On the Way to Iceland: A Day in New York City

Before our recent winter trip to Iceland, the last time we had been to New York City (Manhattan) was in late July 2001. We walked, used taxis, and rode on one of those hop-on-hop-off tourist buses to see many of the most popular tourist sites in Manhattan including Times Square, Central Park, the Statue of Liberty, Battery Park (now known as "The Battery"), the Brooklyn Bridge, and the Empire State Building.

I recall the bus tour narrator pointing out the World Trade Center to us and reminding us of the 1993 World Trade Center bombing that killed six people and injured many more. We were trying to decide whether to ascend to the top of one of the towers and decided not to because we had already been to the top of the Empire State Building and were running out of time in New York City. We justified to ourselves that we'd go to the top of the World Trade Center towers on a future visit to New York City. Unfortunately, approximately six weeks later, those towers were destroyed on 11 September 2001.

For our trip to Iceland, we flew from Denver to New York City's John F. Kennedy (JFK) airport and stayed the night in an airport near JFK. We did not depart for Iceland until 7 pm that next night, so we took advantage of these extra hours in New York City to return to Manhattan with specific intent to see the 9/11 Memorial and Museum. After storing our luggage at JDK Terminal 1's storage facility, we took a taxi to Manhattan for the fixed price for all taxis from JFK to Manhattan.

911 Memorial and Museum

I had heard and read many positive descriptions of the 911 Memorial (although not all are positive) and it lived up to the hype I had built up in my own mind. There is a simplicity and elegance behind its beauty and the numerous engraved names remind us of the many lives lost. Images taken of it from above provide a nice overview of it and I've included a few of our own photographs from the ground level here.

There is no charge to see the outdoor memorial itself. There is a charge and tickets are required to enter the indoor museum next to the memorial. We got in line to purchase tickets for the museum, but I was able to order tickets online for the museum before we got all the way through the line and we got to exit that line and go directly into the museum. The museum was much larger than I expected because most of it is underground. We did not do the audio tour because the placards and signs were detailed and featured large enough letters to read from the typical distances we need to stand from the exhibits to allow others to see them at the same time. The memorial and museum had more visitors than I had anticipated on a New Year's Day morning.

The 911 Memorial Museum combines modern technology with powerful messages and access to original physical structures that were present in the World Trade Center towers to make for a poignant and deeply moving experience.

It was also interesting to see the numerous items people created or collected to honor victims.

These "World Trade Center By The Numbers" are staggering:

The entire museum is a powerful memorial and reminder, but the most powerful portion for me was the "In Memorium" section of the museum. It is one thing to see the number of victims. It is even more powerful and sobering to see the actual names of the victims. It's almost overwhelming to see the photographs of all these victims' faces and hear family members and friends reciting their names. The "In Memorium" section does just that in presenting photographs of the victims and having loved ones read off their names. It's very powerful and overwhelming to contemplate the lost lives. Photographs are not allowed in that section, but you can see one photograph of one wall of the section in the article "Visiting the 9/11 Memorial Museum."

This quotation on a wall in the museum summarizes what the museum achieves ("No day shall erase you from the memory of time." -Virgil), even if it's not the original context of the quotation:

One World Observatory

We had reserved a lunch spot at the restaurant in the One World Observatory next to the 911 Memorial and we headed there after the museum for lunch.

For lunch, we had reserved the "Prix Fixe Lunch - Peak" for $100 per person (can be a bit less in off-peak times). This reserved us a table and included entry to the observatory using priority lanes for security, elevator, and exit. We were happy with the appetizers, entrees, and desserts on the prix fixe menu and did not need to order any items that would come at additional cost. Note that an 18% tip is automatically charged on the $100 price ($18 tip per person). It was nice to have the restaurant reservation and priority access to the observation deck and film.

Here are the views from our table in the One World Observatory restaurant:

It was surprising to us how quickly the elevators went up and down the 102 stories.

