Tuesday, May 24, 2011

Iceland/France/Italy Day 1: Off we go

April 29, 2011
Iceland Day 1: Off we go

And off we go! It's been a very busy and exciting time at work lately, busy busy right up until the last minute. I did just a quick pack on Wed night and then on Thurs night I watched my usual favourites on TV: The Office, Parks & Rec and 30 Rock. After the usual glorious night of Thursday comedy, I packed up any last minute stuff, ready for an early wake up.

Today (Friday), I got up super early at 6:30am. The SuperShuttle was awesome and even a little early, which was fantastic. They really are super organized, I pretty much only use them now as they've been very reliable. I headed off to SFO and they booked my bags right through to Reykjavik.

After security, I sat down at a bar inside the terminal and had an egg breakfast while watching the Royal Wedding. I struck up a conversation with the dude beside me, we were commenting on all the stuff going on and joking about how tall people's hats were and how British everyone looked. We then very obviously gave each other the "whoa, she's hot" dude-glance as Kate's sister walked by on the screen. The guy's comment was hilarious, "Whoaaa, look at her sister!! There's still a chance!"

In all seriousness though, it was a super awesome wedding. I was surprised to see it televised so heavily in the USA! I was really hoping to see it but figured I'd have a better chance if I was flying from Canada, but it seemed to be everywhere. Everyone was into it at the airport bar, like 30 eyes all affixed to the big-screen TV, men, women, all ages. Everyone loved it. :)

I flew to Seattle and was really impressed with Alaska Airlines. They seemed very organized and their inflight magazine inspired me to want to visit Alaska someday with photos of some impressive glaciers. On arrival at SEA I had about 4 hrs stop-over so I used my iPhone to see if I could pull off a quick trip out to Pike Place Market, somewhere I *really* want to go visit. My iPhone gave me a very clear answer - 52 min trip one-way. Whoops!! I guess that'll have to wait for another time.

It was funny that I was already through security but still needed to check in for my international IcelandAir flight. I had so much time that I decided just to check out and back in again so I could find some more places to eat. Once boarding the IcelandAir flight, it was pretty straightforward - nice service and nice flight attendants but pretty minimal in-flight snacks and stuff. You got a free soft drink but all snacks and food were to purchase. Oh well, the flight price was pretty hard to beat!

I watched Simpsons and the Sigur Ros documentary "Heima" on the in-flight TV. That was fun and jazzed me up for the trip. I bought a sandwich and got an "Egil's Appelsin" (Icelandic Orange Soda) to try. It's always a good idea to try the local choice - "it's good!" the flight attendant said after I ordered it, and she came back to check up and see how I liked it. "It's good", I answered, "but I can't read anything on this label!" I am super excited for the trip, and the Heima video showed me that there are hoodie versions of the traditional Icelandic sweater, I should try to get one of those!

Egil's Appelsin, famous Icelandic soda

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