Off to Gatwick for our first time trip to Iceland. We were travelling by IcelandAir and had treated ourselves to a trip in Saga Class, their version of business class. We boarded more or less on time but, for various reasons, ended up sitting on the tarmac for more than two hours before getting away. A bit boring, especially as we didn't even get a drink to pass to the time. Later in our trip I spoke to a lady from Edinburgh and was told that their Sunday flight was cancelled due to bad weather so maybe we were lucky to get away at all!

Anyway, once on our way the flight was very enjoyable with good food and plenty of wine. Due to the delayed start we were quite late arriving at Keflavik but got through quite quickly, went outside and oh my goodness the weather was absolutely awful! Not only was it pitch dark but it was howling gales and driving, icy rain. Not fun!! Our luggage was soaked through already when we retrieved it from the carousel, from sitting outside in the rain, no doubt and it was due to get much wetter as we struggled to get ourselves onto the coach into the city. After about 45 minutes we reached Reykjavik bus station and had to struggle off the big coach and onto a minibus to take us to the hotel, still in appalling weather conditions.

At the hotel we found that our deluxe room was not quite as deluxe as all that, and only had 2 shelves and a couple of hangers storage space. Apparently we have one of the biggest rooms in the hotel, so not sure what the others must be like.

By now we had been informed that our evening boat trip to look for the northern lights had been cancelled due to adverse weather conditions and, bearing in mind what it was like outside, we were actually quite relieved!

We decided to take ourselves out to find an ATM and to have a drink somewhere. Struggling along the streets against the wind and rain was not the best experience I have ever had, but it was possible to see that Reykjavik is really quite a pretty place, especially with all the Christmas lights which are still up everywhere. We eventually found an ATM and got some cash, then went into the nearest bar (The English Pub, would you believe!) and had a beer before making the trek back towards our hotel.

Feeling a bit hungry we noticed a Subway which was still open, just, and went in to get a sandwich. Neither of us has ever been in a Subway before so it was quite amusing that we should have our first experience in Iceland. We didn't have a clue what we were doing but ended up with quite a nice snack to take back to the hotel. Luckily it had stopped raining by now so we were able to get back without being drowned. By now we were feeling exhausted so settled down for an early night in our room overlooking the water.