It's difficult with the cameras we had to capture photographs of the views from One World Observatory that do the views justice, but here are some of my favorites:

Conclusion

The 911 Memorial and Museum and the One World Observatory were fascinating to see and provided a really nice way to pass the hours before our departing flight to Iceland.

Iceland in Winter: Getting to and from Iceland

This post provides more details related to how we traveled to Iceland and back from Iceland for our first visit to the land of fire and ice.

We arranged much of our winter trip to Iceland via Gate 1 Travel, the company we used for our Danube River cruise through central Europe. The core offering of the Gate 1 package we selected ("6 Day Iceland's Northern Lights") included flights, lodging, and transport between the airport and the lodging. We used this Gate 1 offering as the core basis of the trip and built extra days and activities upon it for a full winter week in Iceland.

Flights

When we used Gate 1 to schedule our flights from Denver to Munich and from Budapest (via Frankfurt) back to Denver for our Danube River cruise, it was only slightly more expensive to fly directly from and back to Denver than it was to have a layover in New York City or Toronto. However, when we were scheduling this Iceland trip with Gate 1 Travel, direct flights from Denver to Reykjavik (Keflavík International Airport: KEF) were significantly more expensive than arranging for the Gate 1 flights to be between New York City and Reykjavik and then arranging separately for flights between Denver and New York City. In fact, the difference in cost was so significant that we could rent a hotel room in New York City area both going to Iceland and returning from Iceland and still save hundreds of dollars over the direct flight.

We stayed a night in New York City in each direction partially to break up the overall flight time in each direction. The more important reason for spending a night in New York City in each direction, however, was to improve our chances of not missing winter connection flights in New York City. Gate 1 Travel recommends direct flights to Iceland from one's hometown or, if that's not possible, "consider purchasing an overnight at the connecting airport."

To get to Iceland, we flew from Denver International Airport (DEN) to John F. Kennedy International Airport (JFK) via a Delta Airlines flight and stayed the night at the Days Inn by Wyndham Jamaica / JFK Airport. We had several hours until our departure flight for Iceland, so we used those hours to take a taxi to Manhattan to see the 911 Memorial and Museum and to eat lunch at the One World Observatory (a future blog post will cover these in with more details). We then returned to JDK to depart on an Icelandair flight for Iceland. The flights from North America to Iceland typically arrive in Iceland very early in the morning and we arrived at Keflavík International Airport (KEF) just after 6 am Iceland time (GMT). We rented a car for the first couple of days in Iceland and I'll cover renting a car and driving in Iceland in a future blog post.

We departed Iceland on an Icelandair flight that departed KEF in the early evening (GMT) and arrived at JFK in New York City in the mid-evening (thanks to time zones). We spent the night in the Hampton Inn New York - LaGuardia. We flew out of LaGuardia Airport (LGA) the next morning on a Delta Airlines flight. We flew First Class on this Delta flight from LaGuardia to DIA and it was our first time to fly in this class. We flew First Class this time because it was not significantly more to upgrade to that than to upgrade to Comfort Plus. Of course, it was pretty nice to be treated significantly better than we're used to on the airplane and to have so much extra room.

Our flights into and out of Keflavík International Airport went smoothly. We had to ride buses from the airplane to the terminal on arrival and then rode buses from the terminal out to the airplane on departure. Both rides were a bit cold in winter in Iceland, but getting onto and off of the bus on arrival was particularly interesting because there was significant blowing wind mixed with snow.

Boarding the Icelandair flight in JFK to go to Iceland was done in an orderly fashion. The normal initial boarding groups of those requiring additional time and those with elite (Saga) status boarding first. The regular section of the airplane was boarded from the back to the front with certain specified back rows boarding first and moving forward in the main cabin. We rode in the exit row from New York City to Reykjavik and the language requirement for sitting in that row was the ability to speak English.

