WOW!!!

Background: This trip, which is sure to have wow moments, involves Lola, Mickey, and me wandering around Iceland and Amsterdam. Mickey, who actually works for a living, has just a couple of days in Amsterdam and then must return to work. Lola and I are going on to Bruges. We booked WOW airlines for all the trips; Mickey is on Delta, arriving tomorrow.

So far, the WOW airline experience has been fine except for checking in at CVG. When we arrived before 11 for a 1 a.m. flight, the line was very long. We had checked in and gotten boarding passes already and figured we'd use a kiosk and just drop off the bags. There were no kiosks but two counters that said "Bag drop" and two that said "Check in." They were making no distinction, though, so it took a half hour to drop off the bags. From the looks of some of the bags, it seems some people may be staying a long time in Europe.

I had predicted the plane would be half full and we would get 3 seats each but it was packed. I had booked us with a seat in between and I think our row was the only one with an empty seat. Lots of young people, going to the various cities connected from Reykjavik. I couldn't tell whether it's worth the money to book the extra large seats. The leg room seemed about the same. They have some new planes--this was an Airbus 321. The seats were higher than any plane I've been in lately so you can put more under them; the legroom also beat some of the airlines I've flown recently. There's no screens or entertainment of any kind; you have to pay for anything you want to eat or drink but the plane was clean and the staff was very nice. Plus, they have cool outfits:

They wear high heels. It's like traveling in 1970.

After the 6 hour flight, we got a Flybus which takes you to the bus station in the city. It takes about an hour. We took a taxi from there to our very nice apartment. It's huge. I used Airbnb for this one. Great location.

We're very close to some of the most popular restaurants. For lunch, we went to a relatively new, popular restaurant called Icelandic Street Food. They have 3 main dishes--a fish and mashed potatoes combo and seafood or lamb soup, served in a
bread bowl if you want. We tried the mashed potato and lamb dishes. They were great. They offer free refills on the food and one American got his bread bowl refilled while we were there. There was a great mix of people, mostly Americans. We sat with two young men from Colorado who had eaten every meal there because it's relatively cheap and definitely filling. After that, we wandered around a little, looking in some shops and visiting the tourist center which is mostly a waste of time unless you want to buy a tour. We did see this lovely statue, apparently of someone whose face froze off.

It's freezing here, despite what the temperature says. It rained for much of the afternoon but we finally had to brave the weather and go to dinner.  We needed some place close and ended up at a tapas restaurant called Burro.  The meal was truly one of the best either of us have ever eaten. Everything was wonderfully seasoned and the sauces were great. We had gaucamole with platain chips to start, a duck taco, lobster bites with apple and small scallops, each with delicious sauces. They asked us to review them on Tripadvisor so it must be new. There were locals in the room where we ate which is always a good sign.

It's after 11 and still light and the bedrooms are not equipped with blackout curtains. It seems shortsighted. On the other hand, we do have a piano.