Bucket List Trip #2 is now complete.  As is the case when any goal is set and then achieved, the emotions surrounding it are many.  It is much like what I experienced when I was playing recitals.  For a long period of time, all of your thoughts and energy are focused on that one thing and then, in what seems like no time at all, it is over.  In that “overness” is a swirl of thoughts, emotions, and images.  As with any much anticipated experience, it will take awhile to sift through and mentally unpack all that was during our week in Iceland.

In my next couple posts, I will share some of my thoughts about Iceland and checking off bucket list items…and probably some photos as well.

It is always a good thing when you return from a long trip and can say that EVERYTHING went smoothly.  Other than a last minute terminal change on our flight out of DFW, flights were on time, our luggage made it with us, ground transportation was as expected.  We didn’t forget anything important.  And perhaps more importantly, we didn’t lose anything important along the way.  My biggest fear when traveling abroad is that I will lose my passport, especially when we are moving between accomodations during our stay, as was the case on this trip.  Interestingly, as we made our way through the Keflavik airport on our return home, there were at least seven passport checks – one at the self-check kiosk at the airport, one when we printed our boarding passes and bag tags, another when we actually dropped our bags.  Two more checks occured as we made our way through security.  The important one happened at immigration, where we recieved our official Iceland stamp.  There was then one final check as we boarded the plane.  Because of my fear of losing my passport, I would return it to its safe spot in my backpack after each check, only to have to dig it out yet again.  If I had lost it, a few extra days in Iceland would have been OK with me – expensive, but OK.

Iceland is incredibly exopensive.  On a bucket list trip, you don’t want to have to pinch pennies, and we didn’t.  But, it becomes interesting to do the conversion from Icelandic krona to U.S. dollars to see just how much things really cost.  Right now, one U.S. dollar is equal to approximately 126 krona.  Last week, the exchange rate was not quite as good.  A simple meal of a prepackaged sandwich and a bottle of water or soda from a food kiosk was $30-35.  A nice dinner at a restaurant with table service was a minimum of $60.  It’s not quite as bad as it sounds.  Tipping is not customary in Iceland; so, at least with the “nice” meals, once you consider the 15-18 percent tip that we normally would add here in the states, things seem a bit more reasonable.

For two reasons, I did not spend much money on souvenirs.

First, since I have become interested in photography, the pictures I take have become my primary souvenirs from my travels.

Second, the most popular souvenirs from Iceland are items handknit from Icelandic wool.  The sweaters, hats, socks, and mittens that were for sale in almost all of the local shops were absolutely gorgeous!  Here, however, is where doing the money conversion was quite a shock.  An adult sized traditional Icelandic sweater cost between $350-$500 depending on how much of tourist trap the particular shop was.  The knitter in me knows that that really is not unrealistic once you take into consideration the materials and time necessary to handknit the sweater.  The knitter in me also could not begin to spend that kind of money on a sweater that I know that I can make myself.

I initially thought that I would buy some yarn to do just that, make myself a sweater; but I then decided that I didn’t have room to carry that much yarn home.  I also didn’t want to run the risk of not having enough yarn to finish the project once I got home. Not to mention, in the shop that had enough wool to buy for an entire sweater,  the patterns were written in Icelandic.  I did buy, at the Handknitting Association of Iceland, a kit to make some mittens.

With a kit at least I can assume necessry yarn amounts are included to complete the project.  I do need to remind myself to cast on leaving short tails!

Later in the trip, Ifound a book at one of the national park shops, in English, with a bit of history about Icelandic knitting and a variety of patterns.

Though it was heavier to carry back than yarn would have been, it packed more easily so this is my treat to myself.  I’ll worry about yarn once I decide what I am going to make.  Bonus with this purchase is that it benefited the national parks in Iceland.  It was a win-win for both me and this beautiful country.

On another occasion I was in line in a shop waiting to pay for a t-shirt.  The woman ahead of me asked if the shop took U.S. dollars.  They did.  As the clerk was ringing up her purchase, I ask the traveler where she was from.  “Houston,” she replied.  She was buying two big wool sweaters, presumably one for her and one for her husband.  The cost for the two was $900!  I am fairly sure that she is never going to get to wear those swetaers in Houston!  I sure hope that this couple travels often to cold places…or, has quite the budget for moth balls.  I’m not judging.  Just observing.

Now that I’m home, my passport is back in its safe spot waiting for the next time that it is needed.  The book of Icelandic knitting is sitting by my chair waiting for me to decide what I want to make first.  And, my photos are waiting for me to clean them up and bring some kind of organization to them.

Welcome home!

More later…