Boarding the Icelandair flight in KEF to return to the United States was less advertised and orderly. The preferred initial boarding groups were allowed to board first and then the flood gates were essentially opened for everyone else to get in line to board. It was less chaotic than it sounds because we boarded in an isolated "downstairs" gate away from the main terminal hall and there were roped off lines. Once the crowd narrowed into the roped lines, it was fairly orderly. We walked to a bus and when the bus was filled as much as possible with people squeezed in, the bus made the short drive to the airplane, where we walked up the stairs to the airplane.

I have flown Delta Airlines many times and generally am happy with them. I really liked flying First Class for one leg of the trip this time. We also enjoyed Icelandair. The Gate 1 initial purchase had included a checked bag and assigned seat in the price and we later paid a premium to change to seats with more legroom when we pre-purchased meals for our Icelandair flights. We noticed that Icelandair is more picky about the size of a carry-on than any airline we've flown before. The check-in agents at both JFK and KEF were having everyone show that their carry-on luggage fit into the box there that was sized for carry-on luggage.

There were definite advantages to breaking up our flights (roughly in half) between Denver and Reykjavik. An obvious advantage was the saved cost (which may not always be the case). In some ways, it was easier to do two flights of ~5 hours each direction rather than a single ~10 hour flight, especially with hotel nights between the two flights each direction. We also enjoyed the opportunity to spend some time in New York City. A downside to this approach was having to deal with airports and going through security twice as much.

Storing Luggage for Day in Manhattan

For the day spent in Manhattan before departing for Iceland, we stored our luggage at a storage facility in Terminal 1 of JFK. This storage facility charged per bag and charged by bag size. They also only accepted cash (but there's an ATM right by them in Terminal 1) and that cash payment was made upon pickup of the stored luggage. Their limited hours were sufficient for us, but apparently Terminal 4 at JFK has a storage facility that's open 24 hours per day. It was nice to not have to carry that luggage around Manhattan.

New York City Airport Lodging

When going from Denver to Reykjavik, we stayed a night at Days Inn by Wyndham Jamaica / JFK Airport because it was near JFK and we were flying into JFK from Denver and were flying out of JFK to go to Iceland. This Days Inn was really close to JFK, provided a free shuttle from JFK to the hotel and from the hotel to JFK, and was comfortable. There's not much to see or do in the immediate vicinity of the Days Inn. There is no restaurant in the hotel (though they do provide a free breakfast in the mornings) and we did not see any restaurants nearby. Fortunately, they offered complimentary use of DoorDash at the time and we were able to order dinner and have it delivered. On the day we used the airport shuttle to get to JFK (1 January 2020), the shuttle left the hotel every hour on the half-hour; in other words, it departed at times such as 5:30 am, 6:30 am, 7:30 am, etc.

When flying from Reykjavik to Denver, we stayed a night at Hampton Inn New York - LaGuardia because we were flying out of LaGuardia early the next morning. This was a nice, quiet, and comfortable hotel. This hotel does not have a restaurant (though it does serve a complimentary breakfast in the morning), but it is next-door to a "sister property" (LaGuardia Plaza Hotel) that has a bar/restaurant called "Elements." On the day we used the airport shuttle to get to LGA (9 January 2020), it picked up passengers from the hotel every 20 minutes.

Conclusion

There were several advantages to breaking our flights between Denver and Reykjavik roughly in half each way and spending a hotel night between each leg. We really appreciated this approach on the return home where it helped with the time zones adjustment significantly. The factor that closed the deal on using this approach was the saving of hundreds of dollars, even when hotel costs were included in the comparison. Had the direct flights been closer in price to the overnight layover in New York City prices, we likely would have gone with the direct flights instead. Another important advantage to having a hotel night between legs of the flights in each direction was the buffer that gave us in case an earlier flight was delayed or canceled. This buffer is especially important when flying into or out of cities such as Reykjavik and Denver in the winter. We were fortunate to fly out of Iceland as scheduled, but we saw many flights canceled and the road between Reykjavik and KEF closed multiple times during our week in Iceland.

