kevin_standlee (![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png)
kevin_standlee) wrote2024-07-29 11:50 pm
kevin_standlee) wrote2024-07-29 11:50 pm
Worldcon Trip Day 5: Early Day in Reykjavik
We definitely didn't sleep on the flight. Later in the flight, we bought a couple of ham sandwiches off the IcelandAir in-flight menu. I started to watch Dune, Part 2, but only got about halfway through it before realizing I wouldn't have time to finish it. If the same in-flight entertainment is available on the shorter flight to London in a few days, maybe I'll get a chance to see that last half of it.
Around 5 AM local time, we began our descent into Keflavik airport.
Kuma Bear liked having a seat to himself, but did not like me elbowing him all night.
We spent a longer time than most people would at the airport, including spending an inordinate amount of time fixing my luggage. I forgot to get a picture of it, but somewhere along the way, one of the corners with a wheel got bashed in. Eventually, we managed to hammer on it with the tripod to make it pop back into place. By the time we got done with all of that, the first bus out had left, so we had to wait for a while for the next departure, but we did wait on board that bus and it meant the bus was not crowded.
It's a 50 km drive from the airport to downtown, but we weren't worried about killing time because it was still way too early and we knew it would be unlikely that we could get into our hotel.
After changing from the main FlyBus to a shuttle to the downtown hotels, we rolled in to the City Center Hotel around 8:30 AM. As expected, our room was not available, but also as expected, they stored our bags for us. The front desk clerk was very nice and helpful.
While we were walking from the bus stop to our hotel, Lisa spotted this sign for a breakfast buffet at one of the other hotels a short distance from the City Center. (The City Center's restaurant is closed and thus the hotel does not include breakfast.) It was open 7-10 AM and was not crowded, so it make for a good place for us to get fed and to spend time sitting down. Beside, by now we were nearly asleep on our feet.
4900 Kr is about US$35.50 (thus 9800 kr / $71 for two people) [corrected entry], but it was a very nice buffet. It included coffee, tea, juice, and water (and Icelandic water is some of the best in the world). We very much got our money's worth, lingering over breakfast until it closed. The only problem we faced was not eating too much so we could sample lots of things. They did not try to over-complicate their menu, which suits us, as we prefer our eggs and potatoes plain. They had some blueberry skyr that was the best I think I've ever had. Most of the skyr I've bought in the USA isn't very good.
Kuma Bear was happy that we slipped him a little bit of salmon.
He also found a friend in the lobby of the restaurant.
We still needed to kill a couple of hours before our room was expected to be available, and after all of that food, we needed to walk anyway. It was a lovely cool 10°C. I took off my jacket and stowed it in my bag and finally felt comfortable for the first time in weeks. We walked past Government House (the Prime Minister's office) vaguely toward the harbor.
The construction next to the Harpa Hall is finally completed. I later learned that there is now a roughly 250-bed Edition Hotel (part of Marriott) next door. The idea once floated of holding a combination NASFiC-Eurocon here in Reykjavik no longer seems as cracked as I once thought it was. (We changed WSFS rules to prevent the NASFiC part, but if we took that restriction away, the case that western Iceland is on the North American tectonic plate and thus eligible could be invoked. And no, I'm not going to plan such a thing, but I'm sure I'd want to attend it.)
We stumbled onto this, the only train in all of Iceland. This little locomotive sitting on a short length of track was part of the Reykjavík Harbour Railway, used for the construction of the harbor breakwaters.
Walking back toward downtown, we took a picture of the Center of Reykjavik: the zero point from which all streets are measured.
At the hotel, we were delighted to hear that our room was ready, and that they'd upgraded us to a Superior Room with balcony.
The bed turned out to be quite comfortable.
There's a refrigerator (possibly just a wine cooler, but good enough for our purposes) and a working desk area. There's only a coffee maker. A hot-water kettle would have been nice.
The key thing for Lisa was that the room has a bathtub, and a good-sized one at that. Thanks to Reykjavik having a separate hot water supply based on the water from the geothermal plants being re-used as a municipal hot-water supply, it means every bath is a nice mineral bath. Ignore that lightly sulfuric smell; it's part of the therapeutic experience. The cold water is completely separate and as I mentioned earlier, is some of the best water in the world.
After moving into the hotel room and unpacking, we walked down the street to a 24-hour small grocery store where we got a few drinks and other supplies. Lisa was able to get the high-fiber Wasa crackers that she'd been trying to get for the past few days but that are more difficult to find at smaller stores in the USA.
It was early afternoon local time, but we'd been up for about 24 subjective hours. Lisa took a bath, I made sure all three of my computers worked, and we both were in bed by 2 PM, sleeping until after 11 PM. It was still light outside. I understand that there is a prospect for auroras, but it's too light in the city, and besides, it's cloudy. Both Lisa and I are happy with the cool weather and have kept the windows open. It's regrettable that the room doesn't have "blackout" curtains, but they do supply effective eyemasks, and I used mine to good effect this afternoon.
