And We're Off!

Late Tuesday afternoon we six ladies met at the Twin Cities airport ready for our 7:20 PM take off.

With e-tickets and passports in hand, we checked in at the Icelandair desk, handed over our bags and proceeded through security toward our flight gate.

A couple hours later, we lifted off on a six-hour journey to Reykjavik, Iceland for the first leg of our two-part journey to Norway. Icelandair has installed screens on the back of each seat which allows passengers a multitude of entertainment choices: movies, infomercials, cartoons, music, video games or flight maps to mark progress toward our destination.

Our ticket purchase included dinner on board as well as coffee, tea and dessert – all keeping with the old-fashioned Scandinavian hospitality.

The only glitch in our flight occurred just before dinner was served two hours into our flight.

Across aisle from us, an Afro-American 20-something woman verbally attacked an Icelandic mother of a 19-
month-old for not "controlling her child." The American woman claimed the child was kicking her seat. The mother argued forcibly against the woman's claim. The situation became uncomfortable when the American woman's male companion stood up, turned around and looked down in a threatening position at the mother and child.

About that time, our meals were served. The Icelandic woman went to get her husband at the front of the plane to iron out the trouble. He spoke civilly to the American woman asking for respect on both sides and took the child up to sit with him. Eventually the situation fizzled out with food in everyone's bellies. As for the American woman – a few rounds of adult beverages brought to her by concerned friends changed her bad attitude. A couple hours after her blowup, she presented a glass of wine to the skeptical Icelandic mother.

Can anyone say: turbulance?

The occasional bouncing of the plane felt like someone was kicking my seat too. Maybe this American gal had never flown before and therefore was on edge. Before the outburst, I watched the child play quietly with cute chunky toys. And after all the hoopla, the child eventually fell fast asleep in the seat next to his mother.



We six gals also

tried to rest

during the journey

so that upon arrival,

we'd be ready

to tour Reykjavik

during our

11-hour layover.




And then, we awoke
to Wednesday
morning's sunlight –

landing at the
Keflavik Airport
about 7:10 AM
local time –

ready for the big
day ahead of us.

Grabbing our carry-ons, scooting through passport control, heading onward to the Flybus, And We're Off on a 40-minute ride to Iceland's capital city.