Landing in Iceland


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Europe » Iceland » Southwest » Reykjavík
October 11th 2017
Published: October 23rd 2017
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Keflavik, Blue Lagoon and Reykjavik

Our route, more or less, to the hotel.

So, off we go to Iceland! Three generations of the Schatz family; Abi & Phillippa (AKA Granny & Grandpa), Ben & Gilat, and Tamar and Ethan.

We got through the Ben Gurion airport smoothly and onto our gloriously purple WOW Airline to Keflavik. The plane was barely half full, so we could stretch out. Here's hoping it'll be like that on the return trip!

The flight was uneventful, if long, and we were all excited to land in Iceland. We went through extremely rigorous security, much more than in Ben Gurion before the flight. Reason unknown. Eventually, after a surprizingly long hike, we got out of the airport. Our shuttle driver was waiting for us and took us to the Lagoon car rental office. Our Kia Sorento was all prepared and waiting for us. We packed up teteris-style, squeezed into the car and drove to the Blue Lagoon.

The Blue Lagoon was lovely! Hot, milky water outdoors in the freezing (for us) weather, lots of steam, spots where you can scoop up their white silica mud and smear it on your face, a couple bars where you can stand in the water and buy a drink. All in all, a very pleasant introduction to Iceland.

Upon leaving the site, we decided that the Sorento was just way too small for six people with luggage. If we were five, maybe. But six? No way. I called the rental office to see if we could exchange the car for something bigger, and after a few calls back and forth, they found a van for us. So, we all drove back to Keflavik and loaded into our van, a Renault Trafic.

Huge improvement! Huge!

We drove to Reykjavik, hoping to make it to the Guide to Iceland office before they close (at 8 PM). We made it with minutes to spare. They had a folder waiting for us with a couple of SIM cards.

From there it was straight to our hotel, the 22 Hill hotel. We got our rooms, which were fine, relatively large and comfortable.

Later that evening, everyone except Granny went out to find somewhere to eat. We walked around the hotel at about 9:30, but one restaurant, which turned out to be the main entrance of the hotel restaurant, was very expensive, another was just closing, and the last one we saw was an unappetizing-looking fast food joint. 10 o'clock and the town is asleep. But, as we made our way back to the hotel we saw some northern lights in the sky! Honest to goodness aurora borealis! Very cool! An exciting way to finish our first day in Iceland!

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