Ah, I was going to say you were brave to trust your precious cago-filled suitcases to the airlines, but I somehow feel better knowing Icelanders are handling them.

Gah! caRgo.

Glad you arrived safely. The boys are such good travelers! Gracie was a pleasure to fly with when we lived in London...always good company.

Yes, that's Iceland for you. Sand and rocks and sand and rocks and sand an an ocational volcano... The only wood I've ever seen in Iceland was in the north, and just a small patch fenced in. It's like landing on a different planet! You know, my hubby comes from Iceland, and I just had to show him your description of it, he he...

Haha, this was a funny read. Reykjavík is about 50 km away from the airport, but no wonder that you wondered.

The area where the airport is located is the (geolocially) youngest part of Iceland, and is therefore quite barren. But really, there are trees elsewhere. You'd probably call it bushes, but to us they're trees :-)

Didn't you see the old part of the airport building? That one is from the 80's, and rrrreally ugly!

Oooh, The Langoliers truly freaked me out the first time I read it. I still get the heebie-jeebies when I think of it. *shudder*

Have a great time in Germany! My neighbors' kids are spending the summer there and I am insanely jealous that I don't have any international relatives to go visit.

Hee hee on the German outfits! Yep, you can't get more German than socks with sandals. All my German coworkers here are remarking on the sudden increase of German flags around the country too -- apparently that wasn't done much before. Have a good vacation, bring back lots of sock yarn!!

Always wanted to visit Iceland.

Ah! I flew Iceland Air on the way to Denmark. I am proud to say I can pronounce Reykjavik. Supposedly the airport is new but I was a bit baffled because they didn't seem to have a lot of gangplanks and we had to walk outside in the cold, down the stairs, and in to the terminal. You think they might have incorporated it in their design. Anyway, I think Iceland is known for its huge lagoon and penguins (puffers?).

Thanks for taking us along the ride. I always love it when you bring us with you to Germany. :)

I was just in Germany in April. It was cool and cloudy then. I'll keep my fingers croosed for good weather for you. Our German friends arrive in the US today. So there will still be balance on the planet even if you feel the past two days have been a bit sci-fi!

hey, welcome back to Germany.
I should have known this.... I was in Frankfurt yesterday, close to the airport....
enjoy your stay!

yay! Welcome back!!!

My parents just came back from France and flew on Iceland Air -- they must have some great airfairs these days!

I *love* the The Martian Chronicles. It sorta made my day seeing the book mentioned in a knitting blog.

I can't wait to see some German yarn... And I might have to go to McDonalds for those toys!

Wow, how much do I love the idea of a layover in Iceland - I've wanted to go for a long time, and not just for the Lopi! Thanks for the little sock sister sock monkey giftie - that was sweet, and I had a wonderful time; count me in if we Palooza again :)

I love travel stories :) Having myself travelled halfway around the world oh so recently... I love layovers, and I love iceland! :-)
Too bad your stay is not in the northern part of this here country, or would want to come and bribe my way with some legos to meet your two cute little boys :)

Lene

You're in Germany... AGAIN?

I'm green with envy, there is nothing I would love to do more at the moment than going HOME *sigh*

Have fun!

:o)

I'm going to faint from all the excitement. Germany is one of my favorite places in the whole world! Have a wonderful time!

Hey, you can tell the guys that Iceland is where those silly people Sportacus and Stephanie (and all those creepy puppets) from LazyTown live. Without trees, apparently. I'll get up the nerve to travel with all of mine at some point, but since my littlest guys just turned 2 this week, it may be a while! Have a safe trip, and buy lots of sock yarn! If you happen to trip over a Regia bin and accidentally fall on a skein of Komet Canadian Classic, I'm sure I could help you find something to do with it. :-)

Gosh, you're almost next door. Heck, you are next door!

I flew Icelandic Air in March and really liked it. And, yes, the airport is lovely. Although, I did have a problem with the smoking areas being so open that the smoke was not contained in the least. Oh well, c'est la vie!

Have a great time while you are there.

Jenny, they actually showed Lazy Town episodes on the airplane and the boys loved it! And the kids' meal was in a Lazy Town box. I mentioned to the boys that Iceland is where they make Lazy Town, but they still don't quite get the concept of tv shows being made. (By us, the local PBS channel is building a new building and they have a huge Arthur sign on the outside. They boys always excitedly point out Arthur when we drive by. Once time I mentioned that that was where they made Arthur and they cocked their heads to the side like dogs do when they don't understand and said, "make Arthur?!" I think it kind of freaked them out.)

