Thursday, June 2, 2005

Last Update till US

Bailed on the Blue Lagoon.  For some reason, this is one of those colds that thinks sitting in a thermal pool surrounded by warm steam is a really bad idea.  (As demonstrated by the horseback riding yesterday, it seems to respond favorably to just being outdoors in the cool crisp air.  Go figure.)

Convinced the woman at the tour desk to swap my Blue Lagoon ticket for one for the direct bus to the airport.  I would've thought this would be easy -- as they are from the same company and the airport bus is rather cheaper -- however, she seemed initially opposed to the idea.  She kept saying I had to buy a separate airport bus ticket and then go back to my travel company and get a refund for the Blue Lagoon trip.  The problem with this plan was that my Blue Lagoon trip was part of a package deal from the airline -- one that came with a "No refunds for unused portions of the trip once travel has started" clause.  Once I got the lady at the desk understanding that I didn't want a refund at all -- and just wanted to give her my unused Blue Lagoon ticket in exchange for a shiny new airport bus ticket, she cleared it with a manager.  Now, I could look at this as losing out on the money for the Blue Lagoon, but I prefer to think of it as -- since I wasn't going to go to the Blue Lagoon no matter what -- saving the cost of the damn airport bus.

Disappointed that I missed out on the Blue Lagoon (and also have an unused ticket for a rather nice spa nearby as well).  But, I've still got quite a bit of travel left, and I need to get well in a hurry, so I'm considering these missed opportunities as just costs of the cold, and I figure someday I'll come back and make them up.  Now that I've done my own "scouting mission" to Iceland.  And I know how to find that place what makes the lava cakes.

Instead, I spent the morning hunting down the nearest pharmacy.  THIS time, I asked the lady at the desk not ONLY for directions, but for the name of the shop I was looking for.  (We learn from our mistakes.)  Which would have been a really excellent plan, excepting that she gave me the wrong shop name.  Sending me into the local equivalent of a 7-11, rather than the pharmacy two doors down.  When I asked the salesperson at the 7-11 if they carried any cold medicine, she took one look at my pitiful self (I took a picture of my clothing ensemble -- I really do look pitiful today), and not only TOLD me where the pharmacy was, she walked me outside her shop and pointed it out to me.  Darned helpful, these Icelanders.

It's now just after 1:00.  I've already had two throat lozenges and six (count 'em, six) cups of tea today.  I intend to flush these germies out.  Hopefully, before we land in Baltimore.

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