Today we'd be leaving Iceland and flying to Edinburgh in Scotland with EasyJet because they were only airline we found who goes from Reykjavik directly to Edinburgh. The flight was due to depart at 9:20am from Keflavik airport.
Nordic Visitor had organised our airport transfer and would pick us up from the hotel at 6am. This had seemed a little early but they had confirmed the time. So we'd organised with the hotel to have a light breakfast at 5:30am. I set my alarm for 4:30am.
The light breakfast consisted of croissants and coffee. Today was not as windy as yesterday and the temperature was a cool 3C. We had been worried about whether the plane could fly out if the winds were still as bad as yesterday.
We reached the airport soon after 6:30am. The EasyJet counter wasn't due to open until 6:50am.
EasyJet is very strict about the weight of your checked luggage and so we'd been concerned about keeping our luggage below the 23kg limit. Suzy's bag weighed only 20kg again and mine was only 21.2kg - primarily because I'd put all the cables, plugs and adapters in my carry-on baggage instead of the checked baggage. I'd also thrown out my warm long-johns (which I never wanted to wear again) and a pair of pants that fell apart when we were in Vik.
Apparently there was no weight limit for carry-on baggage - only a size limitation.
We were told that the flight had been delayed - initially until 11:20am and then 12:05 because of a fire overnight at Luton airport. As compensation, they gave both of us a voucher for 4.50 Euros to spend at the airport. That would probably pay for a bottle of water but not much more.
Later we found out the fire started from a vehicle in the carpark and spread to hundreds of other vehicles - destroying them too - before the parking station collapsed.
At security, they needed to do a manual check for our bags after they passed through the scanner and so this took a while. At the end, when we were checking that we had everything off the conveyor, Suzy realised her Apple Watch was missing. Not to worry because security had put it aside on their counter.
We needed to go to departure gate area D (for international departures) which was a 20 minute walk. There we went through customs before looking for a comfortable place to sit to wait for our flight. Since it was an economy flight, we didn't have access to a business class lounge.
We bought chicken wraps for our breakfast. The most time-consuming part was for the staff and the manager to work out how to deduct 4.50 Euros from the cost in Icelandic Kronas.
The plane arrived at about 11:15am. Surprisingly, they invited us to board straight away even though the incoming passengers had only just started to leave the plane. Once they'd disembarked, they reversed the escalator so we could ride up to the air bridge to board the plane.
Luckily, we managed to find space in the overhead compartment for our carry-on bags. We were also lucky with our seats because we both had aisle seats on opposite sides of the aisle. It seemed to be a full flight. The plane departed at about 12 noon.
Since were in row 3, we were first to get food and drink from the trolley. Even so, they only had one chicken wrap onboard. Suzy had Pringles instead. They did have red wine and G&T.
The plane landed in Edinburgh at 3pm (2pm Iceland time).
We got a taxi at about 3:40pm and gave the driver the address: 23 Thistle Street. However, when we got there, it didn't look right and Suzy rang the office for the booking agent.
Street addresses here are confusing. The address we were given had "23 Thistle Street" on one line and "SW Lane" underneath. It turned out that the apartment was in a lane parallel to Thistle Street. The lane has its own numbering.
Luckily the taxi driver had waiting while we sorted it out and he drove us to 28 Thistle Street which is where the office was. This wasn't easy because that part of Thistle Street is one way in the opposite direction.
A member of staff then helped us with our bags around the corner into the lane. This wasn't easy on a cobblestone street.
Access to the building and our apartment is via a security code rather than keys. Once inside the building we had to cart our bags down a short flight of steps and then up another short flight before we could get to the small slow lift to take us to level 5.
Inside the apartment, there was a small entry area with four closed doors - one for each of the bathroom, bedroom, living room and utility room.
The bedroom was quite spacious with a queen size bed, wardrobe, safe, carpet and a work desk or dressing table. Wifi was about 45Mb/s in both directions.
The bathroom had a shower in a bath.
The living area was spacious with a kitchen, lounge, table with two seats. There was a fridge, dishwasher, washing machine/dryer, coffee machine, oven, microwave, cooktop, floorboards and some basic supplies.
Having finally got here, it looked like a good place to stay for the next four days.
For dinner we decided to go to a nearby pub, the Queens Arms, at about 6pm. Obviously a popular pub because it was crowded. We were lucky to get a table.
However our challenges weren't over. They were running out of red wine and so I had a large glass of red wine and Suzy had a G&T.
Their special for the night was a share pie with chicken and chick peas. After about an hour, I asked the waitress if our meal was on its way. She looked embarrassed and came back to tell us that our order had been lost.
A few minutes later, the manager came and apologised profusely. She said we wouldn't be charged for the food. When it did eventually arrive, it was delicious (and free).
What a day! It was good to get into bed.
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