Sandy, I'm totally with you on the smoking problem, although I didn't notice it in Iceland. I HATE the Frankfurt airport, because even though it is ENORMOUS, every inch of it reeks like an ashtray. When we entered the baggage claim area it was like walking into a bar and then an annoucement came on reminding visitors that smoking is only allowed in designated areas. Ha ha! Good one, except I've heard it before.

hee, hee... that looks so familiar -I was staring at that "björgunarvesti..." message for hours on end only a few weeks ago, wondering how it would be pronounced. And the announcements over the loudspeakers that only occasionally would be translated into english. The airport -it looked very modern, but there were no signs anywhere! And not a lot of seating at the gates. Made me a very frustrated mom, trying to get a 6- and a 2-year-old (both dead tired) from one plane to the other. But we made it, and it looks like you did too. Have a great as well as safe trip!

At least you get to stay in summer...not dark till 9/10pm........i'm off to south africa where it is WINTER.....have a great trip...ummmmm writing this from England.....has Germany got over the world Cup yet?...

How cool!!! I love that you are posting your trip. I'm thoroughly caught up in it! :-)

Now I'm scared to fly to Iceland. The Langoliers--scary.

Yucky smoking areas, but at least they don't smoke on planes anymore.

Have fun in Germany!

There are trees but they are much smaller. The wind doesn't let them get too big. My fiance has the opposite comment when he comes here, why are there so many trees in New England? ;)

The airport was recently redone, I agree it looks nice.

Oh, I enjoyed this post! The typical German 'fashion' outfit and the description of landing in Iceland: so funny! You were soo close, I live less than 30 miles from the airport. And there are some trees, well bushes, too. ;-) Have loads of fun in Germany!

You have a funny image of us Germans.

Actually, only old men are wearing sandals with white socks. I've never seen them on young persons.
And actually we are having good weather since the FIFA World Cup has started.
And: the mood is overwhelming.
Perhaps you have to come to Bavaria???

I wish you and the boys lots of fun in Germany!

I did a similar trek though from NYC via Reykjavik to Copenhagen...Must have a stop over next time. The pilots annoucements are in Icelandic, Danish and English, the last two often with a heavy icelandic accent ;-)

I am so with you on the Pirates! We don't do McDonalds much...but I have actually been getting my own happy meals so I don't have to fight with the girls about who owns the pirate skull.

Have a great trip! Sounds like your guys travel well.

I loved your post. If I didn't just get here (California) I'd be homesick - well, just until I saw the weather.

I had a direct flight to San Francisco and I think that there was only one Icelander except for us and a lot of Danes and Germans. The flight was delayed so we put of going to the airport and when we came there there was no-one in line (which is weird) and hardly any one in the duty free (which was half closed) and no one in passport inspection. I got the funny feeling we missed the airplane. Turnes out all the passengers were waiting at the gate all this time because they were in transit! I guess Icelandair has a lot of traffic from Europe to the US. And it much be really cheap too. Probably a lot cheaper than Iceland to US (because that's not cheap at all).

Thanks for taking us along--that was a fun post. My seven-year-old son would be staring at that contraption, too. He loves to figure out how things "work". I'm familiar with the stop and STARE moments.

Love the pictures. The legos are awesome! My DD has the Captain Jack plush toy. He is so cute! We have to show him to everyone who visits.

Enjoy the trip.

I'm a little late reading this, but I hope you're having fun in Germany! Ironically, my boyfriend is visiting Marburg this week. It's a small world. ;o)

Paaaah, sandals with socks, paaah, as if every German is wearing that, paah :)
I dont mind if kids are doing that, even with white socks, but ok for grown up its an absolut no go.

Seeing all this flags is amazing and still gets me a funny feeling. Germans dont use flags in general, but you would know by your husband.

Perhaps this time you will be near to Bonn?

Have a save trip,

Sibylle

p.s. and we are leaving for the US on the 29th.

p.p.s its hot here like in the Sahara

Oh great thanks!!! Now you've done it. As bad as the Langoliers is, I need to watch it again!