So it finally happened…
I missed not one, but TWO flights in one day!
Behold the saga:
My apartment in Akureyri, Iceland, was about a 7-8 minute drive from the airport. The taxi station was down the street, 2 minutes away.
I called the taxi station about 30 minutes before boarding, and told them that I had to catch my flight for x-time. They said no problem, the cab should be there in a few minutes. It finally showed up almost FORTY minutes later. When I told the driver what time my flight was, her jaw dropped, but then she tried to assure me (and maybe herself?) that the plane won’t take off without me.
I arrived at the station less than 5 minutes later — I still had a few precious minutes to make the plane! — and ran the few steps to the desk. The girl there scanned my boarding pass… and froze: the plane was literally taking off and I could see it through the window behind her. For whatever reason, it left 5 minutes early!
I had 2 options. Either try and find a ride down to Reykjavik/Keflavik, or wait for the next flight and hope to catch my connection in time.
The ride was looking unlikely, as it is a 4h drive from Akureyri to Reykjavik, then another 45-50 minutes to the international airport in Keflavik. I would have missed my connection.
The next flight was in two hours. That means that I would only have an hour and a half to make it to my next flight upon landing in Reykjavik!
I didn’t panic. I still had a few hours before my connecting flight — when I booked my tickets, I had planned a buffer, just in case the weather turned for the worse on my way in between Reykjavik and Keflavik. I chose option 2.
The girl at the counter was so friendly and helpful. She contacted the flight crew to tell them of the situation and to ask that my luggage receive “priority status”. She explained that they would hand it to me directly when I step off the plane, so that I wouldn’t have to waste precious minutes waiting at the luggage carousel. She also called and scheduled a taxi for me in Reykjavik. Even though the ride would be exorbitantly expensive, I wouldn’t be able to make it with the typical airport shuttle.
Interestingly, there was a family there who has just missed their flight too.
We all went to the airport cafe to enjoy breakfast and to watch the sunrise. The beautiful view was actually quite calming.
The plane arrived and it was packed — it seems that we all got the last seats! Unfortunately, I lost my window seat this time, but the girl next to me kindly took some photos of the views for me.
Things went downhill when I arrived in Reykjavik. When it was time to leave the plane, my luggage wasn’t in sight. I asked the stewardess about it and she had no idea what I was talking about! She said there was no “priority status” and everything goes straight to the conveyor belt.
There was no one else to ask until I got to the airport. None of them seemed to know about my situation either. The luggage arrived at the airport 10 minutes after landing, my bag being one of the last to come out. There was no cab waiting for me, so I had to wait for one to free up at the end of a long lineup.
I probably got one of the only taxi drivers in Iceland who does not speak any English. He wrote down how much the cost would be to go to Keflavik (about 200 CAD). I told him that’s fine, and we were off.
Even though he didn’t speak English and I don’t really speak Icelandic, we somehow managed to have a conversation the whole way over. When we arrived, he only charged me half the amount he quoted me and helped me with my bags.
But, it was too late. The gate was closed, and I probably wouldn’t have made it through security quickly enough. I was instructed to go to customer service to reschedule my flight.
I was asked why I was a no-show. The moment I uttered the words “the taxi in Akureyri…”, the guy at the desk stopped my story, said no problem, and rescheduled me for the next flight, free of charge.
Of course, I passed through security quickly, was given Icelandic chocolate for free, and had a window seat to enjoy my first views of Copenhagen!
It was late by the time I arrived in Copenhagen. The first thing I did was find a local SIM card, which were available in vending machines at the airport (so convenient!). I was meeting up with a friend during my stay there and needed to coordinate. We had planned our travel so that we would arrive at the same time, but I was two hours late, thanks to the plane saga. I was sooooo hungry and the smell of pølser wafted through the air. I collected my luggage and hopped in a taxi, with a friendly driver who talked about life as a Somali immigrant.
Our apartment was in the quiet suburb of Frederiksberg. If hygge had a picture next to it in the dictionary, it would be that apartment: it was cozy, with ample throws and pillows, candles, soft lights, and lots of happy plants.
I dreamt of stuffing my face with Danish hot dogs and smørrebrød, but it was so late on a weeknight that most of the food places around us had already closed. We looked online and found a nearby pizza place (not Dominos lol).
While strolling in the rain, I spotted a little Italian bottega, right next to the pizza shop. The coffee sign and cafe tables beckoned me to step inside.
The first thing I saw was a fridge full of desserts, including giant cannoli. Next to it was a display of torta. On the other side, deli offering of meats, cheeses, cakes, breads, and olive oils. My mouth was watering.
The shop owner came out from the back. I asked if I could take pictures because everything looked so delicious and he had a good laugh. I ordered a slice of feta and spinach pie, as well as a slice of gravlax pie, and a cannolo, of course.
We had some friendly banter while my dinner was being heated and he asked where I was from. I told him Canada, he exclaimed something in Italian, then ran to the back of the shop, where I could hear him telling his colleagues that someone from Canada had stopped by the shop, also in Italian.
This guy was hilarious and somehow we ended up joking that Canada is basically third-world in terms of food options. On my way out, he slipped me a loaf of bread for free because I “came from a third world country” and jokingly told me not to come back. LOL
The food was all delicious, and I ended up making a hearty sandwich with the loaf for breakfast a couple days later.
