HELL DAY

It was snowing and blowing when we got up. Not a good omen for our little 3 day excursion to the Westman Islands, off the Southern coast of Iceland. We were planning on flying in a small little plane across a small body of water...hunker down and see the sights, mainly the aftermath of a huge volcanic eruption. We also heard there were some great innovative chefs on the small piece of land, and we were planning on some interesting meals.
All good plans went bye bye in the storm. It took us over an hour to go 5 miles to the airport, where we were leaving our small/tiny bags for a few hours. We got to airport and they had canceled the afternoon flight (ours) and told us to come back later. What is a tourist to do in a blizzard and no plans? We went to the mall. The only mall in Iceland, but it was a nice mall. Beautiful stores, nice places to sit and restaurants on the top level. And it was warm, and had WiFi. Actually, Iceland is quite wired...with free wifi everywhere, and they have also almost entirely  eliminated checks. ...we never used cash once...everything was very easy with a CC. But ...I digress.
We caught a van back to the airport...which is a tiny commuter airport with prop planes...yep, that what we were waiting for in a howling blizzard....tiny prop plane to cross the tiny ocean of water. I was getting more and more apprehensive and concerned. Hour after hour went by and still the planes could not fly. ...The weather was being watched VERY carefully, for a break, as all we needed was 1/2 hour of clearing and less wind.  There were sliding doors to enter the waiting room, and they became frozen OPEN with the snow blowing inside the waiting room. Miserable.

There was ONE beacon of light. A nice looking gentleman waiting with us was Heimir Hallgrimsson...the coach of the Iceland National football team. He found out I had grandkids playing football and he came over and sat by me and let someone take our picture. Now, I am a new fan and rooting for Iceland in the World Cup.

Alas, about 10:30 pm, they airport officially canceled all flight. Since we had checked out of our hotel...we didn't have a room...but we went back to the Marina Hotel and they not only found a room....they upgraded us. Worries gone, I slept like a baby.