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Iceland--non ride report

Holly

Amma
OK, so we took a big silver bird and drove a friend's car while we were there. Still all 3 of us are MOA members, and the first thing I did was head for the Yamaha shop and buy an x-ring chain for my Virago. Yup, I've got the only x-rated bike in Canada.

Pics here

Holly
 
I saw a "No Reservations" (Anthony Bourdain) and two of the things I remember from that show are the Blue Lagoon (how'd you like that?) and the "fermented" (let's not say rotten) shark. Tony did not care for the shark, did you try it? *shiver*
I hear the nights are long and things get crazy late . . . I enjoyed your pics, thanks for sharing.
 
OK, so we took a big silver bird and drove a friend's car...

Holly

A car...:banghead

Holly, how could you pass up not spending a month on the island to ride?

How did you get there; from where, to where, by which airline, etc.
 
Yup I ate the rotten shark

I saw a "No Reservations" (Anthony Bourdain) and two of the things I remember from that show are the Blue Lagoon (how'd you like that?)

The Blue Lagoon is delightful. Worth a whole trip just for that. You will notice that the majority of the pictures are from there. We got there about noon, had lunch a couple of hours later at the poolside bar. Cocktails at tea time. (You use the electronic bracelet you get when you enter to open and close your lockers, build your tab at the bar, etc.--very civilized.) We got out of the water around 6 pm and then stayed for dinner in the restaurant.

and the "fermented" (let's not say rotten) shark. Tony did not care for the shark, did you try it? *shiver*

Might as well say rotten, that's what it is. They bury the shark for 3 - 6 months, then have to hang it for a while to get rid of the worst toxins. Lonely Planet described it as "smelling like a cross between 3-day old road kill and ammonia cleaner." Lonely Planet has toned that down a bit in the most recent edition and the h?íkarl we got at the tourist restaurant was also a very mild tourist version. I've had much stronger stuff in Iceland and even brought a jar home once that I would not allow to be opened in the house. The smell alone brought the toughest "bikers" to their knees. In the pics you can see the face Susan is making as she swallows and Marc as he takes a bite, with his shot of Black Death ready to wash it down. It was really very mild, but still an acquired taste. Any wonder that whale steaks are such a treat?

I hear the nights are long and things get crazy late . . . I enjoyed your pics, thanks for sharing.

Yup, we Icelanders can't hold our liquor and we're very cheap drunks. Partying all night is the thing to do in Reykjavik. Before all night bars were an option there weren't too many ways to spend those long nights. My great-grandfather had 23 children. :dunno

Holly
 
$$$

A car...:banghead

Holly, how could you pass up not spending a month on the island to ride?

How did you get there; from where, to where, by which airline, etc.

Dollars, Alex, Dollars. I couldn't afford either staying a month or renting a bike. It was a choice of not going or going and not riding.

Icelandair now flies direct from Toronto. They still include the stopover option, so you can fly them and stop in Iceland either going or coming for no extra charge.

http://www.icelandair.ca/

For Americans the URL is: http://www.icelandair.com/ Flights from NY, Boston, Minneapolis-St. Paul and Orlando.

Holly
 
Icelandair now flies direct from Toronto.

Terrific news! I knew they flew out of Boston and that was going to be my point of departure, but Toronto is closer.

They still include the stopover option, so you can fly them and stop in Iceland either going or coming for no extra charge.

Fly them where, other than Iceland? Where does the Toronto-Iceland flight stopover?
 
Fly them where, other than Iceland? Where does the Toronto-Iceland flight stopover?

You can fly Icelandair from Toronto to Amsterdam, Bergen, Berlin, Copenhagen, Frankfurt, Glasgow, Gothenburg, London (Heathrow), Milan, Munich, Nuuk, Oslo, Paris and Stockholm. The flight will stop in Keflavik, Iceland each way and you can get off, spend some time in Iceland then continue to your destination. You can only do this one way, not both coming and going.

Holly
 
You can fly Icelandair from Toronto to Amsterdam, Bergen, Berlin, Copenhagen, Frankfurt, Glasgow, Gothenburg, London (Heathrow), Milan, Munich, Nuuk, Oslo, Paris and Stockholm. The flight will stop in Keflavik, Iceland each way and you can get off, spend some time in Iceland then continue to your destination. You can only do this one way, not both coming and going.

Holly

I checked their web site and for the day I happened to pick, the flight was Air Canada from Toronto to Halifax and then Icelandair the rest of the way. Yet on the way back, it was non-stop Icelandair all the way to Toronto. Go figure!

Anyways, I'm a ways off to that trip.
 
I checked their web site and for the day I happened to pick, the flight was Air Canada from Toronto to Halifax and then Icelandair the rest of the way. Yet on the way back, it was non-stop Icelandair all the way to Toronto. Go figure!

Anyways, I'm a ways off to that trip.

Yeah, they don't fly out of TO every day. Remember they are a small country, 300,000 people, so the fact that they have an international airline at all is pretty amazing. They've been flying for a long time and I've never heard of them dropping one. When I was going to Spain last summer I took a cheap flight from Hamilton to Glasgow to Alicante. I was a bit worried about the maintenance record of the cheap outfit and was greatly relieved when I got on and found that the Hamilton-Glasgow and return flights were Icelandair planes and Icelandair pilots on wet lease to the other outfit.

Holly
 
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