Iceland Day 13

I didn’t set an alarm today but I couldn’t sleep in anyway.

After breakfast, I headed to the main street nearby. My hotel is close to the main downtown area, but not right in the thick of things which is good. I wanted to check out some of the shops that had been closed in the evening. One of them was a marvelous craft store where I found some unique Icelandic rocks that have holes drilled through them. They will make a great necklace!

I did a bit more browsing, then walked over to the meeting point for a walking tour. The guide was a young entrepreneur who gives ‘free’ walking tours twice daily. If you like it, you pay. I hope everyone did as I thought he was quite good.

The tour was about 75 minutes long and covered several important buildings, statues and landmarks in the downtown area. Not only did the guide know his history well, but he gave us an insight into the psyche of the locals. He touched on many interesting topics including politics, finance, and education. While we were in front of the government buildings he noticed that something was going on. He kept an eye out as he was talking then pointed out the Prime Minister of Iceland to us!

After the tour I grabbed another hotdog from Baejarins Beztu Pylsur again. I wasn’t super hungry but needed something to tide me over. Reykjavik has a Photography Museum which is located in the city library. Admission was free – can’t beat that! I was really looking forward to seeing a good photography exhibit but I was sorely disappointed. The show that was on display was mostly photos of motorcycle dudes from the southern U.S. That’s not what I expected to see in Iceland! Oh well, at least the price was right.

My next stop was an art museum. I was really hoping for some more traditional type of art but I guess Icelandic artists are really ‘out there’. I found the building quite interesting at any rate!

I found the graffiti more to my liking than the ‘art’ in the museums.

Reykjavik is definitely a city of contrasts as evidenced by the statue pictured below. Check out the man with a briefcase and a boulder on the top half of his body compared to the traditional architecture of the church in the background. It hard to label Reykjavik!

At 3 PM I headed over to catch a free shuttle to Reykjavik’s largest mall. I hadn’t had much chance for shopping and wanted to pick something up for the house and cat sitter, lawn mower, etc.  Unfortunately I got my times wrong and missed the van to the mall I wanted to see. Instead I went to Smaralind Mall. It wasn’t quite what I expected….more of a European version of West Edmonton Mall! I wasn’t in the market for high fashion or ultra-stylish clunky footwear. After scoping it out I bought chocolate soft-serve ice cream and took the shuttle back downtown.

I went back to the hotel to do web check-in for tomorrow’s flight and also for a change of footwear. The touristy shops nearby had more of what I was looking for and I managed to spend the last of my kronas. When window shopping, there was an interesting store window display that kept drawing me but it was always closed. Finally I found it open and what a cool place! I found some neat gift items and postcards. When I complimented the owner on his store, he told me that some of the postcards were his own photography and some of the card designs were his original art that he turned into t-shirts. And yes, that cat sign is coming home with me!

All that leg work got me hungry as my famous hotdog wasn’t all that substantial. Finding cheap and cheerful in Iceland can be a challenge but it can be done. I found a nifty little Moroccan place called Kebab Grill and enjoyed a lamb and veggie pita. It was a bit spicier than I usually go for, but it was good.

I am back at the hotel early. I need to do postcards and get my suitcase organized for the last time!