7 March, 2015

Enjoying a cuppa at my friends kitchen table here in Anniesland, Glasgow. It’s a gray and rainy day here in the UK, perfect for sorting the next two weeks.

My time in Reykjavik was fantastic. The layover offered is such a wonderful way to get through the jet-lag before reaching a European destination. Just two years ago, Iceland was just an island on a map, today I have several new friends there, and I look forward to returning many times in the future. I had a mellow stay this time. Hot pots and steam baths the first morning, the Game of Thrones revisited tour, and a fair amount of rest adjusting to the seven hour time change from the Rocky Mountains

Thursday morning I had coffee with my friend Petur Steinn at the Perlan – former hot water storage tanks that have a dome atop them with a restaurant and cafe that have fantastic views of the city. Leaving here we went to the President’s house. We walked right up to it, the grounds around the church next to the house are completely open. We joked that maybe we could have a coffee, but it looked like there was no one home.

Returning to my hotel, I began to organize my kit for the flight to Glasgow and the next chapter of this adventure. Late afternoon I went out on the town and made my way to the Saga Museum. Seventeen vignettes depict key scenes from Icelandic history. I had a pretty decent fish and chips at the Reykjavik Fish Restaurant and spent a while walking around the old harbor area before meeting new friends for a late coffee and dessert.

The night brought no sleep as I packed my gear for the flight, and waited for the FlyBus to pick me up to go to Keflavik International Airport at four am. Though everyone is at the airport at such an early hour for the days’ first European flights, it is remarkably efficient. I moved quickly through a long queue for baggage check and then for security. I think it took longer to unload and repack my hand luggage than the time in the actual screening process or line.

The flight was delayed by waiting for fuel. Then someone inadvertently disconnected the ground power, resulting in the aircraft having to be completely restarted from zero – a “hard reboot.” Taking off into fifty knot winds made for a bumpy ride out. We rode light turbulence at FL34 (34,000 feet) skimming across the tops of clouds for the two hours flight across the North Atlantic and Upper Highlands to and exciting and rather hard crosswind touchdown in Glasgow.

Friday evening and Saturday were spent with my friend, catching up, working out plans on a calendar, and a jaunt to City Center on Saturday night. Sunday we took a train southwest from Glasgow to See the beach and have lunch at Troon on the coast. It was a cold and windy day, but it is always good to see the ocean shore.

Monday the 9^th brought more blustery, rainy weather – a typically Scottish late winter’s day. We ventured into City Center for lunch, a couple of shops and to pick up my train tickets for the week’s journey around the Highlands. Tomorrow I head for Inverness for three nights. I plan one day up Loch Ness to Castle Urquhart and a day in Inverness proper, then I head to Aberdeen for the weekend.

Shifting gears again and preparing for the next stage. Cheers!

fin