Flying to Canada

Set our alarms for 6:00 and got up to get packed. After saying goodbye to Aprille and Molly we were off at 7:38 for the Manchester Airport. There's no easy way to get there: first you have to get to Macclesfield, and then you have to get to Wilmslow. We opted to drive to Leek and take its main road to Macclesfield (Aprille calls it "Mac."); and then to take the A538 to Wilmslow. It almost worked that way. We never saw a sign for the A538 in Macclesfield, so we faked it on the B5058 to Alderley Edge, whence we found our way to Wilmslow. There signs for the airport began to appear and we were fine, arriving at 9:00.

Turned the car in and check in for Icelandair. (Check-in at Manchester airport is a complex warren where there are actually monitors to tell you which way to head for your airline and flight.) Went through the high-tech Security, where we were scanned and barcoded in various ways, and then let go. Spent about 90 minutes in the International Departures Lounge (flights going to exotic destinations all around us: Spilt, Istanbul, Prague, Dubai), and then boarded our flight. The plane was very nice, and everything was announced in Icelandic first and English second. The little cloths on the headrests had dryly humorous explanations of common Icelandic phrases on them. (E.g., "Good night in Icelandic is Góða nótt. It sounds gentle and cozy.") We learned Icelandair has only 11 planes and they are all named after volcanoes.

First we flew to Glasgow and dropped a lot of people, and took on more. Then we flew to Reykjavik (about two hours) and all got off. It was unclear whether we were supposed to go out through passport control (Icelandic culture seems to be a bit weak on announcements), but, since there wasn't even a television monitor where we were to find out what our next gate was, we did. Turned out it was the same gate (and the same plane), but while we were out there we toured a few duty free shops, and got our passports stamped twice to boot.

Next flight, to Toronto, was about five hours, but not too deadly. The boys were great. Personal TV's. For a change, Galen was sick and not Will, but he recovered quickly. Our bodies thought it was midnight when we arrived in Toronto. We taxied past Air Force One and all the other head-of-state planes here for the G20 summit. Found our way to the hotel, ate a pizza and collapsed.

We miss England. We feel like we are back in the Land of Big.