Sweden 2008: An Epic Journey

I just self-published a photo book of my journey to Sweden. You can see it, or purchase it, at this link: Sweden 2008: An Epic Journey. Enjoy!

July 24, 2008...(Day 1)...Boston to Greenland's Air Space

World traveler at your service...Destination Sweden: This was my first trans-Atlantic flight. Here I am ready to go on a 24 day trip around the southern portion of Sweden. We left Maine on July 24th, and returned home on August 16th. This trip has been in the planning stages for about 4 years, and I was extremely nervous, and excited at the same time. I was so lucky to be traveling with my co-worker, Amanda, because she makes this trip every other year to visit her family in Sweden. She is Swedish through and through, and you will be introduced to her soon.

Please note that you can click on any photo in the blog to see a larger version of the photo. This will allow you to see more details.

Jonathan's Mad to go on this trip: Jonathan is one of my travel companions on this trip. He is the son of my co-worker, Amanda. Jon bought his first MAD magazine, and was enjoying it to the fullest during our 3 hour wait for the boarding call onto our plane.

Thank You For Choosing Icelandair: Yippee....We are actually on the plane. We had the most incredibly nasty weather on our 2.5 hour drive from Maine, to Logan Airport, in Boston, and we were exhausted, yet excited. This was the fanciest plane I have ever been on.

Ready for Takeoff: The excitement is mounting as we ready for takeoff. Seat backs in upright position...Check! Neck pillows at the ready...Check! Gum to chew...Check! Well, let's go already!

Here you see my wonderful travel companion, Amanda, who graciously allowed me to sit in the window seat, on both flights, so I could see the sights and snap a few photos. Of course, you have already been introduced to goofy Jonathan.

Flight Path from Boston to Iceland: We departed Boston at 9:30 pm, and arrived in Iceland at 6:30 am the next morning. Iceland is 5 hours ahead of us. The plane is currently passing over the southern tip of Greenland.

July 25, 2008...(Day 2) Greenland...to Iceland...to Sweden

Sunrise over Greenland: I know you can't see much, but the coast of Greenland is right out the plane window. Lots of people were asleep, so I couldn't whoop and holler, although that is what I wanted to do. So, I did it in my head. "Whoopee!" I did not realize that we would be flying just off the coast of Greenland, and was incredibly excited. I hope to get a better view on the return trip, because we will be passing by Greenland in the middle of the afternoon. 

Airplane Information: This shows that we are flying at an altitude of 36,000 feet. The outdoor air temperature is -63.4F (frigid). Current time in Keflavik Airport, on Iceland, is 5:48 am.

Have I slept at all? Nope...too excited, and I don't want to miss a thing.

Land Ho!: We have landfall at sunrise! Iceland is dead ahead, and I was surprised to see mountains for my first view. I guess that makes sense, though, considering that it sits smack dab on the Mid-Atlantic Ridge. WOW! I am in Iceland! Never in my life did I ever expect to step foot on this land. I just about passed out from the excitement of it. WooHoo!

Let me give you a tiny bit of information about Iceland that I found in my Insight Guides: Iceland book by the Discovery Channel: "Icelanders often say that their country was unfairly named, since it is, after all, strikingly green for much of the year. But anyone paying a visit to the Southeast will have ice on their minds, no matter what the season. The whole area is dominated by Europe's largest icecap, Vatnajokull, whose enormous glaciers creep down through every crack in the coastal mountains like oozing blue putty.

Volcanoes regularly erupt beneath it, devastating farmland with flows of melted ice and debris as large in volume as the Amazon River. Little wonder then if the Viking explorers thought the name "Iceland" appropriate."

The series of photos that you will see are of the mountains and glaciers of the southern coast of Iceland, that I could see from my window seat on the plane. I always plan each airplane trip by what I might see out the window. I made sure that we had seats on the left side of the plane so we could see Greenland and Iceland as we passed over them. Fun!

Iceland: The first thing that I noticed was the lack of trees on the coastal landscape. As we came into the airport, I saw lots of grasses and scrub. It is more of a tundra type of landscape, which makes sense when you consider the high latitude it is located at (64 degrees N). I can't tell you how incredibly excited I was to actually land in Iceland. What an exotic country!