Day 8 – August 8, 2025 – Leaving Iceland and Flights to Birmingham.

-

We got up at 5:30 am to start the process of disembarkation and what will be 16+ hrs of travel from Reykjavik to Birmingham with JFK and ATL as intermediate stops.  We had a mixed fruit breakfast and good strong coffee in the Retreat, and they took us directly to the disembarking location where we exited the ship, retrieved our luggage, and boarded our shuttle bus for the about 1-1/2 hr drive to Reykjavik airport.  It was so efficient that we had to wait 45 minutes to drop off our luggage.  Walking through the airport we were greeted by a life-size Iceland Troll. 

We boarded the Reykjavik to JFK plane on time and settled in for a 5-1/2 hr flight.  





We had very nice flying weather and had great views of the NYC area as we approached JFK. 


We landed and had a very long walk to Passport Control.  I breezed through with Global Entry, but the biometrics picture for Bev had a glitch and she had to visit an officer who then retook the picture, and all was well.  Got and rechecked the luggage.  TSA Precheck got us through security, and we had a very long trek back through Terminal 4 past the gate where we arrived.  We certainly got our steps in on the travel day.  Boarding for the ATL flight was on time, but involved a long walk (more steps, as if we didn’t need more) to a bus that took us to the Delta plane on the tarmac.  Again, a very good flight with on time arrival in Atlanta.  The flight to Birmingham was a little late in boarding; what’s new for ATL to BHM flights?  We made up some of the time in flight and arrived in Birmingham only 10 minutes late.  All in all, it was remarkable that in 16-1/2 hrs of travel time, we were only off by 10 minutes.  We called an Uber as soon as we had retrieved our luggage and made it back to the house at 9:30 pm.  

Wow, what a fantastic trip and so great that neither of us got sick, tripped or slipped on rocks, or had any negative occurrence throughout the entire trip.  As always, it is still good to be back home.

Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

Day 4 – August 4, 2025 -- Akureyri

-
Image
We woke up this morning docked in Akureyri, which is located in northern Iceland.     It is the country’s second-largest city with a population of about 20,000 and one of the country’s most important ports and fishing centers.     The city is best known as the gateway to Iceland’s natural wonders – thundering waterfalls, gurgling lava fields, snow-capped mountains, sweeping fjords, and robust folk culture.     It lies just 62 miles away from the Article Circle.  Today we did the  Myvatn, Waterfall Hot-Springs & Volcanoes Tour , which introduced us to several of the spectacular natural wonders in this region.  The weather was perfect with partly cloudy skies and temperatures in the mid to upper 50’s.  Our tour by Bus Travel Iceland began at 9:30 am and we headed toward our first stop – Godafoss Waterfall.  Godafoss (Waterfall of the Gods) got its name from the year 1000 CE when Iceland converted to Christianit...
Read more

Day 3 – August 3, 2025 – Seydisfjordur [7 am to 6 pm]

-
Image
  When we woke up, we were docked in Seydisfjordur.  Seydisfjordur is an eclectic little town, tucked away at the end of a deep fjord in the east of Iceland.  This town of 700 inhabitants was a former hub for herring fishing.  Now tourism from the cruise ships that stop here is the economic driver of the town.  Our ship anchored in the fjord and we were tendered to the dock; arriving on the dock at 10 am.  The fjord is beautiful with steep mountains rising sharply out of the water.   Once on land, we did the short walk to the famous rainbow-painted street leading to the pretty blue church.   Walking today was great, because the weather was just perfect – sunny and 56 degrees with a light breeze.  The rainbow-painted street is lined with small shops and restaurants.   From there we did a 2.5-mile uphill trek to the cascading Gufufoss waterfall, which is located along the highway leading up and out o...
Read more

Day 7 – August 7, 2025 – a Day at Sea Sailing to Reykjavik [arrive 5 am, August 8, 2025]

-
Image
Our last day is a day at sea making our way back to Reykjavik.     We packed this morning and attended a seminar on the volcanos of Iceland, which was most interesting.     The country is certainly a country of living geology with numerous sites of recent volcanos; not all of which are explosive.     Some just ooze lava!     Such an interesting place.     The rest of the day was spent relaxing and reading.     In the afternoon, we had clear sailing weather and had good views of the rugged, Iceland coastline.     We had dinner in the Luminae.     Bev had roasted guinea hen,  and I had roast lamp loin.     I had dark chocolate ganache for dessert  and Bev had strawberry sorbet.     Afterwards we attended the   On Broadway   theater show.   Tomorrow will be an early morning wake up so we can depart the ship at 7 am and catch the bus that will take us to the Reykjavik...
Read more