Day 53 - On to Iceland - Country #5

August 13, 2023: We started the day with a very nice breakfast with Hans Christian and Sylvia before spending part of the morning re-packing and re-balancing our bags for our flight in the afternoon. We are still within the weight limit even thought we have purchased gifts to bring home. We also offloaded gifts we brought for family. When we were ready to go, Hans Christian and Sylvia drove us down to Oslo city center and we grabbed a coffee and pastry before they dropped us off at the Central Train Station. We took the high speed train the airport and had not issues navigating the train after all of our train trips in Italy. Check-in at the airport was fairly easy. They process is much more automated, so we had to quickly learn how to tag our own bags and drop them off in the correct location. Security was quick as well, except for my bag being pulled aside after I had accidentally left a scissor in my backpack 🤦‍♀️. We had timed everything well and we only had about a 45 minute wait before we were on the plane and heading to Iceland.

The flight was uneventful and when we got to Iceland the hotel had a car waiting for us. After a 45 minute drive, we arrived at our last place we will stay at on this trip. It is called Reykjavik Residence Hotel. It is a cute little apartment with a small kitchenette, bedroom and bathroom. We dropped off our bags and headed out to find something to eat. We settled on a little taco place and after grabbing some tacos and a burrito (I know, why Mexican in Iceland?) we started familiarizing ourselves with the area. Jimm saw what looked like a bookstore that had a band playing. We stepped inside and immediately loved the place. They played all the favorite rock, pop and country songs from the U.S. There was a great vibe in the place and our bartender was super friendly. He made a really good Old Fashioned that Jimm was very happy with. We sat there until late listening to the music and then headed back to get a good night’s sleep before our tour of the South Coast tomorrow. Already we love the feel of Iceland 🇮🇸!