Iceland Day 14

Well today was my last day in Iceland.

The free daily hotel breakfast was only part of the tour package and I was on my own, so I went off in search of a bite to eat. The weather was warm and sunny and I was little sad to be leaving Reykjavík under those conditions.

A few blocks from my hotel was a small grocery store where I found what I wanted for breakfast.... a banana and Skyr. Skyr is an Icelandic product which I mistakenly called 'yogurt' one day. Our tour leader corrected me. "Skyr is Skyr", he said. It kind of reminds me of the Greek yogurt I have back home on an almost daily basis. It is creamy and delicious and I highly recommend it if you are ever in Iceland. (Notice the folded plastic spoon in the lid...too cool!)

I walked up and down the streets nearby and enjoyed the interesting architecture, the colorful buildings, and the artistic graffiti once more.

Just before noon I made my way over to the landmark Hallgrímskirkja Church. Two weeks ago I had passed on a summer concert there. Today I decided that some beautiful music would be a good way to end my visit to Iceland rather than a visit to yet another museum.

It was only a half hour concert but I made the right call. It was an a cappella group consisting of four women and four men. They sang in Icelandic but it didn't matter. Not only were they well trained professionals, but the acoustics of the interior were enough to send shivers up and down your spine!

Then it was time to head back to my hotel and wait for the shuttle bus to the airport. It was recommended that I be at the airport three hours in advance. I didn't find that was really necessary, but better to be safe than sorry. I took the opportunity to make some last minute purchases at the duty-free store and to have one final delicious Icelandic meal - some Icelandic lamb in a rye bread pita together with a fruit bowl.

It was an almost six hour flight on Icelandic Air and I passed the time with a couple of movies. The first one I watched was a slapstick comedy with Icelandic subtitles called "Stella Gets Her Groove Back". The main actress was an Icelandic version of Lucille Ball and it was good but weird all at the same time. The second show was an older movie called "Office Space" which I would also recommend. Below is a pic from Iceland's Keflavik airport.

I got to Toronto Pearson on time, but luggage delays and having to go through Canada Customs caused me to miss my connection. Thankfully Air Canada was able to get me on the next flight. I really didn't want to spend another night in a hotel, especially in hot, smoggy Toronto. By the time I arrived home it was 3 AM local time. I had been up for most of the past 24 hours.

Now I am looking forward to the time to go through all of the pictures I took in Iceland. That, and to start planning my next trip!

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! 

Iceland Day 12

Happy Canada Day to all my friends back home!

Today was the last official day of the tour. One thing I like about exploring Iceland is that since the days are so long, we get a later start in the morning. 10 AM works for me…haha! We had a short 15 minute drive from our hotel over to the Arbaer Open Air Museum.

There are over 20 buildings representing a town square, a village and a farm. They are all very well preserved inside and out. I really liked the sturdily-built sod houses. The church was even a sod one! One of the homes had an attached shed for farm animals.

I was amazed at the short doorways and extremely steep narrow stairways in most of the two story buildings. Yikes! It was almost like using a ladder in some cases.

There was a group of small kids touring the museum. For their enjoyment, there was an old-fashioned go-cart steered with feet and a rope. I was impressed with the ‘engine’ in the back – other kids pushing. They really got that cart moving!

Lunch was at a very popular eating establishment in Reykjavik. It’s called Baejarins Beztu Pylsur. And what do they serve you may ask? Hot dogs! It’s not a sit-down restaurant, just a stand in the downtown area. There are always line-ups and they even have their own Wikipedia entry!!

Our afternoon excursion was to the famous Blue Lagoon. I was expecting a hot pool much the same as the Mineral Baths at Myvatn. The Blue Lagoon is not only more famous, but bigger, with more to do, and at a higher cost of course. (6,500 Icelandic kronas =$55.82 CDN). It was so worth it though.

Upon entry, you were issued a high-tech waterproof bracelet. That was your key to open and close your locker, but there was also a swim-up bar serving alcoholic and non-alcoholic drinks. To ‘pay’, they scanned your bracelet, then after changing and before exiting, they re-scanned your bracelet and charged you accordingly. Due to the heat and steam, I ordered a raspberry slushy drink (crushed ice with flavoring) to help cool down a bit.

There was an area with tubs of ‘mud’ and a long-handled narrow spoon. You reached in and scooped out the white mud, then put it on your face for 10-15 minutes. It was great fun and I did it 3 times.

There were steam saunas and an extremely powerful waterfall you could stand under. It was like getting a massage, that’s how strong it was. There were quite a few people there but it is a big pool with lots of different areas. Like the Myvatn Mineral Baths, the floor of the pool was natural and uneven. It was mostly smooth but you had to watch your step as you could step on a sharp rock at any moment.

We headed back to Reykavik which was about a 40 minute drive. I hung up my suit and towel and headed out to the main shopping street to explore. Since it was after 6 PM there wasn’t much open but I enjoyed window shopping at any rate.

At 8 PM I met up with the rest of the group for one final get-together as some people had flights to catch later that evening. I ordered myself a fruity drink called “Holy Moly”. After our final good-byes I headed back to the hotel to blog and plan for tomorrow.

I’m on my own again! 

Iceland Day 2

After a great night's sleep I woke up refreshed and ready to explore Reykjavik again.  Breakfast was a lovely hot cheese and mushroom sandwich at a restaurant called C is for Cookie, right across the street. 

M. met me while I was finishing up then we headed over to the National Art Gallery. We bought a Reykjavík Welcome Card which gave us free admission to all the museums we visited today. The National Art Gallery didn't take very long to go through. It was a beautiful building but the art was quite unremarkable.

We then headed over to a museum called the Settlement Exhibition. We joined a tour guide who told us about the history of Reykjavík's first settlers. While excavating for construction, a longhouse was discovered dating back to 871. The ruins have been preserved and are on display at the actual site. Construction of the hotel above the rooms went ahead.

Next we returned to the National Museum of Iceland once again. It is very impressive and extensive display of Icelandic history and artifacts throughout the ages. I especially enjoyed the black-and-white photography exhibit.

We caught a bus partway and hiked the rest of the way up to the Perlan. The Perlan Is another one of Reykjavík's very distinctive buildings. It consists of four huge circular hot water tanks, a viewing platform with restaurants, and a museum built on top of it. The views were quite spectacular once again. We didn't go into the museum but instead, headed upstairs for a delicious bowl of Icelandic soup.

Nearby we were surprised to see a geyser erupting which we later found was not real. Oh well, it was pretty exciting and a taste of what we are to see in the  days ahead!

Our last adventure of the day was a walk down to the beach and the thermal hot pools. We had brought our bathing suits and towels and enjoyed a soak in the pools with mostly local people. Just like hot springs back home, it got pretty warm so we decided to go cool off in the ocean. Wow! 10°C! Needless to say we didn't last very long. Yet there were other people swimming in the water and some kids diving off of small cliffs into the frigid water below. Icelanders are sure a hardy people!

We headed back to our hotel, mostly on foot, as we had just seen our bus disappear before we could get to the stop. We met up with our G Adventures tour guide and the rest of the group.

After some basic information and introductions were made, we headed to a restaurant called the Fish Market.

We were treated to a nine course meal with an amazing variety of unique and beautifully prepared dishes. We had sushi, salmon, lamb and even Minke whale meat, which tasted like beef much to our surprise.

We are a group of 12 travelers plus our guide. Canadians, Americans, Australians and an Irish girl. It looks like it's going to be a fun group!