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Winter trip to Norway and Iceland

Winter trip to Norway and Iceland

Old Feb 25, 2016, 12:28 pm
  #1  
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Winter trip to Norway and Iceland

Introduction
Norway and Iceland are not two destinations that one thinks about when it comes to a winter trip. Cold, dark and snowy is usually not what one is looking for in February. To a photographer though, it is a great time to go there. The sunrise is late, the sunset is early and the quality of light is wonderful throughout the very short day.

After visiting Norway last summer (and having been there before many years ago), I know I had to come back. Iceland was always on the wish list. So when the star aligned and I could go to both places at the same time, as two photography workshops that I was interested in were timed just right one after another, I’ve jumped on the opportunity.

Planning
Once the workshops were booked, it was the question of how to get there. The airport in the Lofoten I had to go to (Leknes) is not served by any airline I had miles on, so complicated mileage trip was out of the question. As it is also at least one stop from Oslo, I was intending to make sure to book the intra-Norwegian sections on one ticket in case of irregular operations.

In the end I’ve ended up booking the cross Atlantic sections on IcelandAir and the intra-Norwegian sections on SAS and Widere. For IcelandAir I’ve booked Economy Comfort, despite the price tag because I took a gamble that I will be able to have a seat in the Saga section of the plane. I could get a seat assignment in the Saga section going over about a month out, but coming back I could not pre-assign seat in Saga at all. If you considering the same it is important to look at the seat assignments every day closer to the departure date as they do change, and I’ve managed to grab a Saga seat for OSL-KEF section which I could not have at all any time before. The one frustrating thing about that ticket was despite being fully refundable, when the prices went down the only option I was given is to cancel and book again – no price adjustment can be done, and by the way, the refund can take 2 months to get back. In the end for the amount of money I would save, I decided not to go through the process. But it was not very customer forward move at all.

For the intra-Norwegian section, I was tracking the price closely, ignoring Google flights who always displayed a much lower price that could never be booked. The price fluctuated between 500 and 700 dollars and when it hit a low 500s I made a purchase. Which was a mistake, as despite my worries about availability couple of week prior to the trip it dropped to the mid 300s. That is price of peace of mind when you absolutely have to be on a certain flight and there is no real wiggle room.

As for hotels, during the workshops accommodations would be taken care of, but I did have to take care of some days coming in and in the middle of the trip. For the first two days in Oslo I’ve used Choice points to book a suite in the Grand Comfort Hotel in Oslo. I’ve stayed there before in the best suite in the house (the King suite) and as the price in points is the same, I’ve booked it again.

For the transit between Oslo and Reykjavik I’ve used the dead Club Carlson last night free credit card offer and had two nights at the Park Inn Oslo Airport and two nights at the Radisson Blu 1919 in Reykjavik. Getting 2 nights at the price of 1, before the devaluation, was a good deal.
In the end the trip was booked as IAD-KEF-OSL-x-BOO-LKN-x-BOO-OSL-x-KEF-x-IAD (with some other stop points).

As this trip is going to be to remote places and not completely under my control, I was toying with the idea of getting an international roaming package on my phone. Usually I just limit myself to WiFi connections as the price is usually not worth the trouble. But low and behold, ATT had increased the price of my grandfathered unlimited data package (which looking back now, I only kept for nostalgic reasons, as my average data use is 1 – 2 GB a month) which allowed me to break the contact, and move to T-mobile which allows me to have free texting, free 2G speed data and extremely reasonable 20 cent a minute calling from almost everywhere. The process of cutting the contract with ATT was much more complicated than it should have been; I am sure I’ve engaged with many many more representatives in the couple of weeks it took, than in my entire time I’ve been a customer. T-mobile on the other hand was great to deal with so far.











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Old Feb 25, 2016, 12:35 pm
  #2  
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Washington to Norway

As luck might have it I have left only couple of days after the big snow storm hit the Washington DC area. I was confident that all the airports will be opened by the time I had to leave, and that was the case. Having some bad experience with the taxi company, Ive decided to give Lyft a chance, which did not disappoint almost half the price of a regular taxi and much better car, service and all around conversation.

Check-in was quick and uneventful. As an Economy Comfort passenger one gets access to the Air France lounge in Dulles (access I would have from the Lounge Club as well). It was the first time Ive visited this particular lounge. At the time Ive entered the lounge the Air France flight to Paris has not left yet. No need to say that the lounge was packed to the gills. There was hardly any place to sit. Once the flight to Paris departed though, the lounge was completely deserted.

