Quick stop in Iceland: Part Two

I woke up 2 hours later.  I didn’t know where I was at first.  The sun was shining bright in my room.  I looked at the time.  1pm.  I went straight for the shower.  I didn’t want to be stuck in my room all day.  After I showered up I headed back to the main receptionist area in the other tower.  There were a few people lounging around, but it was mostly dead.  I asked the new receptionist if I could get a cab and head into town.  I figured what else could I do?  I just missed the complimentary lunch, but I was fine.  

Once the cab arrived I managed to ask him a few questions.  The town seemed very small indeed.  I walked into a retail shop and did some window shopping.  I was trying to get a feel of the place.

I slowly hopped from one shop to the next.  I walked into a souvenir shop and the lady there was very friendly.  I asked as many questions as I could.  Unfortunately, I have not done much research on Iceland, and felt bad that I was unprepared.  I was pretty clueless.  The lady warned me that most of the shops close by 6pm.  By now the sun was already setting.  She recommended a nearby museum down the street about the history of Keflavik.  I quickly ran over.  I wanted to see as much as I could. 

Indeed the museum was very interesting.  I learned about how both Norwegian and Danish ruled Iceland for nearly seven centuries.  Once I finished up, I ran down the strip again to see which shops I missed.  Sure enough, by 6pm, things got quiet in town.  I went inside a hotel and asked if they could call me a cab.  I headed back hungry.  By now it was pitch black outside. 

I ran into two guys from Wisconsin who were heading to the restaurant that had our complimentary dinner.  We all walked over together.  They were supposed to be on a flight to Berlin but obviously were stuck like me.  We shared some laughs about the whole situation.  The airlines gave us a $20 food voucher, and of course, everything was over-priced so we had to pay the difference.  I settled on some fish and chips.

We walked back to the main tower again.  The Wisconsin guys joked that the bar in our hotel lobby was known to be the hot spot in town.  We decided to have a couple of drinks to see if there was any action going on.  As figured, mostly other passengers that missed their flights joined us.  I did enjoy my time there.  The plan was to break night so we wouldn’t miss our shuttle bus at 3am.  I almost felt we were set to fail.  If we miss this bus, we would have to figure out how to get back to the airport.  If we miss our flight, I couldn’t afford the consequences.

Once it hit 11pm I was growing tired.  I went back to my room and grabbed my luggage.  I came back to join everyone and got comfortable on the couch in the lobby.  The crowd at the bar kept drinking away.  I eventually nodded off.

I got up around 2:30am.  The Wisconsin guys decided to grab their luggage as well.  Little by little, more passengers started gathering in the lobby with their belongings.  We waited and waited until our shuttle bus arrived.  The driver came late, around 3:30am.  My nerves were starting to act up.  I just hate flying.

Once we got to the airport, the baggage check-in was a nightmare.  None of the self-service stations were working.  I befriended another passenger who was also heading to Paris to visit his daughter.  I noticed he only had a recyclable tote bag as his luggage.  I wondered if I could ever travel so lightly.

We started to walk over to our gate when I realized I wanted to grabbed something to eat before our flight.  The cafes were pricey, but I settled on an avocado sandwich.  I did not want to have coffee at all.  I wanted to sleep through the flight.

I was exhausted.  We finally were boarding.  I ran to my seat and quickly put on my blindfold.  I wanted to be sleeping by the time the flight took off.  Luckily it wasn’t so bad since this plane was huge.  I knocked out.

Once we landed, me and my new friend went to claim my luggage.  Since we were both heading into town via train, we decided to ride together.  He wanted to find a photo booth to take a passport picture.  He wanted to get the Navigo pass.  He was planning on doing a lot of activities with his daughter, and apparently it saves a lot in cost when it came to tourist attractions throughout the city.  I’ve never heard of it, but I tagged along to find out where he could get his picture taken.

This part turned into an ordeal.  It took almost an hour to find a photo booth that worked, and then to find the office at the airport where he could pick up his pass.  I was growing impatient, but figured after this, I would be on my own anyway.  

We finished up with the Navigo part and headed to the metro.  I forget how far the airport is from the city.  Almost 20 stops away to the center.  We said our goodbyes and I was on my own.  I decided to get a cab because I didn’t want to get lost.  The hotel was a few blocks away from the Gare du Nord, but I didn’t want to walk around in circles.  I knew my fare would be cheap, so I didn’t mind the stress-free hassle I would have endured.  I already wasted some valuable time.  Now I’m finally here!  In Paris!!    

Mural at the hotel 

In Keflavik 

At the Duus Museum 

The troll obsession is real!  Lol 

Quick stop in Iceland: Part One

Hello everyone!  Sorry I was MIA last week.  Now that the holidays are approaching quickly, I wanted to catch up on my blog about my mini getaway to Paris!  As usual, I had some adventures again, but now I’m getting use to the idea on not to pack in too many activities.  You always get disappointed, and let’s face it, there are surprises that can happen anytime when it comes to traveling.

