Reykjavik to San Francisco

The final leg of our trip was the flight from Reykjavik to San Francisco airport. We flew WOW Air, a budget Icelandic airline.

After waiting for a mechanical problem to be corrected, we were in the air and on our way home. G mostly snoozed, and I mostly binge-watched Netflix shows I had downloaded in the Reykjavik airport.

About 8 1/2 hour later, we were on the ground in San Francisco. Tired and hungry and sore from sitting so long, we stumbled off the plane and into the airport. After waiting our way through the immigration line, we emerged in the airport.

We caught an Uber and made it home by 11PM. Exhausted, I went straight to sleep. I had work the next day.

Last Day in Reykjavik

On this day, our last in Reykjavik, we woke up and ate the included breakfast at the hotel.

After packing up or bags, we headed out into the city to see Reykjavik in daylight. The highlight of the walk was stepping inside the performance hall, Harpa. I'd spent several days in Reykjavik in 2013, but I'd never been to Harpa before.

Harpa has one of the most interesting architectural styles in the city. While blocky and dark from the outside, it is light and colorful on the inside. The geometric windows create patterns of light on the floor. There are souvenir shops on the bottom floor, but as you ascent the levels of stairs, sounds of musicians practicing reach your ears. These musicians are practicing for concerts, likely later in the day. Unfortunately, we didn't have more time. If we had, we might have stayed to listen to one of the rehearsals. As it was, we had to return the car by 4PM, and we still wanted to stop by the Viking World museum near the airport.

The highlight of Viking World was the full size Viking ship replica hanging in the main room of the museum. Patrons are allowed on the ship to explore and take photos. Again, we were short on time, and I could have spent a bit more time exploring the museum grounds, but I did get my picture taken on a Viking ship!

By 3:20, it was time to head to the airport, Keflavik. Keflavik is less than 10 minutes from Viking World. We hit a snag when trying to gas up the rental car, but turning in the car went off without a hitch. Before 4:00 PM, we were in the airport terminal checking in.

Next stop: home.

Bergthorshvall Farm

This post is in the form of a letter. It is a letter I wrote to one of my students. As explained in a previous post, I am a private tutor, and I like to give my students extra practice when I am away. Extra practice sometimes takes the form of letters. Here is one of my letters:

Dear Student, 

I hope you are having a good week and had a good time on your field trip. 

I wanted to tell you about staying on a farm in a town called Bergthorshvall in Iceland. The funny part is that there is only one farm in Bergthorshvall. There are no other houses or stores. It's a really old farm too. It has existed for about a thousand years! In fact, there is a very famous Icelandic story that is told about the people who lived on this farm. It's called a saga story, and it is very, very complicated. It is all about a man named Njall (Neal) and his family. 

This farm has chickens, horses, and sheep. I didn't see any chickens while I was there, but I did get to visit the sheep. I was excited to feed and pet the sheep. They were so hungry! Some of the sheep even climbed up on top of the other sheep just to get to the food in the trough. A trough holds animal food.I even got to see a baby lamb. It was only a few days old. The farm worker said he is expecting many more lambs soon.  

I never stayed on a farm before, so it was a new and unique experience. I better go, but I look forward to seeing you later!

Your teacher, 

Elaina