Food and drink at the lounge were adequate a big step up from the domestic lounges food and included sandwiches, warm soup, deserts, fruits, and other small nibbles.

WiFi however was completely none functional on all my devices. It seems to be a shared problem across many lounge patrons. The club attenders were clueless on how to resolve the problem, and it was never did work.

Boarding on IcelandAir is very much free for all, regardless of status, class of service or other need. But it was quick and efficient. To my utmost surprise what I thought was an error on the seat map (Economy Comfort seats 7A-C), was indeed a reality and the aircraft did not have the usual lavatory where I expected one.

Regardless, my Saga class seat was comfortable, probably more than a domestic first seat. It had a big screen with USB charging port on it. The selections of movies and other entertainment is not bad for such a short flight. The pre-ordered meals were delivered quickly. And if you pre-ordered the hamburgers, despite not being available any more, youll still get them to my surprise.

While the seat is comfortable it is not great to sleep in. Despite that Ive managed to get couple of hours of sleep.

Transit in KEF is a quick and uneventful event. That said, the airport is too small for the capacity it serves, and both gates today were bus gates. Walking outside in the middle of winter, while the sky is still dark, had been a good introduction to the next two weeks.

The lounge in KEF is big and impressive. The food selection is good and in the two times Ive been there in this trip there was always a place to seat and charge your devices. Although coming back to the USA the lounge does get full very fast as all the flights leave around the same time.

The flight to Oslo was uneventful, having the same Saga pre-assigned seat I had on the way to Iceland.

Oslo airport is very organized. Baggage arrived relatively quickly, and the train ride to the central Oslo train station was uneventful.

T-mobile worked flawlessly. Upon arrival to Iceland and Norway, just getting oneself out of airplane mode and connecting to the local network was without a hitch. A welcome text stating that unlimited text and web access is included was received in minutes. While the speed is not LTE, it was fast enough for all basic surfing, e-mails, google maps navigation and all apps I have used.
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Old Feb 25, 2016, 12:35 pm
  #3  
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The Grand Comfort Central Hotel Oslo

This is the second time I’m staying at the hotel. My first experience was very good which made me book again. As the hotel is allowing suite point redemption at the same price of a regular room it made sense to use points and stay in the hotel. However, this time around I was disappointed.

The best thing about the hotel is its location right in the middle of the train station. When coming from the airport you don’t even need to go outside to get into the hotel. Of course there are no signs to the hotel so it was quite a challenge to find the way inside the station (hint, when getting off the train, head in the direction of the Opera house until you cannot go anymore, turn right, go pass the public bathrooms, down the two set of escalators, and almost to the exit to the street. The hotel restaurant will be on your left and you can enter the hotel through the restaurant).

The hotel is really limited service hotel. Check-in and check-out were done promptly and with a smile. Other than that there is not much to discuss as there are really no other services offered.

Breakfast is included in the price and is quite an extensive Scandinavian spread (cold meet, cheese, eggs, yogurts, fruits, breads and sweets). It seems to have been cut a little bit back since my last visit. However, it is more than enough for a hearty breakfast.

While at the last time I’ve received the best room in the house the King’s suite, this time around I’ve received the rock and roll suite. While the hotel does call it a suite, it is a bit of a stretch, as there is only a bed room, a hallway entrance and a bath room. There are sinks in the middle of the bedroom close to the bathroom. The bathroom itself is highly disappointing, small, cramped and anything one would expect from a bathroom of a suite, just in the opposite. No toiletries are provided, only a dispenser on the wall. This was a stuck opposite from what I have experienced last time in the King’s suite which had a huge and beautiful bathroom.

While the room was big and specious, it is at best junior suite (and even that would be a stretch). The choice of dcor left me scratching my head (all the walls are black, the ceiling is black, and a big replica of the Rolling Stones tongue on the wall). The bathroom disappointed combined with not being a real suite, makes me wonder how a regular room will look like.




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Old Feb 25, 2016, 2:33 pm
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Holy cow, such beautiful pictures. I'll ask to save the other folks the trouble...what kind of camera and do you do much post processing? Each picture was fantastic!!
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Old Feb 25, 2016, 2:57 pm
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Originally Posted by farbster
Holy cow, such beautiful pictures. I'll ask to save the other folks the trouble...what kind of camera and do you do much post processing? Each picture was fantastic!!
Thank you!

Mostly A7RII (with the Sony 28-135mm lens) and some with the A7R (with Rokinon 14mm lens - such a gem).