Such as what happened to me on this particular trip.  I booked with an Icelandic airline which had me land in Iceland for a one hour layover.  I was nervous at first because I felt the layover was too short.  I even asked around if anyone had flown with this particular airline, but didn’t hear too much about them.  Since it was a low fare, I booked it right away and hoped for the best. 

Well I’m pretty sure you know where this is heading.  Lol.  I started to receive texts and email notifications on the day of my departure.  It stated that due to the late arrival of incoming aircraft, my flight will be delayed.  It pushed the time for take-off by an hour.  Then I received another message and they delayed my departure again.  By now, my flight was leaving almost 2 hours later.

I made my way to the airport regardless.  As I stated before, I get very anxious getting on a plane.  I absolutely HATE flying.  Delaying my flight made me want to get this whole thing over with.  I checked in my bags along with the other passengers on my flight.  We all asked the same questions; would there be a problem with our connecting flight since we were leaving later?  The lady behind the counter assured us they would not leave us behind.  We felt somewhat relieved. 

As you can imagine, that DID NOT HAPPEN.  I was exhausted when we landed in Iceland because our flight was on an airbus.  I was a nervous wreck throughout the 5 hour ride.  People ran off and quickly looked for their connecting flights on the screens.  I immediately ran to the first 

gate that mentioned Paris.  As I stood along with the other passengers, it occurred to me it wasn’t my airline.  I looked around for my gate to my airlines but noticed other passengers on my flight were walking over to a counter.  It was our airlines, and they slowly formed a long line.  I didn’t know what was going on since I was exhausted.  When it was my turn, I walked up to the counter where the attendant asked me my name.  I told her and she then handed me a pink slip.  “What is this?” I asked.  “It’s your hotel voucher.  You get complimentary breakfast, lunch and dinner…”  “WAIT, what??  What happened to my flight??”  “It left because you weren’t there.”  I looked at her as if she was crazy.  “WE ALL WEREN’T THERE.  They told us in Chicago that our flights would wait for us!”  I was upset.  Yet I couldn’t help but wonder if this was really happening to us.  I’ve never experienced anything like this so I wasn’t sure what my options were at the time.  I also couldn’t believe they left 50-60 people stranded.  “The shuttle bus who will be taking you to the hotel will be here shortly.  The meeting point is over there.”  She obviously wanted to get rid of me so she could take care of the next guest.  “When can I leave?”, I nervously asked.  “Your flight is tomorrow at 6am.  The shuttle bus will pick you up at the hotel at 3am.”  I walked away in a daze.  I met up with the other passengers, some who were just as livid as me, and waited until the man with the shuttle bus signaled us to come outside.  He took our luggage and stored them away while we found the first available seats.  It was a silent 5 minute drive to the hotel, not to mention, it was after 8am and pitch black outside.  The sun had not risen yet.
Our hotel looked like what you would expect from one by the airport.  Not much happening around it.  We checked in with the receptionist who handed us our keys one by one.  She made the announcement that our complimentary breakfast would be over by 10am and a rush of people headed to the lounge area for toast, ham and cheese cold cuts, and yogurt.  The food on the flight was ridiculously pricey.  You had to pay for the catering on the flight, and since we all assumed we would be continuing our flights out of Iceland, we were starving.   A couple of the passengers were annoyed with the whole thing.  One woman in particular was also heading to Paris, but found another flight out of Iceland through another airline.  She took a cab back to the airport and we never saw her again.  The rest were in the lounge trying to figure out what to do next.  I was messaging my friend in Italy on what was going on.  She advised me to call my hotel in Paris to  make sure they wouldn’t give my room away.
A group of 4 women were asking the receptionist what’s there to do in this town.  We were right outside of Keflavik by the airport.  The receptionist told us we were about 3 miles away from It.  We could take a bus that cost around $20 that would leave us closer to town, and walk by foot the rest of the way, ( a 10 minute walk).  Or we could take a cab to and from Keflavik, but it was cost $20 each way.  One of the passengers stunned us by stating he was going to walk to the nearby town on his own.  “Yeah, it’s only 3 miles away.”  We stared at him for a second and then listened again to the receptionist for our other options.  There was a bus that could take you to the Blue Lagoon, but the shuttle bus for that was $60.  Once you get there, you have to pay for the spa services.  A group of passengers rented a car (apparently the rate was cheap) and decided to drive over to the main capital Reykjavik which was a 45 minute drive.  Off they went. 
I grew frustrated.  I went to my hotel room which looked like a room at a mental institution.  White walls, no tv, and a white bed with a bad view of the parking lot.  I sat on the bed and continued to message my friend before I realized how comfy the bed felt.  Right then I knocked out HARD.  It was lights out for me…