Iceland - Epilogue

Leaving Silica was like leaving family. The manager, Adda, came out to bid us farewell and hope we enjoyed our stay. Our Greek waitress brought gave us hugs and well wishes. Even the desk clerk, Isene, hoped we would return. NEVER has a hotel staff been so effusive as I left the facility! My favorite concierge, Wendy, was off today. I wish I'd known, but I left her a scarf as a thank you.

Our cabbie to the airport, a tall robot leggy blonde named Briet Sunna Valdemarsdottir, was so charming that the trip felt like ten minutes. We learned, to both our surprises, that the base in Keflavik had been abandoned by the US military in 2006. The barrack and facilities now house a rehab center for high school drop outs with families seeking to turn their lives around. How Iceland! Never waste a resource! And, her father is "the Icelandic Elvis," an impersonator who placed 4th in a world-wide competition is Nashville a few years ago, despite being unable to speak English - he learned the song lyrics "much like a parrot learns to talk" according to Briet!

Our trip home was wonderful. Icelandair flight service is great. The Boeing 757-200 may well be my favorite airplane for comfortable travel. My seat mates were from Merritt Island; she and I chatted about gardening, quilting and traveling - he slept.

Aside: please appreciate this notice which was part of the plane's exterior next to the entry door… I love the concept of naming each plane for something or place specific to the country. I wish I'd paid attention to our inbound flight! I'm guessing this is only possible because Iceland has only one airline.

Arriving in Orlando early, Barbara and I were excited about getting on the road in time to be home by midnight. Uh, no such luck. Customs was a breeze. Immigration was a breeze. The airport's baggage handlers, though, stymied our plan to get away quickly. "Inclement weather" and "construction issues" delayed our baggage TWICE: first wait happened from plane to customs (that was the weather delay). Once we passed customs, we had to reload the bags onto another conveyor to carry them to the baggage terminal as the people shuttle couldn't hold passengers and luggage (this was the construction delay). Upshot - a plane load of tired, annoyed humans and 1 dog got their bags at 11:50 PM!!!

Barbara and I loaded up on Diet Coke and headed for The Burg, arriving at 2:38 AM, we crashed until about 10 this morning! I do have to admit that I-4 is a MUCH quicker drive at that time of night!

All in all, this was a very positive trip. I don't really have a desire to return to Iceland for an extended visit, though as a stopover to Europe it might have all. Icelandair offers passengers to Europe a no-extra-charge policy of up to 6 days stay in Iceland if you've booked a round trip ticket. That might be a possibility. Even though we missed out on the Northern Lights, I had an A+ experience. I now know why people flock to hot springs!

My favorite advertisement from this experience: Icelandic sheep - free ranging since 836!