Asleep at the Wheel Over Iceland

Planning our 4-month honeymoon to Europe was no easy task. It took a year to get it right! We were so excited and actually were looking forward to the honeymoon and the wedding ceremony.

As a present we received tickets on Icelandic Airlines from Los Angeles to Luxembourg with a 10-hour layover in New York and since it's Iceland’s own airline. Our itinerary had an 8-hour layover in Reykjavík. That wasn’t a problem, we were young and energetic so we made the best of the long connection.

Excitement landing in New York

Our first connection was at New York’s JFK Airport. As we were descending we were flying into an incredibly active lightning storm, and we just happened to be flying right into the middle of it! I guess the pilots know what they were doing and if they were at all worried would find an alternative route. Thank goodness I’ve flown enough to feel comfortable in most circumstances. The pilot must have been in a good mood that night because he flew low, right next to the Statue of Liberty. To be honest I never knew that lightning struck up as well as toward the ground! You have not experienced a good lightning show until you see it going both ways. Especially when it surrounds the Statue of Liberty. Wish I had a camera or a good cell phone at that time.

After landing we shared a cab with a nice couple from France and went to explore the sights of New York. We had time to see the Empire State Building, walked a little in Central Park then more in the city. The time went by fast but it was time to get back to the airport and board our flight to Iceland. Flying on Icelandic Airlines we found the craft has comfortable seats with plenty of leg room and the food was decent. It was a pleasant flight to Reykjavik. Looking out the window was a lot of blue ocean and plenty of icebergs.

Excitement on our way to Iceland

While listening to music and rocking out to it suddenly the plane started to slow down then took an immediate nose dive! As I looked forward you could see the cockpit door was heading straight down. The plane was speeding straight toward Earth! That’s when my husband and I looked at each other as if to say good marriage, nice knowing ya!

Other passengers must have thought the same thing with the deadly silence onboard. It seemed as if time was standing still for all of us. Still looking out the window I was watching the blue expanse coming closer and closer, wondering how cold the water is. All of a sudden the pilots seemed to pull the nose up enough to level us out. We were going to make it? Out of nowhere land miraculously appeared underneath us and we landed! Safely!

While we taxied to our gate the captain made a quick announcement on the loud-speaker. He asked us “Bet you all want to know what just happened!”. Everyone was still in shock so he just blurted it out, “We almost missed our stop in Iceland and made the decision to make a quick landing” and “Not to worry though, we had everything completely under control the whole time”.  At that point we didn’t care, we were just glad to have our feet on solid ground.