Reykjavik, Iceland Latitude 64° 7' 52" N
We left Boston on time at 2:20 pm on Friday, August 26th. Not wanting to miss our flight, we caught a 6 am flight out of Plattsburgh, arriving in Boston by 7:30 and then waiting six hours, busying ourselves with reading, using the free Logan Wi-Fi and each of us taking a long walk while the other waited with luggage.
The first two hours of the flight were marvelous—flying first over the deep bays of Southern Maine, then straight up the St. Lawrence, over Quebec City, and exiting at the Gaspe. It was a clear, gorgeous afternoon. Beyond the mouth of the river, we flew over Labrador, Newfoundland then hugged the Greenland Coast when it finally got dark.
We were prepared for a cold, crisp night, but exiting the airport at midnight to temperatures in the high 40’s was more reminiscent of mid November than the end of August.
Welcome to the 64th Parallel!
But at least for Day 1, we were very fortunate with clear, sunny skies holding over the country’s capital, Reykjavik. We lingered at the harbor, climbed to the bell tower of the National Cathedral, marveled at prices ($2.50 for a single ear of corn, $8.00 for eight strawberries, $4.00 cups of coffee and Diet Cokes). I marveled at choices on the menu, foods touted at “typical Icelandic dishes”—fish covered with sheep head jelly, mashed fish, fish stew, tweezed fish, fish soup, fish balls, minced fish, dried fish and whale. I’m not a picky eater, but when it comes to meat and animal products, I draw the line with the unfamiliar. Thankfully, I brought a good supply of gluten free pasta and assorted sauces.
After a long time negotiating restaurants, we finally found a place where Steve could get fish and I could eat a hamburger.
It’s the end of summer, but this far north the days are still long, with temperatures in the low 50’s, with the sun not setting until after 9:00 pm. At the summer solstice, in the deep south of Iceland, where Reykjavik is located, there is only four hours of twilight night. In December, though, the sun doesn’t rise until 11:00 am then sets at 3:20 pm.
But we aren’t here at Christmas time and our long first day harkened back those gloriously long, mid- June days at home. It’s nice to have it twice in a summer.
I was exhausted. Our travel day to Reykjavik was long and I slept badly the first night. For me, it was an early night. Two weeks of Iceland lay ahead and I was ready to get it started early the next day.
We left Boston on time at 2:20 pm on Friday, August 26th. Not wanting to miss our flight, we caught a 6 am flight out of Plattsburgh, arriving in Boston by 7:30 and then waiting six hours, busying ourselves with reading, using the free Logan Wi-Fi and each of us taking a long walk while the other waited with luggage.
The first two hours of the flight were marvelous—flying first over the deep bays of Southern Maine, then straight up the St. Lawrence, over Quebec City, and exiting at the Gaspe. It was a clear, gorgeous afternoon. Beyond the mouth of the river, we flew over Labrador, Newfoundland then hugged the Greenland Coast when it finally got dark.
We were prepared for a cold, crisp night, but exiting the airport at midnight to temperatures in the high 40’s was more reminiscent of mid November than the end of August.
Welcome to the 64th Parallel!
But at least for Day 1, we were very fortunate with clear, sunny skies holding over the country’s capital, Reykjavik. We lingered at the harbor, climbed to the bell tower of the National Cathedral, marveled at prices ($2.50 for a single ear of corn, $8.00 for eight strawberries, $4.00 cups of coffee and Diet Cokes). I marveled at choices on the menu, foods touted at “typical Icelandic dishes”—fish covered with sheep head jelly, mashed fish, fish stew, tweezed fish, fish soup, fish balls, minced fish, dried fish and whale. I’m not a picky eater, but when it comes to meat and animal products, I draw the line with the unfamiliar. Thankfully, I brought a good supply of gluten free pasta and assorted sauces.
After a long time negotiating restaurants, we finally found a place where Steve could get fish and I could eat a hamburger.
It’s the end of summer, but this far north the days are still long, with temperatures in the low 50’s, with the sun not setting until after 9:00 pm. At the summer solstice, in the deep south of Iceland, where Reykjavik is located, there is only four hours of twilight night. In December, though, the sun doesn’t rise until 11:00 am then sets at 3:20 pm.
But we aren’t here at Christmas time and our long first day harkened back those gloriously long, mid- June days at home. It’s nice to have it twice in a summer.
I was exhausted. Our travel day to Reykjavik was long and I slept badly the first night. For me, it was an early night. Two weeks of Iceland lay ahead and I was ready to get it started early the next day.
