1st

Well its my last day in Stockholm before flying to Reykjavik
Iceland tomorrow. I have decided that all the flights i book this trip
will be after midday. Most of the airports i fly into are anywhere from
30 to 45 minutes travelling time away from the city. So the thing i want
to do is have to get up at 4am to make an 8am flight. Even if i have
been waking at 4am on more than one occasion.

Well i can say that
i have thoroughly enjoyed Stockholm. There is so much to like. Its a
very pretty and welcoming city. The weather has been great, sunny skies
every morning before getting a little cloudy in the afternoon.

2rd

Another glorious start to the day. Magnificent sunrise and not a cloud in the sky. After making sure i havent left anything behind, i make my way to the airport. Arrive in just under an hour. We depart on time in a Boeing 757. The pilot informs us that he will be struggling to get us there on time due to extremely strong head wind.

Anyway the flight is uneventful and we land in Iceland. The 45 minute bus ride to Reykjavik sees me getting to the apartment just before 6pm. I make a quick dash to the supermarket as it closes at 6.30pm.

Will sleep with the blinds up while i am here just in case the elusive aurora lights up the night sky. Somehow i dont think i will be that lucky, as the view from my window is very cloudy with snow falling. Feeling truly satisfied just to have reached Iceland.

It has taken me around 28 to 30 hours of flying time and over 18,000 kilometres to reach Iceland. Plus another 12 to 14 hours of waiting in the airport. All i can say is that it was thoroughly enjoyable. It seems i have developed and affinity for flying.

3rd
Well there is no clear skis this morning. Its 8am and still black outside. Rather than book some tours online, i take a walk to the Concert Hall where Sterna Travel is located. Its only a short 5 minute walk but the wind is howling and its snowing heavily. After talking to the sales guy he books me on some tours. Wednesday is the Golden Circle tour. When we return i then go on the Northern lights tour. According to the sales guy tomorrow night is looking promising to see the lights. If the lights dont happen i get to go again on Thursday night for free. So fingers crossed.

Thursday the tour takes me to the South Coast to see waterfalls, volcanoes, glaciers. Now if all goes well thursday is meant to be a sunny day with a high of minus 8 and a low of minus 17c. He does encourage me to wear as many layers of clothes as possible. I will certainly be taking his advice.

So after booking the tours i wander around the city of Reykjavik for a couple of hours. In a space of 15 minutes you can go from seeing blue sky and no wind to an absolute white out and winds so strong i was nearly blown over more than once. Then the wind stops, light snow falls for a few minutes and then you see blue sky again. This repeats for the whole day.

I head to the large cathedral to get some pictures. There is a little cafe near the cathedral offering true Viking food. Sound like it could be worth trying. So i take a seat on order the Viking meat soup with rye bread with mashed fish and coffee. Well the soup is ok, but nothing more than vegetable soup with a few pieces of meat. The rye with mash fish is really tasty.

Now that i have been re-energised i am going to walk 3 kilometres to the largest shopping mall in Reykjavik. So i endure the ever changing weather and arrive at Kringlan mall. Nothing out of the ordinary and not that many people here. There are some nice leather seating in the mall, so i take a load off my feet.

Not looking forward to the walk back as it will be a head wind all the way, and being pelted with snow and ice. I arrive back at my accommodation just as the sun is setting at 3.50pm. Haven't felt the cold as i have been dressing in many layers to keep the cold out. The face is about all that gets cold.