Going Home July 8, 2024

Reykjavik airport seems to be operating in the 20th century. We must have shown our passports and boarding tickets 5 or 6 times before boarding. Security is nil. There are few escalators, but lots of stairs. Bathrooms are not in the gate area, and there weren't that many anyway. At the gate, rather than announce boarding instructions, someone would hold up a card above their head  showing which group of people could board. After going through the gate, we took a bus to the plane, (they were jamming people onto the bus). Then we got off the bus, went into a building, up the stairs, and down a gangplank into the plane. Whew!!

Some general observations about Iceland:

• Sheep roam freely in Iceland, and you can find them anywhere on the roads. They're usually not seen in large flocks, but in ones and twos.
• Road signs are small, and hard to read, even without the language barrier. 
• Some road signs are icons, and can be cryptic; not easy to read when you're buzzing by at 55 mph
  
  
  
• There are waterfalls everywhere (or almost everywhere) you look
• There are expansive views everywhere due to the fact that there are very few trees
• Everyone we spoke with could speak English
• Farms (sheep, not agriculture) are widely, and I do mean WIDELY spaced
• Shower mechanisms vary from place to place, and sometimes are hard to figure out without freezing or scalding yourself
• In many guesthouses, you get one facecloth, and one bath towel. Amenities are few.
• Every place we stayed was clean, clean, clean.
• Small is a key word here: small coffee cups (maybe 6 oz), sinks, showers, rooms
• Breakfasts usually were cereal, bread, cold cuts and cheese, yogurt/skyr (Greek yogurt) and add ins like granola, breads (good bread), coffee, tea, juice
• We carried no cash at all. We used credit for everything, everywhere. Iceland seems to be a cashless society
• No tipping
• If you come in summer, you get to see lupines everywhere
  
  
  
  
  
• There was a cell signal (LTE usually, sometimes 5G) everywhere, even in remote places. We had roaming with Spectrum Mobile at a cost of $.04 per minute talk, $10.00 per GB data, free texts
• Food is expensive 
• Hot dogs and pizza are very popular here.
• There are no public trash cans anywhere. You're expected to take your trash home.
• Expect wind everywhere, and lots of it.
• Iceland is a unique place, unlike any place we have visited before.
• Favorite locations: Djupalonssandur, Latrabjarg Cliffs, Dyrholaey, Glaumbaer Farm, Skudur Garden--too many favorites

Djupalonssandir