In Iceland

**Note: this was written in an Icelandic airport on July 16, 2013.  I'm a bit slow to post, is all.**

I’m spending 16 hours in an airport today.  In Iceland.  Liz and I had a very long layover on our way home.  Originally, we planned to sleep in the airport after arriving at midnight, then leave early in the morning and take the bus into town to sightsee until our flight left in the afternoon. 

But when Liz checked the Reyjkavik forecast yesterday, the prediction was a cold and rainy day.  We did cold and rainy one day in Switzerland, and it’s not much fun when you don’t have a car or destination in mind to escape the rain.  And the prospect of returning to the airport and having to sit through a 6 hour flight being wet and soggy really didn’t appeal at all.  So rather than chance it, we opted to stay in the airport, save some money on bus fare, and hopefully create our own fun. 

The first five hours sucked.  They wouldn’t check us in all the way through to our final destination when we boarded in Amsterdam, so in Iceland we had to pick up my bag from baggage claim, then wait until the check-in desk opened at 5am to check in for our flight and move beyond the security point.  And of course, before the security point, there are no cushioned chairs to sleep on (and there are also yellow signs warning that sleeping or camping on the premises is forbidden, but we tried to sleep anyway).  We were cold and uncomfortable and really didn’t sleep much. 

Thankfully, beyond the security point, there are plenty of nice chairs that aren’t divided by arm rests, making them excellent for taking a nap.  And from 8:00am-4:00pm, the airport is pretty dead.  So each of us could take up 3 chairs for a few hours’ nap without feeling like we were stealing seating from others. 

We did make a bit of our own fun too, though the airport is smaller than we’d hoped.  We took silly pictures and laughed at some of the advertisements.  We perused the shops and got something to eat (after all, we’re saving money by not taking the bus, so we might as well eat a real meal).  We took a half hour walk (3 laps, up and down the terminal).  And we took advantage of the free wifi.  Mainly, though, we’re looking forward to getting on that plane and getting home. 



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