The long way to Iceland

We left for the airport, courtesy of Katie Beth, at 6:00AM for a 9:00 flight with Jet Blue to Boston with a planned day there before boarding our Iceland Air flight to Reykjavik the next day at noon. We were hoping to arrive in Boston and be settled in our hotel by noon for a quick visit to one of our favorite cities. As air travel goes these days, we arrived, waaay behind schedule at about 6:00 pm. Delayed flight, air-traffic control issues in Atlanta, misplaced luggage in Boston, and the selection of an incorrect shuttle to our hotel were all contributors. (Who knew there are two Hampton Inn Logan Airport locations?) Despite all of that, we managed to find our way to Pier 6 in the Chelsea part of town where we had a delicious seafood meal while gazing out at the Boston Harbor at sunset!

For us, international travel proved to be much easier! Nice 5 hour flight ( or less) with interesting seat mates made the flight memorable. We had not been assigned seats in advance, despite many attempts, so I was initially given a window seat. That doesn’t bode will with my claustrophobia. As it turned out, I was able to change seats with a fellow passenger and George and I sat near the emergency exit with ample leg room. We did not sit together but each of us met some very colorful fellow travelers–a young couple from Georgia that was determined for us to find a common friend from Ga Southern and another couple who was planning to mountain bike up to the volcano if it reopened. And, yes, we could see the smoke rising from the active volcano as we descended to the runway. We pretty quickly found a taxi driver that took us to our self check-in Micro Suites. He told us how much he hates Iceland in the winter so he spends his winters in the Canary Islands. I’m kind of with him on that- it is already clear that this is much more pleasant than our February 2022 visit. We found a restaurant, Olsen-Olsen, across the street where we listened to Rock N Roll while eating our first lamb chops of the trip. Delicious! Yep, we never hear music here, if like our last visit, that isn’t famous American tunes from the 60s and 70s! We slept in our tiny little room, with the midnight sun shining through the window, as we anticipated the Rolling Adventure to start the next day.