Iceland in Winter: Our First Trip to Iceland

We visited Iceland for our first time over the first week of 2020. We arranged this trip to Iceland in the first week of January many months ago. Although it's often recommended that one's first visit to Iceland be during the summer, we chose the winter for the following three reasons:

1. Northern Lights
2. Blue Ice Caves
3. Fewer Fellow Tourists

The most obvious potential drawbacks of visiting Iceland during the winter include the dramatically shorter portions of the days with daylight and colder weather. The biggest drawback we encountered during our visit to Iceland in the winter is the increased variation in weather conditions that force the altering and canceling of one's best-laid plans.

We had pre-arranged several "excursions" or "tours" for our winter week in Iceland. Three of these were canceled altogether and one required some adjustments. Other blogs posts will cover the Iceland tours and excursions we participated in with greater details. The excursions and tours that we either pre-arranged or arranged after something else was canceled are shown below.

• Snowmobiling Tour on Myrdalsjokull Glacier CANCELED!
  • We arranged this for noon on our first day in Iceland, allowing plenty of time to travel from the Keflavik Airport to Ytri-Sólheimar 1 in Mýrdalur (Road 222 off the Ring Road).
  • Unfortunately, this tour was canceled a couple hours before our scheduled arrival time via an e-mail message with subject "Departure canceled due to weather" and a sentence in the e-mail message's body stating, "Your tour has been cancelled due to weather conditions on the glacier as wind and snow are beginning to pick up, creating a white out conditions."
  • Although this cancellation of our first scheduled activity in Iceland was disappointing, it is better to cancel it in these conditions than to have an issue like this one with another group happen.
  • We used the time that was freed up from this cancellation to visit the town of Vík (the "Southernmost village in Iceland"), to view the Reynisdrangar rock formations from from Vík, and to visit Reynisfjara black sand beach. This blog post provides additional details on these sites.
• Ice Cave Tour by Vatnajokull Glacier | Departure from Jokulsarlon
  • This blog post covers this ice caves exploration activity, viewing Jökulsárlón Glacier Lagoon, viewing "Diamond Beach", and staying a night at Fosshotel Glacier Lagoon with greater details.
• FlyOver Iceland
  • See this blog post about this relatively new Reykjavik attraction.
• Gate 1 Travel's Reykjavik City Tour
  • This day in Iceland saw severe winds and blizzard conditions throughout southern Iceland. Because our tour today was scheduled for in the city of Reykjavik itself, our tour was one of the very few that was not canceled due to weather. Our tour guide and bus driver agreed to do one portion of this city tour (visiting the Perlan Museum observation deck) on the next day because the view from the Perlan would not be too great during a blizzard.
  • This blog post delves into greater details regarding the Reykjavik City Tour.
• Blue Lagoon Experience Comfort
  • See this blog post for greater details regarding visiting the Blue Lagoon.
• Gate 1 Travel's Golden Circle Tour
  • See the blog post that covers in more detail the beautiful and interesting sites on this tour.
• South Shore Adventure CANCELED!
  • We were disappointed when most tours, including ours, was canceled on this day with more snow, severe wind gusts, and closed roads.
  • We were happy that we had seen Vík, Reynisdrangar, and Reynisfjara on our first day in Iceland when our snowmobile excursion was canceled because these were part of the South Shore Adventure tour that was canceled a few days later. We saw the waterfalls Seljalandsfoss and Skógafoss from the Ring Road on that same day, but would have stopped at them had we known the South Shore Adventure would be canceled a few days later. We also would have stopped at Dyrhólaey on that first day had we known that our scheduled South Shore Adventure would be canceled.
  • When we learned of the cancellation of the South Shore Adventure, we made reservations to participate in The Lava Tunnel tour, which is discussed in this blog post.
• Gate 1 Travel's Northern Lights Tour
  • We had learned at Aurora Reykjavik: The Northern Lights Center and at the Perlan that there are numerous factors that go into seeing the northern lights. The inclement weather of our week in Iceland severely impacted the ability to see the northern lights.
  • We finally had an evening in which we went out to see the northern lights, but even on that relatively good weather night, there were two many clouds in the sky to have any realistic chance of seeing the northern lights.
• Reykjavik to Keflavik Airport | Sightseeing Reykjanes Before Departure CANCELED!
  • We had a relatively late flight departure time and looked forward to squeezing in a little more sightseeing before leaving Iceland. Unfortunately, this tour that stopped at key sites along the Reykjanes peninsula on the way to Keflavik Airport was canceled due to weather.
  • We scheduled a transport to the airport via FlyBus for later in the day and then used the extra time now available to us to walk around downtown Reykjavik a bit and to visit a couple museums including the Whales of Iceland Museum.

