Upcoming European Adventure

We’re going to Iceland! I’m as surprised as you are. It’s not a destination I’ve ever considered, and yet, there I was, booking the trip for next February. 

I’m embarrassed to say that I didn’t even know that Iceland was considered part of Europe. I thought it was its own thing, a sparsely populated island with volcanoes, mountains, and spectacular views of the Northern Lights.

So, how did I happen upon an Icelandic adventure? On Facebook. A company I already know, TravelZoo, posted a sale on package trips to Iceland. Normally these sales only offer flights originating from inconvenient locations but this one included Toronto. So, with a deep discount, we will fly direct out of Pearson Airport on a crazy overnight flight and have 4 days and three nights in Reykjavik. In days at the beginning of February, Iceland gets about 7 hours of daylight. By the time we go, there will be 9 hrs. 15 min., increasing as the month continues.  

We’ll go whale watching, to a hot-spring spa, and on a Northern Lights “hunt”. Our hotel is in the thick of it – the main shopping and cultural district of the capital city – and the rooms appear to have been furnished by Ikea. Everyone who has already been there says Iceland is a friendly place and Reykjavik is clean and safe. I included the airline in a tweet and they already tweeted back to say they’re looking forward to having us on board. They also sent us scads of info about our visit, what to bring and what to expect.

It’s the opposite of a warm, beach vacation in winter but it’s not as cold as you might think. They don’t generally get the high-highs and low-lows that we experience. The average daytime temp. in February is +2C and it falls to -2C overnight. Crisp but not frigid. I can handle that, especially in the steamy water of a natural hot spring.

Our spontaneity in booking this getaway reminds me of a Little River Band song:

“Now that my life is so prearranged, I know that it’s time for a cool change.”