Last Friday, on a total whim, we called Iceland Air to ask whether we could fly a few days earlier to give us more time to ride in Iceland, only to be told that our flight from Glasgow to Reykjavik for Sunday had been cancelled. They never even bothered to email or call us. No apology. No offer to help get us to where our bikes are waiting for us. We hastily booked flights from Edinburgh to Iceland with Easyjet for today (which is indeed 3 days earlier than we had planned) and Cameron is a little smug, because he suggested flying sooner in the first place, which saved the day, as we were able to re-arrange the trip. I am just happy we are able to go at all.
Today is a what I call a “getting there” day. It’s the day you wake up in your own bed and fall asleep in a bed you’ve never slept in before. Today can either be really easy or it’s the day you lose your check-in luggage. I am a gambler at heart and provided I have a credit card and my passport, I always say I can buy the rest. Except you can’t just buy everything you need for a 12 day bike trip at Reykjavik airport…
We don’t check in our helmets in Edinburgh (I keep admiring our brand-new BMW helmet travel bags and Cameron laughs at me), but our boots, gloves, trousers and jackets are in the hold so if they don’t arrive, we don’t ride tomorrow. The interesting aspect of travelling with someone new is how to divide responsibilities and on this trip (and I assume on future trips – if we don’t fall out on this one!) I am definitely in charge of paperwork, accommodation and everything that requires us being nice to people. Cameron is 100% responsible for our bikes (all aspects) and photography.
Flying during a pandemic requires careful planning and knowing the rules so in total contrast to usually flying with only my boarding pass on my phone, I have a dozen printed documents for both of us, including our vaccination certificates, the PCR test results, our Iceland locator forms plus numerous insurance documents and other travel papers. I’ll almost do anything if it means I can go on this adventure.
Reykjavik is the world’s most Northern capital city and I naively thought it would be a lot smaller than it actually is for a country of only 340,000 inhabitants. It’s a vibrant, stylish city with more interior design shops and bars than you can realistically visit in 3 days let alone 24 hours. We dump our bags and go for a wander on our first afternoon in Iceland. We didn’t come here to spend a few nights in Reykjavik and visit the Blue Lagoon, the famous geyser and see a waterfall. So we feel a bit detached from the many Americans who seem to be on organised bus tours. We may not count as hard core adventurers, but we certainly are no bus tourists. One of my favourite things in life is architecture – I am a frustrated interior designer at heart – and Reykjavik has some of the prettiest, most colourful houses I have seen. Back home in Scotland, I bore my 16 year old son Noah with my OHs and AHs when I see rainbows or beautiful scenery. I fear, for the next 12 days I may do that to Cameron with my obvious love for unusual buildings. And the sun is shining, which is such a bonus considering we expected rubbish weather…
Cameron and I are very good at drinking beer together (despite being friends with me he has a life-long love for Tennents!) so after our photography stroll, we look for bars. And there are plenty. Just stay sensible Petra, you have a big bike to ride tomorrow…