The point of listing the pre-arranged activities and excursions above was to emphasize the potential impact to the best-laid plans that might occur when traveling to Iceland in winter. You have to be prepared to adapt and adjust your plans as the Iceland winter weather dictates.

The following blog posts provide details for other aspects of our winter week in Iceland. Topics covered will include renting a vehicle and driving in Iceland, dining in Iceland, lodging in Iceland, and highlighting the attractions and sites that we visited.

• Iceland in Winter: Getting to and from Iceland
• On the Way to Iceland: A Day in New York City
• Iceland in Winter: Renting and Driving a Vehicle
• Iceland in Winter: Weather, Temperatures, and Layers
• Iceland in Winter: Money
• Iceland in Winter: Lodging
• Iceland in Winter: Food and Dining
• Iceland in Winter: Reynisfjara, Vík, and Reynisdrangar
• Iceland in Winter: Ice Caves and Other Spectacular Winter Sights
• Iceland in Winter: Flyover Iceland
• Iceland in Winter: Reykjavik City Tour
• Iceland in Winter: Blue Lagoon
• Iceland in Winter: Perlan
• Iceland in Winter: Hellisheiði Power Plant and Friðheimar Greenhouse
• Iceland in Winter: The Golden Circle
• Iceland in Winter: The Lava Tunnel (Raufarhólshellir)
• Iceland in Winter: Höfði House, Painted Berlin Wall Slab, and Einar Benediktsson Statue
• Iceland in Winter: Whales of Iceland Museum
• Iceland in Winter: Conclusion

Our winter week in Iceland was fascinating. We learned many new things and saw many beautiful sites. Some things did not go as planned and there were some disappointments (canceled tours and not seeing the northern lights), but there were also some nice surprises that rose from the disappointments and it was a very rewarding trip overall. We were able to accomplish two of our three primary objectives for going to Iceland in the winter: we were able to see the blue (and black) ice caves and we were able to enjoy the sites and attractions with fewer fellow tourists.

Niagara Falls: Skylon Tower

One of the things we like to do when visiting new cities or towns is to get a view of them from an elevated position. This can provide perspective and orientation for the new place we are exploring in addition to being simply beautiful views. In this post, I talk about our experiences at Skylon Tower in Niagara Falls, Canada.

We went to the top of Skylon Tower twice while in the Niagara Falls area in early October 2019. We went once for dinner in the revolving restaurant and access to the observation deck is included in that dinner. We went again a couple days later with the one organized tour group we participated in on this trip (Over the Falls Tours' "Niagara Falls in One Day: Deluxe Sightseeing Tour of American and Canadian Sides"). The photographs featured in this post were taken on those days/nights.

We went up the the rotating dining room first a few minutes before our reservation and were seated just as our seats were beginning to view the American side of Niagara Falls.

This was perfect because we were able to watch as we revolved toward the Canadian side.

We had rotated around 360 degrees just as we were finishing our entree, so we were fortunate to get to view both the American and Canadian sides of the falls again while eating dessert. It was now dark and photographs do not do the view of the lit-up falls at night justice. Several different colors of light were used, but these photographs were taken when the light was blue.

We enjoyed a tasty dinner and spectacular views at Skylon Tower's revolving restaurant. Unfortunately, that particular night was too cold and windy to spend much time outside on the observation deck, but we returned earlier in the day the next day and were able to spend time outside on the observation deck. Here are some photographs from that.

