Iceland – Day 9

Sunday July 19

Reykjavik

We got up early as usual. The breakfast at the hotel was great. The dining area was on the 4^th floor (I think) with an interesting view over roof tops. Breakfast was similar to the other places we stayed at but still seemed to be at a slightly higher level. Bread, yoghurt, musli and cereal, cheese, eggs, coffee, tea, juice, etc., etc.

After breakfast we packed our stuff but didn’t bring it to the cars right away, there was still some time to checkout (noon). Instead we went sweater shopping at Handknitting Association of Iceland. Philip bought a sweater there many years ago and the shop is still in business (and he still has the sweater). What a great place. Sweaters everywhere!

 

 

We spent quite some time there. Thorkild got a cardigan and I got another sweater and some fingerless gloves. Philip got a hat and maybe something else. 

Anders and Aase went to another place where Anders also got a sweater in a different style. We got the cars, parked them a little closer to the hotel, and loaded them up before we checked out. Here are some images from the parking lot.

 

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We still had some time before we had to leave for the airport. Philip and I walked around town and ended at the old harbor. Anders went to an art museum. Not sure what Aase and Thorkild were doing but they were probably walking around.

 

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Philip also got this shot of a small convenience store (what else do you need, really?):

 

 

We all met up for coffee and cake at Café Babalú. Can recommend that place for sure. We also ordered food to go. Thorkild, Philip, and I were on one side of the table with our new sweaters, the Sweater Gang. Aase and Anders on the other side, laughing (not at us I believe.)

 

 

And one more picture of Anders:

 

 

It was time to get to the airport. That was a confusing experience to say the least. First, the return of the rental cars took longer than expected because they were actually checking each car for dents etc. Both of our cars passed and we walked to the terminal. We tried to check in at the kiosks but there were some problems with Anders and Thorkild’s tickets. They all got in line and it turned out that the plane was overbooked; Aase got her seat but Anders and Thorkild were out of luck. After some negotiations, Anders was upgraded to business class, Thorkild to first class, and Aase was left on monkey class. Since Anders was now on business, he didn’t have to pay extra to get his fishing gear home.

We still had some beers left. We tried to give them away but nobody wanted beer from strangers. We had to put them in the trash. Strange solution.

The airport reconstruction did not help, hopefully they will be done with that soon. Going through security was another experience. It took a long time and when we got to the scanner, Thorkild realized (yet again) that he forgot to pack his Swiss army knife in his checked-in luggage. This time he was not as lucky as when we were in Utah: he had to give it up – forever. Too bad, it had been with him for a long time.

When we got into the transit area, Anders and Philip got lost. Aase, Thorkild, and I went to the tax return area and after standing in line there for a while we found out that we should not have been in that line. Instead we had to fill out the paperwork and drop it in a mailbox. Finally, it was all done! At that point we found first Anders and then Philip.

It was time to say goodbye to Anders, Aase, and Thorkild. We walked them to their gate and saw them getting on a bus out to their plane. Philip and I had a little time before our plane left for Boston. During our flight, Philip found inspiration from one of the Icelandic Sagas and conversations with Anders and he drew this (yep he was bored):

 

 

We all got home safe and sound after a fantastic trip to Iceland. Looking forward to visiting again.

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