Time to leave Reykjavic to London

We thought there may be no better way of showing that we had become acclimatised to summer temperatures of eight degrees than to partake in a morning swim before our departure.   The Blue Lagoon outside Reykjavic is of course a world famous geothermal pool which doubles as a cooling pond for the local power station and is particularly famous for its curative properties.

As swimming experiences go, it was a glorious thing, although it must be noted that it was actually the first time I've moved around a pool in search of the warm patches.  I suspect we could have stayed all day had we not had a plane to catch.

But we did, and in doing so were treated to one final dose of Icelandic hospitality and the politeness of which I am sure no one could tire.

Firstly, there was Shelley's run-in with the security officer after failing the x-ray screening that went like this.

"May I look in your bag please?"

"Oh!  I'm so sorry!  Do you mind if I take your knife?"

Other uniformed persons could learn a lot from that!

Then it was boarding time:

In our experience, larger aircraft are boarded in a well ordered sequence, with batches of seats called, quite logically boarding from the rear of the aircraft first.   We didn't hear a call, yet there was some movement at the gate, and my enquiry was met with a hearty welcome and a direction to please proceed, which we did.   Into the "pre-boarding" chamber we marched, where a third of the aircraft's payload was waiting patiently for further instructions undoubtedly to be barked over the intercom.

After a few moments, a call came from the top of the boarding stairs, echoing somewhere from within the aeroplane cabin in exactly the same cheery tone as the one I've heard on countless occasions while waiting for a daughter or even a succession of them to finish with the bathroom:

"OK, you can come up now!"

 Iceland, we're missing you already.

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