A few Sunday diaries ago I told you all of a trip my son and I were going on to to revisit my Cold War memories. My plan was to write and post as we went along on the trip — but alas, the best-laid plans of mice and men often go awry. I could not get photos to upload here on the Great Orange Satan anywhere in Europe; Facebook, text messages, e-mails, and Instagram, no problem, Daily Kos, not a chance.
Our journey began on Sunday the 12th of June out of Chicago’s O’hare airport. Our flight was delayed, by the time it was all said and done, three hours. We would not arrive in Iceland until mid-morning on the 13th. I was never stationed in Iceland — but my son and I decided to add it to our itinerary as IcelandAir offers a free stopover on the way to Europe to boost tourism to the small island nation of 330,000 inhabitants.
Iceland is an interesting place to fly into — they did a very brief check of our passports, and customs pretty much works on the honor system. No one even asks you if you have anything to declare — you just choose which hallway to walk down.
It is a forty-five minute bus ride from Keflavik to Reykjavik and there really is not a lot to see except for a lot of rocks. It is easy to understand why NASA used Iceland as a stand-in for the moon before the Apollo missions. But, that is not where all the scenery is — once you get away from Keflavik you will find that country is amazingly beautiful.
We explored Reykjavik on foot after a quick shower — what a lovely city, one which is seeing a great deal of growth, there were construction cranes everywhere in the city. The Harpa center (pictured above), completed in 2011, has to be one of the most beautiful buildings I have ever seen. We lucked out on weather in Iceland — it was sunny and pleasant the entire time we were there — which according to the locals is a very rare thing. The next day we took a tour of the Reykjanes peninsula and the Golden Circle. The views were breathtaking and spectacular. From fishing villages to water falls it seemed as if each new stop on our tour would be even more remarkable than the last.
I learned that in Iceland, horse steaks are as common as beef is here in the United States, I could have ordered a Mink Whale steak one night while there, but in my heart could not justify eating a whale. I did try the horse steak, it was on the tough side.
All in all the Icelandic people are friendly and welcoming, and it was an amazing stop on our European adventure.