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Road Diary:
Day 1, 7/7: Take
off and over the seas
Written somewhere above Greenland. Sam
dropped us off. Plane late by about a half hour but we
got off without a hitch. Lots of lightning and some
bumps over Canada between Windsor and Ottawa. Amenities
were good on plane. Lots of room. Had some trouble
sleeping. Arctic sun rose very early around midnight
Chicago time, a very bad time for sunrise. Just
southwest of Greenland, some beautiful colors lite the
sky at sunrise. The ocean 36,000 feet under my feet
below is beautiful and wild and cold. Here and there are
clouds floating in the -60° air that we ride on. All the
while, I listen through my headphones, half awake and
half asleep to audio books about Norse mythology and the
history of Iceland.
Day 2, 7/8:
Magical, expensive Iceland
Written at 5 Calle Relatores, Madrid, Spain.
We landed at about 7am GMT and proceeded
through airport construction to hard to find bathroom
where stalls curiously went to floor. Had to clean up
after the long flight. Then we headed easily through
customs and EU immigration. Out of the airport, we found
our Procar guy who drive us to Keflavik to get a car. It
was an Oppel Elf or something like that. It had a big
trunk and took a while to figure out how to start.
Expensive rental but that's how everything is in
Iceland: expensive. Weather was coldish for summer about
50° with northerlies. These changed to off and on
drizzle later as some clouds rolled in. Keflavik
was a workaday harbor town that reminded me of the
sparseness of northern Ontario. Roads were in various
conditions, but all driveable. The lupine meadows sat on
top of Idaho-like lava tubes and black rocks. Walking on
it was like walking on pillow of moss. Striking green
and black cinder cone mountains here and there. We
stopped along Route 43 near a pull off and found steps
leading into a lava tube. Then passed Blue Lagoon and
the neighboring power plant, fueled by the steam coming
from deep underground. Grindavik seemed
a good town on South coast to get food but no one was
open this early. We were hungry and jetlag was getting
to kids especially. Drove along coast until turning
north up into Krysuvik. Here were
geothermal features like mud pots, springs, bubbling
pools, deep colorful springs and rocks. The classic
smells were familiar to us from our many trips to
Yellowstone. Stopped at two places and walked around
with energy.Then drove north along scenic lake in black
sand and cliffs to Reykjavik and environs. The woods
here and there were 100% taiga, but the land was mostly
composed of short grass meadows like the ones high up in
the Rockies. Reykjavik was a bigger
version of Keflavik. Disapponted in the small size of
the much lauded modern cathedral, but enjoyed heroic
Leif Erikson statue. Found port and paid WAY too much
for fish dinners complete with poor service. Should've
hit a grocery. After eating we drove back to Keflavik to
return car and get to airport where we met more flight
delays. The departure section was like a mall with
nowhere to sit. We left gate on busses and walked
upstairs into antique planes. Then flew half awake
across the North Atlantic and Bay of Biscay to
Barajas with a planeload of antsy middle-aged
Spanish people with sensible haircuts and the Latin
faces I've seen in Renaissance paintings. Decided after
hour delay getting into Madrid, it would be best to take
taxi to our aprtment. The driver was nice and showed us
stuff. I struggled in my daze to understand his Spanish.
Dropped us off at place and our host came down to help
us in. Lots of loud people outside from a hostel
partying, but nice apartment.
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