For my birthday trip this year I had planned to goto Iceland and then continue across Norway. Originally I had wanted to do Russia but with the Crimea and Ukraine tensions I thought getting a visa would be tricky and they may be hostile to westerners.

Iceland had long interested me. In Junior school we had to do projects on four different European countries. After choosing West Germany and France I also chose Iceland. I remember writing about geysirs but having no comprehension of what they were.

At University in my European Politics class we had to write a paper on a Government and Electoral system. Again I chose Iceland as it was the least popular and I thought it would be interesting.

So I learnt that the search for farmland brought Vikings to Iceland along with Irish Monks who had already settled. They formed a conciliatory form of Government of compromise and community service which was against the norms for Viking tradition at the time. They also founded the Allthing which was Europe's oldest parliament.

The main economic industries were fishing and the US airbase at Keflavik where the International Airport is now located. I also remember the Superpower Summit where Raegan and Gorbachev met in Iceland in the mid 80s.

Getting to Iceland was going to be an exciting escape from all the pressures at work. Icelandair had started direct flights from Toronto with massive subway promotions a few years back. I had considered it but ended up moving to Korea for three years. Now on my return I wanted to goto Iceland and onto Norway which I had also planned on visiting in detail before I ended up moving to Korea.

I was travelling with hand luggage only which would be a big relief from my trip last Oct thru the Balkans when I had all my luggage from Korea. I wanted to take the 508 streetcar in the morning which comes from the Humber loop, and down King St towards Union Station. I waited 20 mins and the streetcar never showed, part of ongoing issues I am having with Toronto Transit.

After a busy day at work I was going to leave after 4 to get to the airport in time for my 9pm flight. It ended up being busy and I was stuck on the phone and replying to emails till 5pm. I hadn't changed my voicemail to say I was on vacation so had to answer the calls after 430 rather then letting them ring and leave a message.

Eventually I got out after 530 and waited for the bus to the subway. After 10 mins it didn't arrive so I started to walk, again showing how Toronto Transit is driving me crazy. I made it to Lawrence subway from where I would take the bus to the airport.

After Kipling they kicked us all off the bus and told us to take the next one. Eventually I got to the airport after 730 and to the gate just as they had started boarding. I almost missed my flight before my trip had even started.

It was only a 5 hour flight and we would arrive 2am Toronto time which is 6am local time. I tried to get some sleep with my eyepatch as I had a busy day walking in Rekjavik planned. Icelandair charges for all food and doesn't serve hot meals so I could just sleep thru their meal service.

We landed in darkness so there wasn't anything to see on arrival. The guy next to me who was a local asked me if it was my first time in Iceland and how I liked it? I said I don't know as I cant see anything!

On landing we had to go thru security screening again as Canada does not meet European security standards. I had been given a bottle of Icelandic bottled water on the plane but security insisted I had to throw it out even though their own airline had given it to me on the plane.

I then exchanged some Euros to local money and tried to buy a bus ticket to the city. The airport is not in Rekjavik so you have to take the bus. I tried to use my credit card but it was declined as I couldn't remember the pin.

It was now daylight so I could see the barren landscape as we drove in. It was completely desolate but interesting terrain. The hotel was a short walk from the bus station and easy to find. After leaving my bags I would go on my first exploratory walk.