We arrived in Iceland.

 What day is this?  Chuck said that it is Wednesday, May 25. A long air flight, very little sleep, and new scenery will alter your sense of being.  To back up a bit, we are traveling with NM and KE who are also from Rockford.  We took the bus to O’Hare and caught our direct flight to Iceland.  We were to leave Chicago at 7:25 pm, but it was later. Our flight was 6.5 hours, but given that Iceland is five hours ahead of us, we arrived at  Keflavik International Airport at 7:00 in the morning.  After passing through customs and finding our bags, we met other Road Scholar travelers and found our guide.  None of us slept much if at all so you can imagine how we felt.  Of course, our guide was chipper and eager to get started.  She loaded us on to a big bus and we headed for breakfast.  Our light breakfast buffet was at the Viking World which featured a large old Swedish ship. By now we have found the rest of our Road Scholar group —the red group —20 travelers from all over the USA. 

After a light breakfast, we headed for the Reykjavik’s Peninsula that runs along the Mid-Atlantic Rift —where the Eurasian and the North American tectonic plates meet and are drifting apart—hence the many earthquakes (most are minor) that happen here.  (It was one of those sights that you are told about, but can’t actually see anything happening.)  Had delicious fish and chips for lunch.  Cod is caught here and served fresh daily.  Then we headed to the Blue Lagoon. The stark terrain is filled with lava leftover from the many volcanoes that have erupted over the years. (Think South Dakota Badlands but with sharp, jagged rocks with no trees.) The Blue LaGoon is a pool of superheated water from a nearby lava flow in the middle of a lava field. Guests can dip in the warm waters of the pool and enjoy its healing power. Being the non-aquatic person that I am, I opted out.  N & K enjoyed the experience.  On the way to our hotel in Reykjavik, we enjoyed other sights. However, I (and many others) was lulled asleep by the bus!

The rest of the day was spent in Orientation and the Welcome Dinner (delicious fish soup, Roasted lamb and vegetables and a very rich chocolate torte).  Today was mostly sunny and around 50 degrees. Our hotel room is very European —small, convenient and compact.  Must get to bed.