And Away We Go!!!
Technically, our trip didn’t start until today, June 22. However, four people flew to Reykjavik on June 20 to get rested up before the tour. Aside from a delayed departure from Toronto, it sounds like their trip went smoothly. However, Jane didn’t get her luggage and she has her fingers crossed that we have it with us when we arrive in the morning!
My Wednesday morning started off with an email from Air Canada, informing me that our flight from Saskatoon to Toronto had been cancelled! Excuse me??? 🤷♀️😫. That was followed by an email saying that we have been booked on another flight to Toronto, departing five minutes later. Phew! I quickly reached out to the rest of my group, just to find out that no one else had been notified that they had been rebooked. As Carl drove, I got on the computer and checked all of the bookings, to make sure that we were all on the same flight. Yes! We were in business!
We all gathered at the airport, which is where I got my next surprise. One of my travellers (no names mentioned 😉) forgot his passport at home, in Prince Albert! 🤦♀️ No problem, he got on the phone and called a friend that was gracious enough to grab his passport and race down the highway, getting it there in time for him to make the flight. Piece of cake!!! That was enough excitement for one day!!!
Our flight was almost an hour late in taking off, but we made up some time in the air and landed safely in Toronto. Luckily we didn’t have to go through security so the gate transfer went well. Now we are sitting, as our flight is delayed, hopefully not for too long!
Hello from Reykjavik!!! (Now Thursday). We took off from Toronto at 12:30 am, rather than 11:00 pm. However, given the current state of air travel, we felt this was pretty minor. Our 5.5 hour flight went very well and we arrived in Iceland at 9:30 am, only an hour late. All of our luggage arrived, including Jane’s, so we are set!!
Our Tour Director, Perla, and bus driver, John, picked us up at the airport and transported us in Reykjavik, where we met up with the rest of the group. We have 22 in total, 16 in our group plus six lovely people from Canada and the US. We were excited to see that the sun was shining but the wind was also REALLY blowing!
We started with a welcome lunch at our hotel. Then we did a two hour city tour by bus, with some stops to visit and take pictures of the sites. We visited Hallgrimm’s Church, a beautiful structure than can be spotted for miles away. We stopped at the Parliament House, the City Hall and Tjornin Lake. Two thirds of Iceland’s inhabitants live in the capital city area. Reykjavik is a very interesting, clean and safe city.
We were able to check in to our hotel at 3:00 and we had a bit of time to relax and get settled. At 4:15 we left again and rode out to the Blue Lagoon. It was so amazing to drive through the lava filled countryside that had pops of beautiful purple everywhere from the Alaskan Lupins.
We had two hours to explore and enjoy the Blue Lagoon. It is a huge mineral pool in a beautiful setting. We all donned our “face masks” and enjoyed a drink at the swim up bar. This is truly something everyone should experience on a visit to Iceland!
We returned to the hotel at 8:00 pm and we are tired!!! We are on our own for dinner tonight and I don’t think anyone is venturing out too far!!! We are ready to get some rest for another fantastic day tomorrow
Good night!
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