DAY 2 - Out on the Town!

Rekjavik, Iceland is a beautiful city!

We arrived on Icelandair at 9:30 am and after negotiating the bus systems, met our host at the main bus terminal at 11:30. Such a nice guy to pick us up! Jonas has an Air BnB that we'll be staying at for 3 nights.

Reykjavik is the capital and largest city of Iceland. Population: 140,000 Place of the 1st permanent inhabitants in 874 AD. The city was officially founded in 1786 as a trading town and grew steadily over the following decades.

Our apartment was very cosy wth everything we would need. AND so close to everything! It was going to be perfect!

YUM! We used some of our freeze-dried food - veggies, a bit of chicken & eggs, and a ramen and spices that Jonas had provided. Oila - so tasty. The Air BnB had quite a lot of food and snacks, so we were all set! Time to go explore the city! We set out to catch a bus, but met a kind couple who lead us downtown, through a beautiful park, and to the main drag of Laugavegur. The street is one of the oldest streets in Reykjavík. Its name roughly translates to 'the Water Road'. We spent a couple of hours meandering through tourist shops and taking photos of several of the old/new buildings. Bright colors were welcome on a gray day.

The old prison at Skólavörðustíg street closed in 2016. The building is located in Reykjavík’s main shopping and nightlife area. Its construction was finished in 1874 and for years it was one of the capital’s most grand buildings, serving additionally as the home to Iceland’s Supreme Court between 1920 and 1949. Prisoners rarely escaped from the building. The last escape occurred in 1993, when three prisoners sawed a bathroom window bar apart with the blade of a hacksaw. They were quickly recaptured. Some of the stained glass windows were famous prisoners. We enjoyed talking to a gal who had just finished her Master's in Architecure and they were presenting their works on the lower floor of the prison. Her class was the 1st ever in Iceland.

What a great 1st day in Iceland! Our comfy bed was a welcome sight as we came home, after eating eggs and instant potatoes.

DAY 1 - Denver to Reykjavik, Iceland - only 7 hours & $300 each!

 Time to fly and get on our 8 pm flight.  Think we'll sleep?  Not much, but that's ok.  We're still young, right?  We'll arrive at 9:30 am, which is really 3:30 am Denver time.  

At 71, Rich & I are still enjoying traveling!

It's great to finally be at the airport and sit down!  We stayed at my daughter, Danae, and her family's home the night before our travel day.

Off we go in the rain with all our luggage!

It started raining and hailing just before my daughter was going to take us to catch the light rail to the Denver Airport.  Pulling out our rain gear put us a bit behind so we nearly missed the train. 

Can't believe we actually made it!

After we got off downtown, we had to go to Union Station to get the train to DIA.  My google map said it was a 5 min walk.  OH NO!  It was a 35 minute walk through the rain pulling a 50 lb. suitcase and carrying a 20 lb. back pack and holding a 10 lb. personal bag with computer and snacks, etc.  What went wrong?  Not a good start to the first day of our trip!

At the airport, we were held up for quite a while at the TSA checkpoint.  The X-rays didn't really like some of our freeze-dried food as some of them had turned into powder.  Also, peanut butter is considered a liquid, I guess, so they tossed it out.  mmm.

We've been preparing for this trip for a few months and the newest thing we've been doing is freeze drying a lot of food.  1/2 of our luggage is food!  Food is expensive in Iceland and Sweden. 

Showing off our new Harvest Right!

It's been fun trying a variety of fruits, soups, stews, yogurt,  cottage cheese, eggs, and more.  We'll be camping in a camper van for 6 days, so these will come in handy.

Freeze Dried Food that we brought along

We tried freeze drying raisins - didn't work!  HA!

After packing up, we headed for Denver and enjoyed meeting with some relatives at my niece's house in the mountains above Boulder. Great to see my brother, Norval, and sister Carolyn again!

Bre & Daniel's boys are so cute!

My cousin, Roxana & her husband, Ron, joined us.

 

We stayed at my sister's house for a few days and then on to Rich's niece's house to meet his sister and husband for Sunday lunch.

Jeremy, Katie, Pam, Rich & I, & David make home made pizzas - YUM!

 On to my daughter's house in south Denver.  GREAT to catch up and spend a few days doing last minute packing before heading off to Iceland.

Sissy made the nametags for the Olson Family reunion in Sweden.  Isn't she great! 

42 nametags are ready

I think we're ready for the reunion and we're definitely ready

for ICELAND!!

On the plane and ready for 40 days & 40 nights!

PREVIEW to 40 Days in Europe for our Midsommar Family Reunion in Sweden & Our 20th Anniversary

Here we go again!  It's been 10 years since we traveled through Europe and 35 different countries.  Time to go again!  It will be our 20th anniversary in July AND for the past 3 years, starting during the CoVid Pandemic, I found scores of new relatives.  In fact, I found nearly ALL of the posterity of my 2X great grandparents, Olaf & Brita Olafsson of Rättvik, Sweden. (That's a lot of people, both dead and alive!)

Olaf & Brita - in about 1845.

I started a facebook group called OLSON Family page - from Rättvik to Herndon and from March 2020 - May 2022, I highlighted nearly EVERY adult relative of Olaf & Brita.  283 DAYS of posts.  It was unbelievable and so much fun meeting everyone!  June of 2021, 120 of us went to Herndon, Kansas, where 3 of the brothers came over in the 1870's-1880's to settle, having come from Rättvik, Sweden.

REUNION 2021 - Not everyone is shown, but what a wonderful weekend we all had!

Descendants of Ole, Andrew, and Erik - in Kansas

REUNION 2023 - during Midsommar in June!  16 from the USA and 25-30 Swedish cousins will meet together for Olaf's 200th birthday celebration.  He and Brita had 10 children with their 2 daughters and 2 of their sons dying young.  5 of their sons went on to Kansas and Illinois and Bom Daniel continued to stay on the farm. 

MORE coming up on the reunion the week of June 19th, so stay tuned!

Rich & Shari's 20th Anniversary in July - we'll be in Lithuania for this!

Saint George - Dec. 2022

Not much change in 20 years, right?!

Cabo San Lucas - Dec. 2003

In 2013, we spent 7 months in Europe couch surfing, which means we stayed with complete strangers and slept on couches, dorm rooms, in a chalet, fancy houses, and even on a sailboat.  

We shared meals, enjoying their culture and history.  So memorable!  This time, we'll do Air BnB, Bed & Breakfast, hotels, and even camp in a camper van in Iceland.

Join us for the next 40 days as we travel to Iceland, Sweden, Finland, Estonia, Latvia, and Lithuania.  Rich will continue to stay in Switzerland for another 6 weeks at a couple of places during 'work away' projects.  I'll come home and work in the garden and our house that we're building.