Reflections from the past trip

Once again, it has been a while before I’ve got enough time to jot down a few notes from our past trip to Iceland and the States. As you may recall, we visited Reykjavik, Boston and New York in the trip.

The main reason for the trip was Sanna attending to a conference in Boston. I could combine my own business needs with the trip quite well, too. Our parents are turning 70 this year, so it was also a pretty nice way to celebrate the new decade. They doubled as caregivers to our children. All in all, very action packed trip.

The first destination was Reykjavik, pure holiday for a day. We got the best price to Boston and New York from Icelandair, and a stopover in Iceland was practically free. We booked a bus trip to Blue Lagoon thermal spa, and swiftly missed the bus. I was in restroom with Aapo and Sanna hauled back our buggys that we left in the conveyer. Fortunately, the helpful ladies in the Reykjavik Excursion counter called the bus and it came to pick us (and another party) to the spa. The spa itself is pretty nifty experience, do go there if you ever visit Iceland. As almost everything else in the nature of the country, it is pretty unique — blue hot salted water is emerging from the ground, and people are bathing in it.

After relaxing bath session, we took the bus to our hotel in Reykjavik. This time we were warned that the bus will leave and won’t come back. We were sitting inside almost ten minutes early, just be on the safe side.

Our hotel, CenterHotel Thingholt, was really nice experience — see the review. Next day was really rainy, and my parents didn’t bring umbrellas with them. The hotel had none and nobody seemed to sell them on early Saturday. We ended up dashing from place to place and waiting under balconies for the heaviest pours to subside. We visited a few shops, a few sights and a café. Pretty lowkey, as you can see.

After a good lunch in Vegamot (reviewed back in 2004, the place was still very similar, and thus a good choice), we took the bus back to the airport, spent a couple of hours waiting for the plane, and then we were off to Boston.

Boston hotel (Hotel Marlowe, actually located in Cambridge) was a bit disappointment after Thingholt. It was not bad in any (American) measures, but it just felt bland. The rooms were big and the beds comfortable enough, so it was pretty decent place to bunk.

First Boston morning was a bit of a disaster; we walked almost an hour in pouring rain to a diner recommended by hotel staff. We loaned umbrellas from the hotel, but there was much wind and it was raining really hard, so we were wet when we finally found the place — excellent breakfast, by the way. The weather fortunately got sunnier, and we could walk in Boston Commons without protection from the elements.

We had planned shopping for Sunday, but somehow we didn’t find almost anything — except baby food for Niilo and other groceries. Our hotel was connected to a big shopping mall that had most of the normal chain stores, so we could do the basic shopping (GAP, Banana Republic, Borders and so forth) there.

Sanna was in the conference on Monday and Tuesday. I spent both mornings running business in Finland. Chat and email were the saviours for me. The business continued also during the days, but I could also shoehorn a couple museum visits with the extended family. The science museum was really fascinating, and the New England Aquarium was not bad either.

On Wednesday, we took a train to New York. Fortunately, there are electrical outlets in the cabins, so I could continue using my laptop and Aapo watching DVDs. The train trip was blissfully uneventful.

The New York hotel did not match the pictures on their website — more about that later in reviews — but it was decent enough for sleeping. Our room was on a higher floor, so street noises didn’t disturb us. The Finnish part of the business was pretty silent now, and I could focus on locals.

During the days, we visited a few sights, including the Statue of Liberty and Bronx Zoo. Both worth visiting, but prepare for extended hassle in the Statue of Liberty trip. Several security checks and a lot of queues in different places. After all that queuing, the statue itself was deserted, so we could enjoy it in our own pace. Bronx Zoo is a good place to spend a few hours, and there is a huge amount of animals on sights. I’ve never been so close to a tiger (less than a meter, but fortunately there was a glass wall in between us) in my life.

We found a few toys for the boys for the Christmas, and managed to smuggle them into the hotel room and luggage without them noticing. On Sunday, after a lazy day spent mostly walking in the city after a disappointing visit to Guggenheim (1/3 of the museum and most of the permanent galleries were closed due to installations, but there were no discount on the tickets), we took a cab to JFK. After several retries, we got all our bags into the trunk and people inside. I had the buggy in my lap, and the traffic was pretty intense. Not the easiest taxi ride, but got to the airport without issues.

The flights back to Finland — via Reykjavik — were pretty standard. I got a couple of hours sleep in both flights, and boys were soundly asleep most of the time. The Icelandic route is almost as convenient as a direct flight, so in the future I try to avoid flying though the central Europe.

We were back home about four o’clock in the afternoon, and started immediately to wash clothes and unpack things. This continued for a couple of days, and then things started to feel normal again. We had no bad jetlag, mostly due to sleeping on the planes and having a good night sleep during the first night in Finland.