Iceland

Dec 9:  Sunrise 11:05a - Sunset 3:34p We met in the hotel lobby at 10:45a for our 11a departure on our tour. Our Guide is GUNNUR ROBERTSDOTTIR a nice woman maybe in her mid 30's to 40's. There are possibly 32-33 people in our group. Some were not there to begin the tour for today. Possible flight delays or who knows.  We have a full sized bus that is fairly comfortable. We drove by the iconic Höfði House. We didn't get out because it is just a few minute walk from our hotel so we can get photos later if we desire.  We stopped at the closed art museum to glimpse the artwork of Ásmundur Sveinsson and Einar Jónsson, both famous Icelandic artists. We walked around the sculpture garden and heard different stories about the sculptures depicting normal life in Iceland.  We drove on to the presidential residence at Bessastadir, which was out of the city so we saw different sites and nice views of the mountains and water. Their president has no re...

Dec 8:  Sunrise 11:03a - Sunset 3:35p We planned to get up early, do a lot of walking to explore the city...but in truth we barely got up in time to make it to the breakfast buffet that ends at 10a! We have information gathered to do the Ho-Ho Bus if we have the time tomorrow. It is a 60 minute trip if you don't get off. There are a few places we would like to see, so maybe 3 hours? As for today we did NOTHING. I slept most of the day, I guess I really needed it. The last two days were exhausting so John was also happy to rest. He found a British channel that was comparable to Hallmark Christmas movies so he was quite content.  We basically skipped lunch since we did nothing and we did eat a big, late breakfast. At breakfast there are Asian, British, American choices, and more at the huge breakfast buffet. For dinner we had to decide what to do, though I was not really hungry anyway. There are 3 options in our hotel: The Beer Garden, the  Haust   Dinner Buffet (h...

Christmas is celebrated on Dec. 24th by going to church, then opening gifts, and special time with the family playing games or cards.  The Folklore abounds for this holiday. They have not ONE Santa but  there are 13 to be found! Yes,  Iceland has 13 Santa Clauses, called  Yule Lads (and family) . Christmas season starts when the first Yule Lad comes to town (13 days before Christmas Eve), and finishes when the last one leaves town (Twelfth Night). (These Yule Lads are part of a family tied into the Christmas Cat and Gryla mentioned below).   There is this cat folklore tale. It is a bit foggy to me though I have heard it twice. The cat belongs to some ugly (and horrible) old woman named Gryla who lives far away in the mountains and eats children. There is a display of this Christmas Cat quite prominent downtown. Here's where it gets unclear - If children are naughty by not being nicely dressed for church on Christmas they risk two things. 1) they will on...

Dec 7:  Sunrise 11:01a - Sunset 3:37p Arrival KEF was even a bit early. We disembarked and headed to customs, which was pretty quick. It was a long way to baggage claim or it felt long to us anyway. Soooo thankful that our suitcases made it! The shuttle FlyBus that we booked was just outside the terminal door, with 4 seats left, and departed KEF in moments after we boarded. It is weird that it is pitch black dark and NO snow to be seen anywhere. The way this shuttle works is quite efficient. First they check your ticket and give you a color coded ticket for you next shuttle bus. This bus will take us to the main terminal in Reykjavik. I bought our tickets ahead of time at home, and happy I did because there was quite a line in the terminal to get a ticket. Now we are on our way to the hotel. There was one drop off outside of Reykjavik and then on to the bus terminal. Almost everyone got off but we stayed onboard with about 8 other people. We were then dropped at our hotel....

Dec 6: 5am taxi to airport. Flight to Seattle. Depart FAT 6:35a. We will have quite a wait in Seattle but it is better to be sure we really depart and arrive in Seattle on time for our Reykjavik flight. We killed a little time by having breakfast at Anthony's Restaurant at SEA TAC.  We were told it is "a long walk" to our gate in the international terminal but in reality it was a short enough walk and airport train ride to the gate. There were some comfortable chairs and tables there so we were able to elevate our legs and John took a nap.  Icelandair is okay. They did ask everyone to come up and have their carryon back measured for compliance. It was a full flight. John's back didn't make the cut but mine squeaked by with some shoving into the allotted space. In reality, the bags would have both fit in the storage space but John didn't mind checking it (free).  We boarded our flight to Reykjavik on tine and left by the 2:40p scheduled ti...

There is a 8 hour time difference. So when it is noon in California, it is 8p in Iceland. Iceland: Reykjavik & The Northern Lights Itinerary Dec 6, Day – pre-tour 1 Travel Day Depart Fresno 5am taxi to airport. Board your overnight flight to Reykjavik today. Depart FAT 6:35a – Depart SEA 2:40p We booked 2 extra nights in Reykjavik to look around and rest up. Dec 7, Day – pre-tour 2 - Sunrise 11:01a - Sunset 3:37p Arrival in Reykjavik (KEF) Get cash from ATM Arrival KEF 6:05a. Shuttle: Reykjavik Excursions ticket purchased. Hotel: Fosshotel Reykjavik Þorunnartun 1 - Hpfaatorg Reykjavik 105 Iceland. Tel:+354 531 9000 We have the whole day to explore Reykjavik! Privately Booked : Ticket: WRE-T584693 - The Reykjavík Food Walk Foodie Tour for 12:30p for a 3.5 long lunch and walking tour. After that we should be ready for settling into our hotel room and an early bedtime.   Dec 8, Day 1 - Sunrise 11:03a - Sunset 3:35p Explore Reykjavik...

Here are a few webcams I have enjoyed glancing at, hard to catch daylight with our PST time zone.  Reykjavík, view of the capital's Lutheran Church Reykjavik-not sure just where in Reykjavik  (scroll through for more views in Iceland) Reykjavik Harbour Shipbrokers Live