There is plenty of post processing involved, mainly because most of them are blended images - but it is all true to the scene you have seen with your eyes (apart from the Northern lights of course - our eyes see them as gray blobs, rather than the nice green the camera sees).
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Old Feb 25, 2016, 3:17 pm
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Originally Posted by farbster
Holy cow, such beautiful pictures. I'll ask to save the other folks the trouble...what kind of camera and do you do much post processing? Each picture was fantastic!!
+1 ! Amazing photos. Thanks for sharing.
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Old Feb 25, 2016, 3:30 pm
  #7  
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Oslo to Lofoten

After an uneventful day of roaming around Oslo with a one-day transport card, seeing all the things Ive missed in my last visit last year, it was time to head to the Lofoten area.

It was a very early morning for a Sunday, and after grabbing some breakfast at the hotel, I was heading to the airport on the local train. We were delayed for about 20 minutes on the tracks for some reason. As all the announcements were in Norwegian I could not really tell why. That might be the case I have arrived to the airport with plenty of time.

The concept of self-check in is taken to its maximum absurdity in Oslo airport. I really do not like much the idea that seems to be common in the European airports of self-printing luggage tags. After Ive printed my tags I still had to stand in line to drop the luggage and spend 10 long minutes with the check in agent trying to override the fee on the second bag, as the system did not want to acknowledge that as TK *G I dont need to pay. Once that was over it was time to pass through security.

Although the lines are shorts and the agents are courteous, they were in full search mode and literally took my camera bag completely apart. Every len, every camera, every piece of cord was taken out to be scanned independently. I admit that my bag is packed full and compact, but I have never seen such scrutiny.

SAS operates a lounge in the domestic part of the airport as well, although I guess the word lounge is a bit of an overkill. There is no dragon in the domestic lounge, so better be sure your boarding pass has *G designation on it as otherwise the automatic gates will just wont let you in. The lounge is really a second story above the departure gats with very limited offering. Something that would make United Club proud I guess (so you can understand the standards). WiFi though was free and fast.

There is not much to tell about SAS domestic flight and the OSL-BOO section was uneventful as it comes. My pre-selected exit row seat never vanished from the reservation and the extra leg space was appreciated.

The next section BOO-LKN was far more interesting. This is really a local bus services for the locals around. There is no assigned seating (so I had to vacate the exit row because my bag was under the seat they are very strict about that). And on the way to Leknes we had a stop to drop off some people and get others in Rst, which is really an airport with a small island attached to it (population 605). As such the flight was in low altitude and very scenic.

We were staying in Reine which is almost at the edge of the Lofoten and one of the most amazing places to photograph. Every corner youll turn there will be a photograph waiting to be taken. Half of the group had stayed in the Guesthouse Det Gamle Hotellet which is run by the wonderful Lillian, a Dutch settled in Reine and where we had all out (home cooked and wonderful) meals. I, and half of the group were staying just across the road in traditional fisherman huts. As fishing lost its glory days, a lot of those huts are being converted into lodging and you can see them all over the Lofoten.

Those huts though are extremely basic. The beds were really one-person bunk beds, and the internal rooms for each person are small, but cozy. The bath room is shared, and there is a common area. Unfortunately, despite having a router on the ceiling it was inoperable for all of our stay expect for random couple of minutes a day. T-mobile free international roaming was a life saver, with constant connection at reasonable speeds.

We were very lucky to see the Northern Lights in our first evening in town, and it was a magnificent display. This however, was the only time Ive seen it in the two and half weeks of the entire trip.



Some more pictures from the Lofoten for your viewing pleasure:















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Old Feb 25, 2016, 5:30 pm
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Wow, spectacular photos.

Thanks for sharing.
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Old Feb 26, 2016, 6:38 am
  #9  
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Back to Oslo

After almost a week of cooperating weather and great photography it was time to head back to Oslo. The weather forecast for the day seemed bleak, but we got to airport without a problem. Of course Leknes airport is nothing more than a small building with a short luggage belt, one check in desk, one body scanner, bathrooms and one gate (i.e., a door to the outside from the secure area).

Check-in was opened when they saw us coming in. Again a lot of typing and frowning face followed trying to check in two luggage for free, but it was resolved quickly enough. A quick security check (this time I had to take apart only half of my bag) and off we went to the secure area. The boarding pass though had no mention of my frequent flyer status, but regardless the miles posted within two days as expected.

