A Day Without Sunshine Is Like A Day In Iceland

We started with sun.  Then it poured.  Then sun again.  Welcome to Iceland.
We dressed for chilly weather.  We got to use our rain pants.  Then the sun came out and we couldn't shed those layers fast enough.

Waterfalls:

Jan and Mary behind the waterfalls:

Paul walking around a waterfall:

Pretty flowers:

Topography:

Puffins:

Some people really like Puffins.

Time for bed.  Sleep will come fast tonight.

We're Here

First day in Iceland is a very long day.  We left Boston at 9:05 PM and arrived in Iceland at about 6AM local time.  You cannot check into your hotel room at 6AM!  We ate breakfast and went out and toured on foot.  Then, the very nice front desk clerk at the Apotek Hotel let us into our rooms at 9:30 AM.  And we promptly napped.

Post nap I am ready to blog.

This is one of the more famous landmarks in Reykjavik.  It's the Hallgrimskirkja church.  I looked up the spelling to be certain.  It appears that all churches end in kirkja or kirkjan.  The architecture either reminds you of a Viking Ship or a volcano depending on your artistic inclinations.

And when you are walking around a city what's finding your daughter-in-law's name on a store worth if you don't get it in a picture.

Later that same day...  We ventured out to visit a beautiful performance venue.  It's called the Harpa Concert Hall. 

Home to the Reykjavik Symphony Orchestra it barely made it through the construction process.  The 2008 world recession hit Iceland very hard.  City fathers couldn't justify the expense needed to complete the building.  At 40% completed their choices included tearing what they made down or re-purposing.  One of the ideas: a prison.  Fortunately, none of that happened.  It is not only an architectural gem it is also an acoustic marvel.

Once of the smaller performance venues inside creates a "northern light show" on command.  During the darker months the outside of the building does the same thing.

The big venue is surrounded by resonating chambers.  The walls on all four sides of the theater move to permit sound into large chambers.  Depending on the size of the opening the house managers can alter sound decay to create no echo or lots of echo or somewhere in between.

Our Ride Is Here

A 767 wide body to

Gaffer's Tape: It's Not Just For Wiring

Jan wants me to know that her suitcases do not need the following solution because her suitcases are not dull and grey.  Her's are leopard print and floral.

I wanted a solution to easily spot my bags on the luggage carousel.  Gaffer's tape is my answer.

As any good production person knows gaffer's tape is available in a variety of colors.  I own basic black, white, yellow and red.  Why?  To make wiring that's taped to a floor easier to spot for people that need to walk over it.  Small pieces of it, wrapped around the handle of my suitcase, will make that easier to spot. 

I am packed.  It's 10 pounds under weight and 10 inches under in total dimension.  Those mesh bags are packing cubes.  We always use them.  I separate my stuff into a variety of different packing cubes.  Pants are in one you can see on top.  Socks are to the left.  Underneath there is one for shirts, another for underwear, HBA. etc.  On arrival at a hotel we just take the cubes and put them in the drawers.  It makes packing and unpacking at each destination very easy.  Jan (the one with the interesting suitcases) brought these gems into our travel life.

Packing

Iceland Air flies direct to Reykjavik from Boston.  That's our plan.  We know this family in Jamaica Plain that is running a Park and Fly for us that week.  ;-)   Like many airlines Iceland Air keeps specific luggage rules.  For the average passenger it is 1 checked bag of no more than 50 pounds, 1 bag for the overhead of no more than 30 pounds and 1 small item underneath the seat.

Bags are lighter these days, but there is still weight in the structure of the case.  My first challenge:  Organize the camera gear.  I do own a roller bag specifically made for camera gear but it does not meet Iceland air specifications.  It's about and inch and a half too deep for the overheads, although the width and height is fine.  I bought a small bag from Marshall's that appears to be sturdy without owning too much weight to accomplish that.  Then I purchased a gear organizer made for turning regular suitcases into camera bags.  It's orange.

Not every piece of gear I own will make the trip, but there is a DSLR with a wide angle and a telephoto in there.  Extra batteries.  A gimble to stabilize video.  It's in a case beneath the bag on the right.  A GoPro.  A small tripod.  Power adapters for Iceland.  Extra media cards.  A media card reader.  Chargers and an outlet strip.  I weighed it all.  I am 1.5 pounds under their max!

Then I set out to pack my clothes.  For the past 6 or 7 trips I tugged along a large suitcase.  The dimension is acceptable to the airline but typically the weight of the empty suitcase is about 13 pounds.  I found a nice, medium sized suitcase, again from Marshall's that weighs just under 10 pounds empty.

We made some travel rules.  Given that Iceland's climate is wet and that we will often be wearing rain gear (including rain pants) who cares if we repeat the clothes that are worn underneath.  There are still a few items to add to the suitcase.  My rain jacket.  My jeans are in the laundry.  However, I weighed it and there are 10 pounds to spare.

The under the seat bag is basically flat.  I carry the travel documents, my laptop and my tablet in it.

Facts, figures, stuff

It's 4 hours earlier in Iceland than it is in Albany.

A warm spell (heat wave?) is when the temperature reaches 60 for 3 days in a row.  Current forecast models suggest we will not see that.

We bought rain pants and it looks like we will need them.

Since we will be under a rain slicker and rain pants most every day we can wear the same clothes.  

They eat lots of fish and lamb in Iceland.  And sometimes Puffin.

The sun is down for 3 hours this time of year.  It rises at 3AM and sets at Midnight.  Even then it's not really dark.  Come back in December and the script is flipped.