We went out for our usual coffee and breakfast, back again to the busy café that was much less busy this morning. We had a tuna melt with our coffees, then went back to the hotel to make the most of our room until we had to check out. Having a clean toilet and free Wi-Fi is a luxury you shouldn’t pass up while traveling.
We checked out of the hotel, and caught a bus to the airport almost immediately, right across the street from our hotel. We used bus route 747 to get to the airport, and this time we sat on the upper deck and enjoyed the views as we traveled. Around us the chatter of people was surprisingly loud – everyone was excited about traveling somewhere from the airport. It is interesting to see the contrast with Japan, where the bus is always silent going or coming from the airport.
I ordered one last Guinness at the airport while we waited for our flight at an airport bar. Next to us was an interesting group of nerdy people meeting for the first time judging from all the awkward pauses in their conversation. It was an international bunch of people, speaking English all with different accents, and I wondered if there was a technology or gaming convention somewhere nearby. Eventually we figured we had killed enough time at the bar and we went upstairs to the departure check-in lines.
Unfortunately there were no staff checking in passengers at our gate, and after waiting about a half hour one staff showed up and started working. Still, the whole plane was waiting in line, and at the rate she was working that one staff member wouldn’t be able to get us all checked in. About an hour later more staff showed up, but it was a very long wait in line and we were both glad we had a chance to get a drink before we started waiting. Security was also not so organized, and so my last impression of Dublin International Airport was not a positive one.
While waiting to board Kuniko and I worked on some snacks that we had accumulated during our travels so far – shamrock and sour cream flavored potato chips (not so shamrocky) and a package of choco-pies that were high in calories but low in satisfaction. Finally we could board our Iceland Air flight to Reykjavik and we got two seats right across from the boarding door. A guy in front of us went up into business class and then came back, telling the flight attendant that he bought a business class ticket but having no proof he had to sit with the rest of the schmucks in economy.
Iceland Air was a pretty stingy airline. Despite being a full-fledged airline (not a low-cost carrier) they were selling earphones to passengers (rather than giving them out like other airlines) and charging for drinks and snacks. It was only a couple of hours in the air so no problem, but still, pretty lame. One strange moment came when the door was closed and then suddenly someone from outside started knocking on the plane door, so they had to re-open it. Apparently someone was missing from the roster, but they confirmed they were onboard, and then the closed the door again.
Another odd thing was the flight attendant’s fold down seat was positioned right next to mine, and since she was facing the back of the plane it was an awkward sort of situation were eye contact was unavoidable. I thought I should ask a question to break the, uh, ice, so I asked about the bus tickets available for sale on the plane. I had bought some online but I was wondering how much they were on the plane to see if I got a good deal. The flight attendant didn’t know the price, but promised to find out for me. Later she gave me the information and sighed loudly and actually rolled her eyes when I said I didn’t want to buy the tickets at this time. Like I said – awkward! But it was kind of cool to sit up near the front of the plane and see all this drama that we usually miss in the back.
It was just a two hour flight from Dublin to Reykjavik, Iceland, and the line at immigration was quite short. Our suitcase was already on the carousel when we got there, and we went outside and got right on our bus that I had online tickets for. It is a long way from the airport to the center of town – about 45 minutes – so the bus was essential. It was still expensive, about $30/person each way. Despite the high price, the bus wouldn’t leave until it was completely full. Our full size bus had five open seats, so we had to sit and wait about 20 more minutes until another flight came in, and then we got our five people and we could go.
The drive from the airport to the city center was like a bus trip across the moon. The landscape quickly became desolate and empty, and the odd shaped rocks and lack of plants really contributed to a kind of “other world” feeling. As we traveled northeast from the airport the ocean was on our left, a calm sea of dark, deep blue. On the right were ridges and rocks cracked and pushed together and emptiness as far as we could see. It would be a fun place to go camping if you wanted to get away from it all.
Eventually we came closer and closer to civilization, and then into the city of Reykjavik. Buildings were made of different stuff here – less stone and more wood, with some shops but a big difference from the strip malls of suburban America. The bus dropped us off at the central bus terminal, and from there we were separated into smaller groups and taken by mini-bus to a bus stop close to our hotels. Apparently the city banned buses inside the city center, so the mini-buses drove around the outside and left us as close as possible to our hotel. It was actually pretty close, though – we walked just a block or two before we could check in to our hotel, the Hotel Fron.
Our room in the hotel was big, and nicely designed in a Scandinavian style. To reach our room we actually had to open a side door in the hotel and walk across a balcony to another building, which was kind of odd. Still the room was comfortable and we were excited to be in Iceland. We were also pretty hungry!
So back out into town and on the prowl for something to eat. Our first impression of town was a quaint city square, kind of like the touristy part of Sonoma, but all traffic on foot. The streets were lined with shops, some classy, some touristy, and it was clean and felt safe and comfortable. I had a couple of restaurants on my map that we could try for dinner, but as we walked across town we eliminated them one by one, for various reasons. This place looked too touristy, that place looked too fancy, another place had a big line of people. As we got hungrier and as we walked more we got a little more impatient to eat, and finally we settled on The Lobster House – an historic restaurant perched on the hillside near the downtown area. It was a beautiful building, and we checked the menu and it seemed like the food would be good. We stepped inside and could tell right away this place was upscale, and we probably weren’t dressed for it.
An alien-like female staff member came up and asked if we had reservations and we said that we didn’t as we looked around at many empty tables. She left to check with someone to see if she could seat us, and Kuniko was starting to have second thoughts about the place. After a long time the alien lady came back and said she could put us at a table, and we sat down in a small dining room situated in between the main dining room and a back room filled with a large family group that was speaking a combination of Spanish and English. Our server gave us some bread right away (I guess we looked hungry) and combined with a glass or two of red wine the “hangry” feeling went away and we started to enjoy the experience.
For dinner we started with a plate of Icelandic delicacies (their term): horse meat carpaccio, cucumber jelly, Atlantic char, and thinly sliced whale raw whale meat with beet and seaweed. Maybe a challenge for some people but coming from Japan it was all food we’ve had before and they did a great job with the ingredients. Kuniko’s main dish was excellent – a cod fillet served on lentils with a tomato and carrot lasagna, Mine was a homerun – bacon-wrapped mutton stuffed with dates on a hazelnut sauce, mushroom ravioli, candied carrots, and three lobster tails on the side. It was one of the best dishes of the entire trip – we were eating well! We were afraid that the price would be really expensive, and since all the prices were in ISK instead of dollars, yen or euros, it was kind of hard to guess, but in the end it wasn’t all that expensive compared with eating at a nice restaurant in Japan. Our server was much friendlier than the alien-like being who had seated us, and she kept up conversation and gave us a free round of drinks to be nice. I left a cash tip after Kuniko paid by credit card, and learned later that tipping isn’t a custom in Iceland. Oh well! It was a mind-blowing meal, and we left in a state of food-euphoria.
After dinner we walked around a bit as the sun was still out (and it stayed out for most of the night), and we bought some Icelandic yogurt (called skyr) and some water at a local convenience store, and there went back to the room to get some rest. Changing countries is always exciting and today was a good day.