As the flight was again a local commuter, before reaching BOO it had a planned stop in Svolvr. However, the weather there already took a turn to the worse and the airline decided that they could not land. As that was the case, all the passengers from there were put on a bus down to Leknes and the flight would wait for them. The initial announcement was in Norwegian but once they saw our faces it was repeated in English. All in all, it was handled well. Coffee was brought out and they kept us informed.

The nature of those flights is that there is a very short connection in BOO, and although it was clear we are going to be late, I was not too worried, as it seems almost everyone on the plane was on the same flight from BOO to Oslo. Indeed, we arrived late, but transitioning in such a small airport took literally two minutes. The plane was waiting for us, with everyone else on board already. Even the luggage managed to arrive.

Another domestic flight on SAS and there is nothing really to report there. Completely uneventful.

Park Inn Oslo Airport
The hotel is perfect if you need to stay at the airport. I was using points for the stay and was surprised to see that breakfast was not included (the first time Ive seen it in Scandinavia). However, a quick e-mail to the hotel got that sorted out, as Gold Club Carlson member they have added breakfast to the stay. That was a great customer service move.

The hotel is just outside the terminal, opposite side to the Radisson. The walk to the hotel is up hill which can seems much longer than it is actually is, when you are carrying suitcases and the sidewalks are icy. However, it is very close and accessible. The windows are sound proof and there is no noise from the airplanes what so ever.

Service was great. Check in and check out were done quickly although somewhat cold. Although they have not stated my Gold status upon check-in I did receive a corner room, so it must have been registered somehow. The service in the breakfast area was somewhat chaotic but nothing to worry about.

There is a restaurant on site, but as Ive received a fruit plate to the room as part of the Gold amenities which was more than enough for me for dinner I have not tried the restaurant. Breakfast was ample and included all you can expect from a Scandinavian breakfast.

I have received corner room which was big and comfortable. I was not a big fun of the LED light display around the bed, I guess some would love it, but it could be turned off quickly. The bathroom was the disappointing point of the room. The minimalist shower without any real borders apart from a Plexiglas movable barrier grantees the entire room to be wet. WiFi was free and fast. Plenty of charging options including USB ports next to the bed.
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Old Feb 26, 2016, 6:53 am
  #10  
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Going to Iceland

The next day was the time to head back to Reykjavik. After a nice breakfast at the Park Inn, I marched back to the airport. The walkway still seemed longer than it was, but it was only couple of minutes before I was standing in front of an annoyed and confused contract check-in personal. The concept of having a Saga seat while flying Economy Comfort was completely foreign to her, and see sternly acquired whether Ive paid for an upgrade. I just answered yes, as she was totally unhelpful. She could not even tell me which lounge I am supposed to be using (although I already knew the OSL lounge).

This time security took no interest what so ever in my bag. Same place, same line, a week apart. Go figure.

The OSL lounge was decent. Several food offering, including couple of hot dishes, soup, cheeses, fruits and nibbles. It was a comfortable place to spend time prior to the flight.

The flight itself was uneventful.

KEF airport on the other hand is a complete zoo. The airport is way too small to fit the purpose. People are crawling all over each other fighting for space. The luggage took forever to arrive, which looking at the number of flights arriving around the same time is not surprising, but very disappointing for the size of the airport. Standing in line for the bus to the city (the airport is about 50 min drive outside and taxi are prohibitively expensive) was literally blocking the passage through the arrival hall as it stretched all the way to custom exit. Although the bus service was as organized as it could be, there are two companies, the lines do get mixed, and they do things differently. Greyhound takes you to their main bus terminal in town before moving you to a smaller busses to take you to the hotel. All in all it took almost 2.5 hours to get from the airport to the hotel.

Iceland, although it seems to build its economy around tourism has a very long way to go in that regard. If you are a backpacker, youll fit right in. However if you used to a little more comfort and luxury there is a lot to be desired. Iceland still does not have the culture of providing good service ingrained in them. They are all nice, and all smile, and all give you what you ask for but no one ever will take any proactive step. All in all, I found it lacking.

Radisson 1919
I have booked two nights at the hotel before the massive devaluation of point redemptions last year and the abolishing of the free last night. Ive booked a business class room and paid less points for two nights than what it costs for a one night in a regular room.

The hotel is well located within the downtown Reykjavik. The city itself if pretty compact and small, and everywhere that is not walkable is an easy bus ride away. There are plenty of eateries and shops in walking distance from the hotel.

