As usual I start the day with a short workout and a shower. It’s nice, they have a rain shower in this hotel, I love it. While waking up I think about what a great surprise this turned out to be. A free excursion to Iceland. At nine o’clock I have breakfast with my new travel friends. A Dutch man called Alfred and an American guy called Paxton who lived in my city for two years. While having breakfast together Paxton and I realise that we’ve actually briefly met once in the Starbucks where I usually work. The world is really a small place. As usual when I’m staying in a hotel I really enjoy the extensive breakfast.
About an hour later we go outside to explore Reykjavík. It’s about ten thirty now and the sun isn’t op yet. I really couldn’t live in Iceland. There is only a few hours of daylight here in the winter. In the morning it slowly gets light outside and it’s nice to see the city and the mountains in the distance. We walk around the whole morning seeing a good part of the city. I like how the houses look like, I think it’s a bit the same as in Scandinavia. Even though I’ve never been there, but I’ve seen it on tv.
Around noon we’re back at the hotel to check out and enjoy a very nice lunch. I’m thankful that Icelandair gave us such a nice hotel. Of course a day delay wasn’t the plan, but it worked out fine. After lunch we take the bus back to the airport. This time everything goes smoothly. I say goodbye to Paxton who travels further to the United States and continue my journey with Alfred who also travels to Vancouver. It happens that we have seats right behind each other, what are the chances of that? The flight is very full, but fortunately I’ve got a seat with extra leg space. Time for some more series and maybe some reading.
Halfway the flight I get up for a walk and Alfred joins me. We start talking and keep standing by one of the exits for at least an hour. I guessed that he was in his early sixties, but he tells me that he’s already 75. That comes as a big surprise. If I had known that this morning I wouldn’t have made our walk through the city so long, but he laughs and says that it’s alright. Alfred is full of good stories. For example: he met his current girlfriend through Wordfeud, a scrabble game on his phone. A few years ago he clicked on the button to start a game with a random player and at the same moment she clicked on that same button. They started playing scrabble and talking with each other and now he’s traveling again to her in Canada. I enjoy listening to his stories about how he has traveled the world and about how things were different back then, like sending post via boat and having to wait weeks for it to arrive. We talk for a long time all the while flying over Greenland and North Canada. I love the view from here, the wide ice landscapes where almost no one lives. I feel like I’m getting tired. It’s been a long day again, but I do my best to stay awake so I can sleep tonight and hopefully don’t get a big jet lag.
We make it to Toronto and manage to get to the connecting flight. Again with extra leg space and for the second time Alfred has the seat right behind me. I’m being taken care off very well on this journey and am happy that we’re on the final flight. It’s quite a battle to stay awake and except for a few minutes with my eyes closed I manage to not fall asleep. Finally we land in Vancouver and I’m glad we’ve made it. Alfred’s girlfriend Janine is already waiting at the exit and offers to drive me to downtown where I can take the bus to my Airbnb. It’s dark outside, but I get a glimpse of how big the city is. It’s quite overwhelming, but that’s probably also because I’m really tired. I’ve been awake for about 24 hours and after two days of traveling I’ve had enough for now. I’ll explore the city more in the coming days. Alfred and Janine drop me off at the bus stop and we say goodbye with the plan to meet again soon. After only a few minutes waiting the bus arrives. It’s about a half hour ride to my Airbnb in North-Vancouver. The bus stops in front of the house and fortunately my hosts are still awake. They are very friendly people and have prepared tea and cookies for me. We talk for a while, but after being awake for about 24 hours I’m really exhausted so I excuse myself to go to my room and take a shower and get some sleep. I’m happy that I finally arrived in Vancouver.
