country, etc etc.  My not very sincere apology for the umbrella sent him into a frenzy and he assaulted me as we tried to walk  away. I ended up in the emergency room with a  big hematoma on the forearm, gave a report to two polite police officers and returned to the hotel by 7:30PM.

5 FEBRUARY, 2018 MONDAY

The temperature dropped during the night and there was a light dusting of powdery snow across the city. On this day we had decided to do a Hop on Hop Off bus tour around the city.  At 10:45 we picked up the bus at the Hofti House about one block from our hotel.  This building's claim to fame is that it was in 1986 the site of a meeting between Presidents Reagan and Gorbachev for discussions of something I do not recall.

We spent some time at Reykjavik's famous Hallgrimskirja Cathedral. We did not take the elevator to the top of the tower because it was too cloudy for viewing and, besides, there was a long que for the lifts.  There were large numbers of tourists everywhere we went and we wondered what it must be like during the summer seasons. We were also amazed at the numbers of young tourist (mostly speaking English) and puzzled how they could afford to visit such an expensive country!

Another interesting stop for us was the downtown civic center which has a large relief map of Iceland on display. Again, the island's geology was of interest as was the location of Iceland's 4 or 5 major glaciers (with unpronounceable names). Some have active volcanoes beneath the ice and all are melting away with climate change. Geothermal energy is an essential part of Icelandic existence with about 85% of homes heated with hot water and some sidewalks are even heated.

The day ended  with a very slow bus ride back towards the hotel (heavy commuter traffic) in light snow fall.

6 FEBRUARY, 2018 TUESDAY

This was our last full day of our brief adventure and we had scheduled another bus tour, The  South Shore.  Today's weather was cold and windy with lots of clouds.  The tour guide was well informed and easy to understand so here are a few highlights from his talks.  Prior to World War 2 Iceland was not wealthy with lots of subsistence farming and fishing.  However, during the war Britain and the US "occupied" Iceland as the island was of strategic importance for North Atlantic shipping. The influx of money and people boosted the economy and the impacts are still felt today.  Indeed, the Americans left the island only 12 years ago.

The Iceland economy took a major  hit following the 2008 meltdown but things have recovered now. Indeed they feel that a 2010 volcanic eruption attracted lots of international attention and tourists! Hence, Iceland seems to thrive with wars and volcanos!

The town of Vik was our turning around point for return to Reykjavik.  Visibility was limited due to cloudiness but we did visit the famous waterfalls, checked out a glacier, visited a black sand beach with very threatening waves and good columnar basalt formations. I got some photos of an Asian bride who somehow braved the cold wind for photos in her wedding dress (hope she did not get frost bite).

We returned to the hotel at about 8PM, this time being dropped off right outside the hotel (at Ray's insistence).

7 FEBRUARY, 2018 WEDNESDAY

Our return flight to LAX was at 4PM so we had time to do some final walk around and shopping for T shirts, chocolates and stuff before starting our 45 minute bus ride to the airport.  We had a chance to see the Keflavik airport area in the daylight and it was an impressive sight with miles of desolate lava landscape, howling winds (of course) and waves crashing on the shore.

The return flight via WOW air was uneventful (well- some screaming babies) and by 7PM local time we had returned to my car for the drive back to San Diego.

This excellent adventure was over.