Check-in was fast but extremely cold. My Gold status was not recognized at check-in, although a welcome letter was in the room. The amenity was extremely disappointing 5 grapes, 2 blackberries, 2 chocolate covered strawberry and two small cookies. After being spoiled the night before at the Oslo Airport Park Inn with a big and flowing fruit plate this seems like a bad joke.

The room itself was OK size, nothing to write home about. The bathroom was large with a real bathtub. In addition to the usual Scandinavian soap on the wall boxes there were the usual Radisson branded bath products.

Service was the sore point of the stay. They have not come to clean the room until very late in the afternoon. When they arrived I made myself scarce for 45 minutes. Coming back to discover that cleaning up the room includes setting the bed back together and taking out the trash and nothing more. The breakfast door sign that was on the floor when I was there when I got back, the toiletries were not refreshed, towels were not changed. Basically the bare minimum was done and that was that. After staying in several other hotels during my stay in Iceland it seems to be more of Icelandic attitude; but still, I would expect more than that from a Radisson Blu hotel.

Breakfast was included in the price for the business room and was ample and with good quality, though Im not sure I would have paid for it.

Considering the extreme points level required to stay in the hotel now, I would recommend exploring other options in town. The hotel was decent, but not worth the points required to stay.

Reykjavik
I had a day in town before my second photography tour would start. I have to say I was underwhelmed. If you have been in any other European city, there is really nothing special about the town. I was roaming around on foot (although that was extremely dangerous the town seems to not clear many of the sidewalks from the sheet of ice and walking can turn into slipping in a second), as well as on the local bus system (once I found a place who can actually sell a one day bus pass).

All in all, Reykjavik is a great gateway to the wonderful nature that Iceland is. But as a town itself, couple of hours will suffice to do anything one would like to do in it.
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Old Feb 26, 2016, 8:27 am
  #11  
 
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Fantastic photos. I have not seen too many reports on these lands in the winter. Truly magical and stunning.
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Old Feb 26, 2016, 2:03 pm
  #12  
 
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Unbelievable pictures. Thank you so much for sharing these with us, MD/DC Flyer.
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Old Feb 26, 2016, 3:37 pm
  #13  
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Iceland

The rest of the week was consumed by traveling around Iceland and taking pictures. For whatever reason I did not liked Iceland as much as I liked Norway. It might the changing of hotel (not of my choosing) every night, it might be the fact that even in the middle of the week the place was packed with tourists, or it might be the senseless acts of human stupidity that one encounter (a Chinese tourist who never have seen snow in his life, barely speak English, but thought it would be a great idea to drive in the middle of a snow storm and take on a snow plow the plow won), or human tragedy (another Chinese tourist completely underestimating the power of the ocean been sweep to his death in front of his family, just minutes after we have left the location), but it was less than what I imagined to be.

Compound that with a very bad weather when they close the Ring road because the snow plow had gone off the road, you know it is bad which necessitate emergency accommodation for the night, as our hotel was completely not reachable, and Iceland left a lot to be desired.

I will leave you with some random hotel reviews from the stay throughout Iceland, as well as some more pictures from Iceland, including what probably was the highlight of the trip, some pictures from Ice Cave.

Hotel Katla - Vik
The hotel is located close to the municipality of Vik and quite accessible for the sights around the area. That said, like most hotels in Iceland there is really nothing much around it.

The hotel is comprised of set of building which means that if you want to get to the reception you have to go outside and battle the sheet of ice on the sidewalk. We had dinner at the hotel which was adequate nothing really to get excited about, but good and nourishing. Breakfast was as well sufficient, with all the supple one would like to start the day.

The rooms themselves were extremely basic. The double room is actually two bunk beds that really cannot be put together and are narrow. The bathroom is small and basic, and it was my introduction to the favorite way Icelandic like to take a shower with a sheet of plastic serving as curtain stuck to themselves. The bath room was just way too small for purpose. It felt very much like the fishing cabins I spent the previous week in Norway.

The rooms are tired and in dire need for a face lift. That said, there was a functioning TV with BBC on, WiFi was strong and fast, and the room was warm. Sound proofing of course is completely another issue as it does not exist especially if you are in a corner room that has two wall to the outside.

For one night it would do, but I would not like to use the hotel as my home away from home for any longer than that.


Hotel Laki
The hotel was an emergency back-up plan for out group. As the Ring road was closed and we could not get to where we were supposed to be, we had to back track for 2 hours to get to the hotel which luckily had some rooms for the night. Although it meant that we had to share rooms.

