Iceland: Well...I Made It In the End

 The last time I traveled internationally (or really almost at all) was to hike the tallest mountain in Africa, Kilimanjaro.  Since then a little thing called Covid-19 decided to become a thing, throwing the world into a whole pandemic, which has been fun (sarcasm).  In my normal life, just as I'm finishing up one trip, I'm already planning ahead for what comes next.  When Alex and I started up Kilimanjaro, there were like a thousand cases of this new coronavirus spreading in China.  By the time we came back down it was like 50 times that (I could be off, in pandemic years it's been something like 10 years since Kilimanjaro even though it has really only been about 18 months).  Anyways, the pandemic is how I ended up in Iceland.

First photo of Iceland. We were getting off just around the time the sun was rising.

How, you ask?  Well, I was dying to go somewhere and somewhere in America seemed like a bad idea because we seem to have troubles not spreading Covid everywhere.  Then I found out Iceland was open to Americans and I figured, what better way to socially distance that in nature on a gorgeous island.  A few days later my trip was booked for the most part, or at least the two most important parts were: flights and campervan.  I decided booking a campervan was the best way to tour the island after a coworker brought it up.  Less worrying about where you're going to spend the night, and I don't have to deal with people getting too close in a hostel or hotel.  In the end, due to unknowns on the whole Covid regulations thing and recover from jet lag, I decided to spend two days in Reykjavik before picking up my van and heading around the Ring Road for 2 weeks...alone.

The scariest part about this whole thing is I literally didn't know if I was actually going to be able to take the trip until about an hour before the flight was set to leave.  You had to have a negative Covid test, taken no more than 72 hours before leaving.  I took one first thing Sunday morning before I was set to leave on Tuesday and waited...and waited...and waited.  When I showed up at the airport, I still hadn't gotten my tests back.  I had to put up the money and get a test done right there before they'd let me check into my flight.  It was the scariest thing ever!  But luckily, that test came back negative and I was able to check into my flight.

I flew to Iceland via Minneapolis-St. Paul.  Went from one end of the airport (Gate A11) all the way almost to the exact opposite corner (F13).  Good news was I had 5 hours to do this.  I was able to eat for nearly the first time that day.  And then because I hadn't slept well due to anxiety about my test results, I found that the food court in MSP was practically empty because only one restaurant was open in there.  I laid down in a booth for a while and rested my eyes.

When I boarded to Iceland, they said it was a mostly full flight, but there were a few empty middle seats...and one happened to be right next to mine!  Score!  The flight time was just a little over 6 hours.  We arrived at Keflavik Airport in Iceland around 6:30 am.  Then we all had to go through customs, which was the easy part.  After picking up my luggage (first trip for my new good quality suitcase...I'm hoping it lasts a lot longer than the last one I got which was on the cheap side), I had to go through Covid Screening.  This involved presenting the pre-registration form barcode (I had to fill that out before I came), my passport, my vaccination card, and my negative test results.  They accepted them all so I was able to leave the building and head out to catch the bus to Reykjavik, which is about 45 kilometers away.  

Near the right edge you will see volcano plumes. I don't think that who cloud was ash. I think it was just positioning.

We passed through some beautiful landscapes.  You could see steam (?) or smoke or whatever it is, rising from a volcano that is currently erupting on the south part of the island.  You could see a bit of a sort of scrub grass right on top of volcanic rock.  The ground is black everywhere, thanks to being a volcanic island.

Hallgrimskrija with a statue of Leif Ericsson out front.

When I arrived at the guesthouse I'm stay at, they already had my room cleaned and thank goodness because I was exhausted.  I dozed for an hour and a half before forcing myself to get up and shower.  I headed down to the City Center of Reykjavik.  I went through a couple gift-shops, though the only thing I purchased was some Icelandic chocolate, and I approve.  Very good chocolate.  I walked down to the water and down there for a bit.  It was a lot windier and chillier down there.  Then feeling a bit exhausted I came back to the guesthouse to rest for another 45 mins.  Then I figured I should figure out what I was going to do about supper for tonight.  I went down to a small grocery store about a kilometer down the road, though I took the long way and probably walked 2-3 through this nice park and up to a church I could see on a hill that looked pretty.  Now I'm resting my feet and figure I'll be doing an early early supper tonight and probably going to bed early as well.  Tomorrow my plan is to go visit the Hallgrimskirja (a really neat looking church that I passed today) and the National Museum of Iceland.

Don't necessarily expect posts to come regularly on this trip.  I am not sure how busy and what the wi-fi situation will be once I'm on the road.