Our flight to Reykjavic was overnight, we left at 9pm and arrived around 6am but it wasn't really that long as we changed timezones midflight so unsure of how long we were actually in the air. We had wondered if we were going to make it to Iceland with their volcano erupting the way it has been over the last month or so but here we are. Mother Nature has given us a small window of clear air. We had been thinking that all these problems may have been hurting the Icelandic economy and denting their tourist income, Iceland is bankrupt, but no, apparently lots of people like to see and active and threatening volcano so tourism is bouncing along quite nicely thankyou!
The weather was a bit dismal, misty drizzle and cold but not freezing. We found out about catching a bus to Reykjavic from the airport to spend the day there, Iceland is not a cheap place to holiday but you can't miss out on the opportunity to see part of a nation you have never been to before and may well never see again really, can you. We made friends with a young man from India, travelling on our flight to London and the three of us headed into the capital.
The land seemed a little barren, no grass and not many trees. Once we were in Reykjavic there were more trees amongst the houses and apartment buildings, there were a lot of small apartment buildings.
We dropped one bag at the bus terminal, they kindly let us leave it behind the counter for free (yeah! not too westernised yet) and only had our laptop bags to carry about with us. Another bus driver dropped us for free in the centre which wasn't too far away, it was rather early still and no shops were open. We found the Tourist Information Centre and got out of the rain and looked at the options for free visiting, museums etc. We had no cash and no Icelandic money, only our cards, our friend Jatenda was in the same situation. The weather cleared a bit and we found our way to a recommended cafe and enjoyed a cooked breakfast and hot drink each. The cafe was a small local one with a bit of character, it was nice to sit there and listen to the language of the locals.
From there we wended our way through the city (? its quite small, more of a town) looking at the buildings and trying to find the museum, it had closed 2 years ago. Onward to a large cathedral, and through a small interesting street that had a house with a grass roof (see the pics). Time passed fairly quickly and then we headed back to the terminal to catch the 1.30pm bus back to the airport. The trip takes about 45 minutes (they drive sedately). Checked back in for the next leg to London where we should arrive at 8pm local time. Carol is very worried because she is entering with no visa and no onward ticket, she has prepared everything she can to prove she is not planning to stay and has everything she can crossed for luck.