We arrived after dark and left in early in the morning so the information about the surrounding is limited. That said the hotel is of a good caliber and despite the awkward marching through the dining room to get to the room in the other side of the hotel provided a good place for the night.

The rooms were comfortable and the shower (real one this time!) was big, with plenty of warm water and space. WiFi was fast, although the reception was spotty in some parts of the room.

Breakfast was somewhat limited for the caliber of the hotel and similar ones in the area, but still good and nourishing despite the very strange sitting arrangements (each table is pre-assigned to a room).

All in all, it was more than adequate plan B.


Seljavellir Guesthouse
Our hotel in Hofn was a very interesting one. The concept of only outside access for the rooms must work wonderfully in the summer, but in the winter when there is a sheet of ice, and a mound of snow blocking your entrance and making any venture outside truly dangerous it does not work too well.

From the outside the hotel looks like a long barn, but the rooms themselves are big, with a big bathroom. The decor is minimalist industrial and somehow it works even if you are in the middle of the Icelandic nature. It was sure one of the best put together hotels design wise (of the inside of the rooms) on this trip.

Breakfast was the low point of the stay. Although the quality was very good the verity was very limited though considering there are less than 20 rooms in the establishment it is not surprising.

The most surprising feature of the room was the TV with every British channel you can imagine. The WiFi was also good, fast and strong.

All in all, one of the few hotels in this trip I would happy return to.


Fosshotel Nupar
One of the establishments I would recommend to avoid. The hotel is located in the middle of the Icelandic countryside with nothing around it but the country side of course.

While the rooms are larger than most they are extremely basic. The same low quality of the bedding that is seen throughout the entire Fosshotel family is present here. The same concept of plastic cover for the shower is here as well. At least the bathroom size is decent enough so you will not make everything is sight wet.

There a dual door to the outside, though staying in the middle of the winter it just opens to the sheet of ice outside. The parking lot is also not treated so be very careful when walking.

The major problem with the hotel is that WiFi does not work in the rooms, only in the lobby. And then everyone tries to connect at the same time and the speed goes down to zero. Compound it with no TV in the rooms, and youll get a recipe for a very long, dark and boring evening. It seems that the hotel is well versed with the fact that the WiFi does not work yet does not seems to care enough to fix it.

The dinner was edible. Nothing to write home about, but warm cocked meal with several protein options. None were bad, but then again none were good. Breakfast buffet was decent yet basic. The usual cold and warm selection, though much smaller in the options and selections Ive seen elsewhere.


Fosshotel Lind
The hotel is well located close to a central bus station and the touristy part of Reykjavik. Of course, the inability of the Icelandic capital to clear the ice away from the sidewalk might impact the ability to walk around the hotel.

The room itself was basic. As it seems with several Fosshotel we had stayed in during our stay in Iceland, it is a very basic establishment. The quality of the sheets and towels are low; although this is the first time Ive gotten so many towels without the need to request more. Of course, once you see the shower youll understand why you need so many towels. As seems to be the norm in the chain the shower is separated from the rest of the bathroom (which is tiny) by a floating plastic curtain. Because of the size of the shower is so small you are guaranteed both a very close encounter with the curtain as well as flooding the entire room (and hence the need for so many towels).

While WiFi was good, the TV did not offer much channels. The bed were too soft as well as the pillows (seems to be a constant in Scandinavia, one cannot find a firm pillow).

Breakfast buffet was decent yet basic. The usual cold and warm selection, though with minimal selections of bread and cheeses. Ive seen better, Ive seen worse in short nothing to get excited about, but good for the purpose.

Asking for one hour delay in check-out was denied. So I spent it sitting in the lobby watching people checking in early (way early) to their rooms. So early check in is available while let check out (to 1PM lets remember) is not. Hmmmm. Something is very wrong with that picture. So fail on customer service on that front.
































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Old Feb 28, 2016, 3:12 am
  #14  
 
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Posts: 3,301
Wonderful photo's, MD/DC Flyer, some great captures of such beautiful and mesmorising landscape.

I really love the abstractness, as well the patterns, colours and textures in this stuff, great stuff. Just a small question though. What kind of scale is it? i.e. it is a large mountain side, or a close-up of inside of a glacier etc.?

DanielW is offline  
Old Feb 28, 2016, 3:28 am
  #15  
 
Join Date: Apr 2001
Location: Indianapolis, IN USA
Posts: 2,062
Your photos are amazingly beautiful. Fantastic.
bowdenj is offline  

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