Didn’t sleep very well, got up at about 0800 and went walking towards a Paul’s bakery at about 0900. Weather was decent, some cloud but mostly sunny but a bit cold. After about 10 minutes decided we might not make it to the Paul’s to get back in time to check out so stopped at a Pret a Manger – a chain of bakeries that are everywhere in London. Had a coffee and croissant and picked up a couple of rolls for the journey.
Got to the station to go to the airport, got the wrong train ticket – I meant to get the express but got the commuter train instead. It turns out that the express takes 30 minutes but the normal train took 35, and is £5 less. So we did well in the end.
The airport wasn’t busy and we got through security pretty quickly considering it was very thorough – pockets emptied, laptop out, through a metal detector, shoes off, stand in the scanner, physical body search and another scan with a hand held metal detector. I suspect it’s been beefed up since last week. Luckily he didn’t put on a rubber glove.
Got to the gate and it was packed – I didn’t realise Iceland was so popular. Got on the plane – wifi! First plane I’ve been on with internet. 3 hours of youtube cat videos to enjoy. Actually it cost 7 euro and because I’m a tight arse didn’t use it.
Sat on the tarmac for about 30 minutes with no explanation then finally took off. We were surrounded by a bunch of teenage school kids and had to listen to lots of ‘Oh my God’s and ‘She was so like totally’s but I put my noise cancelling earphones on and watched tv.
Coming into land, the pilot announced it was 3 degrees which wasn’t too bad. We broke through the clouds and saw some steam rising from the landscape which was black and flat, with no vegetation to be seen. Got the bus to the hotel and the scenery was bleak – rocky, very flat except for mountains in the distance. No trees at all and very little vegetation, just lichen on the rocks and some brown grass. There was a light covering of snow on the ground.
Got to the hotel, and Song had done a fantastic job again. It was a small apartment with a sitting room, queen size bed with an ensuite and a separate kitchen. We unpacked and headed out, and it was bloody cold. I picked a couple of restaurants from Tripadvisor and we settled on Ostabudin – the number 2 restaurant in Reykjavik. I had lamb on mash with beetroot and mushrooms, and hazelnuts, Song had plaice and we shared a cheesecake for dessert. I also had a local beer. The meal was superb. My lamb was cooked to perfection and the texture was amazing. However, it wasn’t cheap – $110. But Iceland is expensive. We went walking again and found the main street and there were lots of places to eat so we have a lot of choice. Took some photos and went back to the hotel. Song was tired and went to bed, and I thought about going into the freezing cold again to see if I could see the Northern Lights, but read the best time was between 23:00 and 01:00 and frankly I wasn’t too keen, so went to bed.
Tomorrow we’re going to the Blue Lagoon, a thermal bath spa.
