I know the last post was to be the final "daily post" of my Iceland trip. It was supposed to be uneventful. But guess what - either the alarm did not go off, or I overslept. I had a Flybus Plus pick up from the hotel scheduled at 8am through the hotel, so I (thought I) had set my alarm for 6.45am. Pleasantly surprised when I woke up before the alarm. I lay in bed for a few minutes, trying not to bother Hog since we had a very late night/early morning (went to bed around 2am?), and after a while decided I had to use the bathroom. Used the bathroom, came out, checked my phone, 8.25am, WTF?!?! I tried to stay as calm as possible, and got dressed and packed whatever little left there was to pack. I called the reception desk, wanting to yell at them to ask why they did not call the room, but decided it was futile and anyway I never asked them to call me. I enquired politely about my options, and decided that I had to take a cab/private car, and was quoted 115,000ISK which was about USD$100. Feeling sad, I decided it was what I had to do.
Hog left the room with me, which I am thankful for because moral support was much needed at this time. We got to the lobby, and I noticed this guy standing outside the hotel with luggage. I made an executive decision and asked him if he was going to the airport (affirmative, he had a friend who was to pick him up), and asked him if I could get a ride with him (affirmative). I had not felt so thankful that whole trip. I was really lucky, since his Icelandic friend was actually supposed to pick him up at 8am, but it was already 8.40am and his friend was late.
His friend came, we did self-introductions, and were on our way to the airport. They were business partners, so there was some work talk that I was not involved in, but I got some good conversation in. I asked Mr. Iceland about elves, and he was of the opinion that people believed in the folklore but not the actual elves themselves (hmm OK), but pointed out there were weird things like how when elf stones were removed from certain places for construction or what not, inexplicable things, which were not explained to me, happened. He also agreed with the Bæjarins Beztu Pylsur (hot dog shop) website that most, if not all, Icelandic people had eaten at this place, and it was indeed famous in Iceland. He told me his family mostly cooked at home, as did most Icelandic families. Puffin, whale, and all that other (not) good stuff was a delicacy, and most Icelandic people did not particularly fancy it really. So overall, aside from saving a ton of money, I made a new friend and learned a ton about Icelandic people.
Aside from this free ride, I was really lucky that day. When I checked in at the Delta desk, they had reassigned me from third to last row aisle seat to last row middle seat. I was very annoyed and tried to change that but to no avail as the flight was full. I had no choice but to head to the gate. My yoghurt got confiscated, which I was sad about, but at least my peanut butter got to stay. I tried to tell security I would eat my yoghurt at that time, but they said I had to go back before security and at that point it was not logistically feasible. Moving on, I headed to the gate, and informed the agents of my situation. I knew there were 2 seats up front that were empty, but was told I had to pay for them, but I think they took pity on me and gave me the aisle seat 20 rows in front!! I was so happy!
Other lucky things that happened - the flight from Reykjavik arrived early to JFK, Lingon remembered to change my flight AND got me an upgrade (lie flat seats!!), I got pseudo free Internet at JFK outside the BA lounge which allowed me to text Lingon that I was OK (I lost my US SIM card and had no means of communication otherwise) and I had Toblerone on the flight. I also had the strength to refuse ice cream twice, one on each flight, which was good for trying to detox.
This is a really boring wordy post, but I thought I should write about it so one day when I'm feeling down I can re-read it and realize how lucky I am.
Thank you, Thomas and Baldor, for the ride to the airport, and for the good graces of the world to offer me all that you already have (and hopefully more!).
Hog left the room with me, which I am thankful for because moral support was much needed at this time. We got to the lobby, and I noticed this guy standing outside the hotel with luggage. I made an executive decision and asked him if he was going to the airport (affirmative, he had a friend who was to pick him up), and asked him if I could get a ride with him (affirmative). I had not felt so thankful that whole trip. I was really lucky, since his Icelandic friend was actually supposed to pick him up at 8am, but it was already 8.40am and his friend was late.
His friend came, we did self-introductions, and were on our way to the airport. They were business partners, so there was some work talk that I was not involved in, but I got some good conversation in. I asked Mr. Iceland about elves, and he was of the opinion that people believed in the folklore but not the actual elves themselves (hmm OK), but pointed out there were weird things like how when elf stones were removed from certain places for construction or what not, inexplicable things, which were not explained to me, happened. He also agreed with the Bæjarins Beztu Pylsur (hot dog shop) website that most, if not all, Icelandic people had eaten at this place, and it was indeed famous in Iceland. He told me his family mostly cooked at home, as did most Icelandic families. Puffin, whale, and all that other (not) good stuff was a delicacy, and most Icelandic people did not particularly fancy it really. So overall, aside from saving a ton of money, I made a new friend and learned a ton about Icelandic people.
Aside from this free ride, I was really lucky that day. When I checked in at the Delta desk, they had reassigned me from third to last row aisle seat to last row middle seat. I was very annoyed and tried to change that but to no avail as the flight was full. I had no choice but to head to the gate. My yoghurt got confiscated, which I was sad about, but at least my peanut butter got to stay. I tried to tell security I would eat my yoghurt at that time, but they said I had to go back before security and at that point it was not logistically feasible. Moving on, I headed to the gate, and informed the agents of my situation. I knew there were 2 seats up front that were empty, but was told I had to pay for them, but I think they took pity on me and gave me the aisle seat 20 rows in front!! I was so happy!
Other lucky things that happened - the flight from Reykjavik arrived early to JFK, Lingon remembered to change my flight AND got me an upgrade (lie flat seats!!), I got pseudo free Internet at JFK outside the BA lounge which allowed me to text Lingon that I was OK (I lost my US SIM card and had no means of communication otherwise) and I had Toblerone on the flight. I also had the strength to refuse ice cream twice, one on each flight, which was good for trying to detox.
This is a really boring wordy post, but I thought I should write about it so one day when I'm feeling down I can re-read it and realize how lucky I am.
Thank you, Thomas and Baldor, for the ride to the airport, and for the good graces of the world to offer me all that you already have (and hopefully more!).
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