Iceland - Nice Land!

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Greetings from chilly, windy, rainy Iceland - nice land! So refreshing to be in the fresh air (temps this morning were 9 degrees celsius! - not bad!) - beautiful, clean city - awesome, clear, tasty drinking water.

We landed at about 4:30 p.m. - had a big tail wind that got us in earlier. One of my photos (look really close!) has a shot of the ice building on the window by my seat on the plane - I knew we were coming into MY kind of temperature!

Landing was perfect - getting through airport was perfect - bus ride to hotel was perfect and comfy.........we're happy campers.

This is my 3rd trip to Reykjavik - and I love it. Put it on your bucket list - summer or winter. It's unique, friendly, modern, clean and worth the trip.

The ride to the hotel was about 45 minutes - giving all of us a bit of an idea about the topography, the municipalities that we passed, the weather and so on. Arriving at the Grand Hotel, we got into our rooms fairly quickly. Love the lobby! So vast, bright and modern. So are the rooms - very Nordic style. Imagine my surprise when it took Brenda's wisdom to show me that, in fact, there IS a shower in the bathroom ..........behind the bathroom door - go figure! Two heads are always better than one, LOL!

We had a special dinner in the hotel dining room last night - the food was amazing. We were treated to a lecture by David Nickel, a Canadian who lectures at the University in Reykjavik - it was kind of sweet that he had his mother in the audience with him - she was visiting from Manitoba. Love that! It was the first time she had heard him speak in public. Nice, eh?

Then, the children's choir from a local school came in and sang the most beautiful local songs and threw in a few Christmas carols as well. Most enjoyable - our people thoroughly loved the evening - food, entertainment and all. It was great.

Off to bed because we had a very full day lined up for Day 2 in this city - stay tuned for that. Just got back, as a matter of fact - and I'm heading downstairs shortly to meet up with 2 gals I met on my last trip here in 2007 (with whom I have been in contact - courtesy of e-mail AND Facebook - very cool!) - one of the gals is Stella, who was on the Icelandic air crew for my very first World Tour in 2006! I'm looking forward to seeing her.

We have a big gala dinner tonight - not sure if I will get the blog for today completed before heading to bed. We fly out tomorrow to Toronto - and everyone is heading home. I will probably finish up the blog over the weekend - I, personally, am heading straight to Trenton to be with my mother who (today) has been moved from the hospital to a nursing home. Thank you all so very much for your kind words and comments of support.

So - bye for now - enjoy! (Bye Mom - see you very, very soon! Love you lots!)

Happy Pat

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Comments

[Carole & George Jenney]

Many thanks, Pat!
We have so enjoyed your witty commentary & gorgeous photos of this year's World Tour. Thanks for sharing it with us. Hope to join next year's Tour.

[Sharon Dahmer]

Iceland - Nice Land !
Pat, I remember our previous trip to Iceland w/Travel Guild, I really enjoyed it so much especially Blue Lagoon, and you eating an ice cream bar w/Susan. Hope all goes well with your Mom.

[Diane Zeppilli]

What a journey!
Thanks Pat for your fabulous blog. We loved every moment; the descriptions, the photos, the emotions! I hope your Mom feels better. KIndest regards, Diane

[Valencia Ray MD]

Nice Ice
Hi Pat, what a fantastic trip this is/has been...thanks for sharing your journey!