The views from Skylon Tower of the American and Canadian Niagara Falls are simply spectacular.

Dominican Republic: Dreams Dominicus La Ramona

We used Costco Travel to arrange the flights, lodging, and transport between the Punta Cana International Airport and the resort for our trip to the Dominican Republic. As part of this package, we stayed at Dreams Dominicus La Romana for all eight nights. We did not know much about this resort other than what we read in the Costco Travel materials and on their website, but we were very pleased with what we experienced there.

We arrived in the Dominican Republic late in the evening. It took a while to get our luggage and it's about a 45-minute drive from the Punta Cana International Airport to Dreams Dominicus La Romana, so we arrived at the resort just after midnight (technically the next day).

We were tired, but the employees at Dreams Dominicus were energetic and the first thing each of them said to us was, "Welcome home!" Indeed, in the days during our trip when we returned to the resort after a long day of excursions, it did feel a bit like returning home.

Dreams Dominicus La Romana is a beautiful resort with multiple swimming pools, interesting Italian-inspired design, beautiful beach access, and local vegetation.

Dreams Dominicus includes direct access to the beach and several water activities are offered including kayaking, swimming, snorkeling, and instructor-led exercise work-outs in the water.

Dreams Dominicus La Romana's Dreams Entertainment offered shows most evenings. We didn't always get to see these due to late returning excursions, but the ones we saw were entertaining. One show that was particularly entertaining was the acrobatic circus show. We had an excellent vantage point from the balconies of one of the rooms we rented as seen in the next photograph.

We enjoyed the food at the buffet-style World Cafe, at the convenient Barefoot Grill and Coco Cafe, and at specialty restaurants Himitsu (Hibachi) and Seaside Grill.

The World Cafe offered numerous types of entrees, sides and desserts and this "international buffet" did not require reservations.

The Coco Cafe offered simple snacks and drinks, but even its simple snacks were welcome when we arrived so late (early morning) at the resort and it was still open.

The Barefoot Grill is next to the resort's beach and so is convenient if one wants easy access to burgers or pizza without needing to wear anything more formal than one's swim suit.

Himitsu and Seaside Grill provided nice alternatives for more traditional served dinners.

Despite the hysteria surrounding traveling to the Dominican Republic at the time we went, we never got sick from eating or drinking a wide variety of foods in a wide variety of establishments within Dreams Dominicus. We did drink only bottled water at the resort (including that served at the dining establishments). The resort's welcome guide states, "Hotel water is purified but we recommend do not drink from the faucet. You will find bottles of water in your room without extra charges."

We enjoyed so much about Dreams Dominicus, but in the end two of our favorite aspects of this resort were its location and its people. The staff we encountered from check-in to departure were helpful and friendly and made us feel very welcome. The wait staff made helped make the meals special, the housekeepers made the lodging attractive, and the concierge and gate/guard staff were very helpful in helping us find the excursion contacts each day.

In other posts about this Dominican Republic trip, I have mentioned the convenience, relative quiet, and beauty of the Bayahibe location, especially when compared to the much more crowded Punta Cana. The Bayahibe harbor is gorgeous and conveniently close to Dreams Dominicus. The Bayahibe harbor is crazy busy in the morning and afternoon when the tour groups (mostly from Punta Cana) leave and return from excursions to Saona Island and Catalina Island, but it's much quieter in between those departures and arrivals.

One of the World Cafe's dinners on one of the evenings was an outdoor event. This was the only night that we sat at large round tables with other guests of the resort (small groups had their own tables inside World Cafe on most nights). We met some couples from the midwest that were just finishing their stay and they had never left the resort the entire week they were there. Although we really enjoyed seeing some of the beauty and history offered in other areas of the Dominican Republic, the fact that these couple opted to stay at the resort all day everyday for their entire trip is evidence of the appeal of the Dreams Dominicus La Romana.