Yeah, we are jet lagged, but we expect to be back on track by the time we leave on Friday.
Around 5 AM local time, we began our descent into Keflavik airport.
Kuma Bear liked having a seat to himself, but did not like me elbowing him all night.
We spent a longer time than most people would at the airport, including spending an inordinate amount of time fixing my luggage. I forgot to get a picture of it, but somewhere along the way, one of the corners with a wheel got bashed in. Eventually, we managed to hammer on it with the tripod to make it pop back into place. By the time we got done with all of that, the first bus out had left, so we had to wait for a while for the next departure, but we did wait on board that bus and it meant the bus was not crowded.
It's a 50 km drive from the airport to downtown, but we weren't worried about killing time because it was still way too early and we knew it would be unlikely that we could get into our hotel.
After changing from the main FlyBus to a shuttle to the downtown hotels, we rolled in to the City Center Hotel around 8:30 AM. As expected, our room was not available, but also as expected, they stored our bags for us. The front desk clerk was very nice and helpful.
While we were walking from the bus stop to our hotel, Lisa spotted this sign for a breakfast buffet at one of the other hotels a short distance from the City Center. (The City Center's restaurant is closed and thus the hotel does not include breakfast.) It was open 7-10 AM and was not crowded, so it make for a good place for us to get fed and to spend time sitting down. Beside, by now we were nearly asleep on our feet.
4900 Kr is about US$35.50 (thus 9800 kr / $71 for two people) [corrected entry], but it was a very nice buffet. It included coffee, tea, juice, and water (and Icelandic water is some of the best in the world). We very much got our money's worth, lingering over breakfast until it closed. The only problem we faced was not eating too much so we could sample lots of things. They did not try to over-complicate their menu, which suits us, as we prefer our eggs and potatoes plain. They had some blueberry skyr that was the best I think I've ever had. Most of the skyr I've bought in the USA isn't very good.
Kuma Bear was happy that we slipped him a little bit of salmon.
He also found a friend in the lobby of the restaurant.
We still needed to kill a couple of hours before our room was expected to be available, and after all of that food, we needed to walk anyway. It was a lovely cool 10°C. I took off my jacket and stowed it in my bag and finally felt comfortable for the first time in weeks. We walked past Government House (the Prime Minister's office) vaguely toward the harbor.
The construction next to the Harpa Hall is finally completed. I later learned that there is now a roughly 250-bed Edition Hotel (part of Marriott) next door. The idea once floated of holding a combination NASFiC-Eurocon here in Reykjavik no longer seems as cracked as I once thought it was. (We changed WSFS rules to prevent the NASFiC part, but if we took that restriction away, the case that western Iceland is on the North American tectonic plate and thus eligible could be invoked. And no, I'm not going to plan such a thing, but I'm sure I'd want to attend it.)
We stumbled onto this, the only train in all of Iceland. This little locomotive sitting on a short length of track was part of the Reykjavík Harbour Railway, used for the construction of the harbor breakwaters.
Walking back toward downtown, we took a picture of the Center of Reykjavik: the zero point from which all streets are measured.
At the hotel, we were delighted to hear that our room was ready, and that they'd upgraded us to a Superior Room with balcony.
The bed turned out to be quite comfortable.
There's a refrigerator (possibly just a wine cooler, but good enough for our purposes) and a working desk area. There's only a coffee maker. A hot-water kettle would have been nice.
The key thing for Lisa was that the room has a bathtub, and a good-sized one at that. Thanks to Reykjavik having a separate hot water supply based on the water from the geothermal plants being re-used as a municipal hot-water supply, it means every bath is a nice mineral bath. Ignore that lightly sulfuric smell; it's part of the therapeutic experience. The cold water is completely separate and as I mentioned earlier, is some of the best water in the world.
After moving into the hotel room and unpacking, we walked down the street to a 24-hour small grocery store where we got a few drinks and other supplies. Lisa was able to get the high-fiber Wasa crackers that she'd been trying to get for the past few days but that are more difficult to find at smaller stores in the USA.
It was early afternoon local time, but we'd been up for about 24 subjective hours. Lisa took a bath, I made sure all three of my computers worked, and we both were in bed by 2 PM, sleeping until after 11 PM. It was still light outside. I understand that there is a prospect for auroras, but it's too light in the city, and besides, it's cloudy. Both Lisa and I are happy with the cool weather and have kept the windows open. It's regrettable that the room doesn't have "blackout" curtains, but they do supply effective eyemasks, and I used mine to good effect this afternoon.
Yeah, we are jet lagged, but we expect to be back on track by the time we leave on Friday.
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