Iceland and Greenland 2026
Pages
Introduction.
July
08,
09,
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22.
Home.
2026-07-08
Kevlavík Airport serves Reykjavík, and it has a long duty-free shopping area you
have to walk through. When I reached the arrivals hall, the driver who was
picking me up was not there yet. It turned out they expected it to take an hour
to get from the plane to the arrival hall, because most people coming from the
US have considerable waits at the baggage claim and at customs. I breezed by
both with no checked baggage and a European passport. But the driver turned up
shortly; I think he was just in the parking lot.
I was the only member of the tour group arriving at this time, so I had a solo
ride from Keflavík to Selfoss, our base for a few days. The driver pointed out
where they had new roadway, because lava covered the old road a few years ago,
and that was my introduction to Iceland. Iceland seems to be made largely of
lava, which gets colonized by lichen, and then, after some years, moss, and then
later might be barely usable for some agriculture.
Selfoss is small, 7,000 residents, but it is on Iceland’s Ring Route and lies at
a convergence point for things in the region, so there is a steady stream of
traffic flowing through it. The traffic is the opposite of Lima’s, though. In
Lima, traffic runs across crosswalks even when pedestrians have the light. In
Selfoss, drivers stop at a hint of a pedestrian heading for the crosswalk.
I arrived in early morning, so my room was not ready, and I napped a bit in the
hotel lobby waiting for it. The tour group convened—many had arrived days
earlier for a pre-tour option—and went to lunch across the street, where there
was a food hall with multiple vendors. It felt like a cozy place, there were
good options, and the quality appeared good. The prices were high, though. After
lunch, I got a brief solo look around the immediate neighborhood, went back to
the hotel for a brief nap, and then the group went out for an orientation walk
around town. Then there was a welcome briefing and dinner at the hotel.
© Copyright 2026 by
Eric Postpischil.
