ICELAND: Brrrrr…Dispatch From Reykjavik

I will never complain about TSA again.

Ever.

British airport security is an army of tyrannical factotums.

We arrived at Stansted Airport 2 1/2 hours before our flight for Iceland on Thursday morning. We barely made our flight.

Security madness.

These humorless British snoops went through every carryon as if they were looking for lice. It wasn’t enough that our miniature bottles of shampoo, conditioner and makeup were dutifully encased in Ziploc bags. Turns out, they allow just ONE sandwich-sized bag of liquids per person. So we waited in an endless line of impatient passengers facing a Sophie’s choice with their toiletries. I jettisoned my favorite shampoo, conditioner and almost had to toss my brand-new mascara until I jammed it into the tiny bag.

I gave an evil laugh as I finally sprinted away knowing they missed a tiny vial of perfume in my purse.

What exactly was the point of all this performative security?

I guarantee that of the gallons of discarded liquids today, not one drop of anything dangerous was discovered. I’d be willing to bet that nothing dangerous has turned up in half empty water bottles for the past decade.

And what difference does one little bag versus two or three make?

It’s all harassment and nonsense.

Yet the grouches in their plastic gloves and imaginary 10-gallon hats who are just following orders ruthlessly ripped apart suitcase after suitcase and then gleefully sent every carryon back through the jammed up x-ray machines, making the trip through security a nail-biting nightmare for hundreds of passengers.

After that, the day was a breeze.

Literally.

Once again, Play Airlines came through. Flight left on time - almost without us - and landed 30 minutes early in Iceland. Our passports were stamped, we dug out our warm coats and beanies and stepped out into the biting wind.

We had just finished watching HBO’s “True Detective: Night Country” with Jodie Foster so we knew what to expect. That chilling series was  entirely filmed in Iceland (standing in for northern Alaska) in December. I had to wear a down jacket while watching it!

Iceland has a growing film industry and the country offers generous incentives to filmmakers.

“Game of Thrones” was shot on location here, so was “Lara Croft: Tomb Raider,” “Fast and Furious,” “Star Wars,” several James Bond movies and scores of others with Iceland often substituting for the Himalayas, Ireland and outer space.

It’s late winter and the weather is fickle. It can be sunny one minute - as it was when we landed - but snowing or spitting icy rain the next.

We sauntered along the waterfront, gazed at the snowy mountains and saw the iconic Sun Voyager sculpture. While that gleaming steel structure looks like a Viking vessel, the sculptor meant it to be a dream boat and an ode to the sun. Sorry, looks kinda Viking to me…

Now it’s raining. We, however, are warm and dry in our cozy - ok, cramped - hotel room. Finding a hotel with a triple room was a challenge. The people of Iceland are tall and strong. Their beds, however, are small. We have a twin and a double.

We’ll manage.

UPDATE: Just saw that Biden is launching a big “Aid Port” in Gaza. Since when do we send aid - humanitarian or otherwise - to the enemy during a war?

He’s doing this to appease the Hamas fangirls in his party who are threatening not to vote for him in crucial swing states like Michigan and Wisconsin.

I’m opposed to sending so much as a single bottle of water to Gaza no matter how loud these women threaten and cajole. Has Biden forgotten that Hamas is still holding 100 hostages, including some Americans? Apparently.

All Hamas has to do is release the hostages and surrender.

It ends the day they do this.