Finally, Iceland...

What a difference a day makes! Left Charlotte around 8:30 AM and arrived at JFK in plenty of time for our 2:05 PM flight to Reykjavik. The weather was good and the flight mostly smooth. We were excited to finally be on the way.

With time to kill at JKF, we got in a good walk and a couple of hours of people watching. By 1:35 PM, we had boarded our flight. Our boarding passes indicated seats 9D and 9F. Clearly the airline had moved us from the cattle car to "economy comfort." Before the flight took off, we had been moved again...to first class.

Another smooth flight in progress. I was able to catch the photo below (sunset on the Atlantic) before cloud cover obscured our sight. Unfortunately, we missed seeing Greenland completely.

Around 11:30 PM, (7:30 PM Knoxville time),with the plane in full decent mode, the coastline of Iceland came into sight. We were glued to the window as the sky, clouds, sunset, mountains (just to the right of the sun), coast and water came together for a most incredible view.

We arrived at Keflavik International Airport on time. As we stepped off the plane, all passengers were directed through another security check. Iceland believes that US security standards are not rigid enough. We cleared through a system not unlike the ones in the US and moved quickly through immigration and customs.

A car service was waiting for us at passenger pick-up and we began a 45 minute drive to Reykjavik. Along the way, our driver noted points of interest and gave us a little history about Iceland. After an early start and a 5 hour flight, our hotel the Hilton Nordica, was the best point of interest.

From our hotel window, we could see the silhouette of Reykjavik against the coast. In the morning we would meet up with Will and Kim, pick up the rental car and begin our drive around the Ring Road. It has been 7 years since we first discussed Iceland and now, here we stand. Finally...Iceland.