June 4-5, 2015 - The Saga Begins

Yesterday and today got smushed together into one LONG day . . .

We flew "overnight" on Icelandair from ANC to REY. (Only in Alaska would you find Samoans working the check-in counter for Icelandair.)  Since we took the northern route, we stayed in the sunlight the entire trip. It never got dark, but somewhere along the way the clock rolled over from Thursday to Friday.  

We flew over Canada, then we flew over the Arctic Ocean. I could see ice floes. When we flew over Greenland it was cloudy, so I didn't get to see it.  

When we landed in Iceland I could see that the airport was in the middle of a very barren lava field. There were some sagebrush type plants, but not much else. By the time I thought about taking a picture it was too late.

Welcome to Iceland

And by the way, how do you get photos from your iPhone onto your iPad? Without making an international phone call, that is.

When we got off the plane we saw another Icelandair plane that was painted like the night sky with the aurora borealis. They did a very nice job. I wish I could have gotten a photo. We went to the Saga Lounge and ate some delightful flaky pastries (Danish?), and after two hours it was time to board our second flight.

The Icelandair flight attendants wear these very retro pillbox hats, held on by elastic cords. They are very smartly dressed and they all speak excellent English. Everything about the plane has an Icelandic theme. Each plane is named for a different Icelandic volcano. I didn't quite get the names of our planes. The pillows, blankets, and antimacassars were embroidered with fun little facts or customs. (I have never before used the word "antimacassar" in something I have written. Guess I can check that off my bucket list.) 

My seat

My nap equipment

They showed a little movie for the safety drill that was very cute. It was about two people exploring the wilderness in Iceland. When they talked about the emergency life vests, the people in the movie went kayaking and put on life vests. When they talked about emergency evacuation and requested that you not bring your carry-on items with you, the people in the movie dropped their backpacks and other stuff and slid down a waterfall to show you how to evacuate the plane.   











































The food kept to the Nordic theme. I don't know if it was  locally sourced in Iceland, but some of it could have been. For dinner you could choose salmon or duck. The dessert was topped with fresh berries. 

The butter was made in Iceland. The Icelandic water came in cute bottles that looked like icebergs - a little bit.

S is for sugar

You could buy Icelandic gifts from a cart that went up and down the aisles (the Saga Shop). They were way beyond Marketing 101.

When we finally got to CPH we were too tired to function. We hung out in the hotel for a while and I worked with my filial tech support to get my email up and running. I am yawning so much, I know I should stop.