I woke to the smell of coffee. Julie had been up, and had her breakfast already. I swear, if we could harness her energy we could power the world. She teased me with a sip from her cup, knowing I'd have to get up and have some. Coffee that is.
I think now would be a good time to talk about some truths about food and drink in Iceland.
First and foremost, the water, coming right out of the tap is the best tasting water I have ever had anywhere. This might be the foundation for everything else being so tasty.
Coffee, even in the hostels, the coffee is delicious. I have never had a bad cup of Joe on the island.
Their dairy products are world famous for a reason.
Livestock is raised properly, you can tell by the taste.
The fish from these pollution free waters is the best you'll ever try. The exception may be hákarl, that stuff is just nasty. But, they managed to take the Greenland Shark, which is poisonous to humans, and figure out a way to survive on it.
Iceland also has great fresh veggies. The carrots are so sweet, the cabbage is mild, and thanks to geothermal hot houses, tomatoes are available year round.
Pair that with the wonderfully talented chefs that practice their craft here, and this is a foodies paradise.
On to breakfast. Scandinavian breakfast is huge. Cereal with yogurt, open face sandwiches with meat, cheese and veggies, as well as butter and honey or jam, eggs, fresh fruit, juice, and of course coffee. All of this, not just one or two things from the list, are consumed during the morning meal. This has held true everywhere we have been in Scandinavia. Home, hotel, hostel, restaurant, or train.
I am building my breakfast samloku(Icelandic) macka(Swedish) open face sandwich(American). Julie is having hers on hrökkbrauð(Icelandic) knäckebröd(Swedish) cracker(American), and a parfait of jam, skyr, and toasted granola.
The cold case
Ashley digs the breakfast choices, and the coffee.
We had some time to kill before we could spring the car, and return it to the airport. So, we decided to check out the local flea market, and meet the Olanderssons there.
Oh ya, they don't do am or pm in Europe. It's all about the 24 hour clock here.
While we waited for them, we farted around in the harbor. Good times, the weather alternated between rain and sun, every 5 minutes, as promised.
Look, a boat, in the harbor of all places.
The cool building in the background is the Harpa Concert Hall, more on it later.
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| must...touch... |
Ahem...Continuing on.
Don't let the sweet looks fool you, Sally is one tough Grandma. But, she's also sweet as pie.
Walking around Harpa. Does this remind anyone else of an album cover?
Ashley discovers her spirit animal.
As we walk away from Harpa, along the waterfront, and toward the sun, let me tell you what a local told me about this magnificent concert hall.
I won't bore you with who designed it and how it was constructed, you can find that on the net.
According to the man I talked to, construction stopped during the financial crisis. After much discussion among the people of Iceland, they decided to allow the state to finish the concert hall part of the project. He told us to please tell everyone to visit it, when in Reykjavik. As it is free to go in, beautiful to behold, has the most expensive restroom in Iceland, and will never-ever be paid off.
I always love the local take on things. And it is truly a wonderful sight, inside and out.
We made our way down to Solfar (Sun Voyager), a really bitchin stainless steel sculpture. Is it a boat? The skeleton of a large sea creature? Or, a vessel to carry you away to your dreams? The artist wants you to decide.
'till we showed up.
Jossefine texted that they had arrived, so we ran back to the flea market, to see what we could see.
We shopped around for a while, but only got this one picture, for my Step-father. Check it out Jim, I don't think you have this one. Better get to Iceland before it's snapped up.
The Olanderssons invited Ashley to visit Vestmannaeyjar (The Westman Islands).
The largest, Heimaey, had an eruption in 1973 that wiped out 1/5 of the town. The residents were awakened at 2:00 am by the explosion. Fortunately, the entire fishing fleet was docked that night, and the whole population was evacuated to the mainland. A rescue worker, in the weeks that followed, was the only death, having been overcome by a pocket of gas. The rest of the town was saved by hosing cold sea water onto the molten lava, creating a wall, which diverted the flow. That part of town is now a park and museum.
Ashley said it was really cool to see. Their original intent was to see puffins, but the migration had started, and they just weren't there anymore.
Meanwhile, we headed out to collect the rental car, and return it to the airport.
But, not before having our first Icelandic hot dog of the trip!
We told Sally, and anyone who will listen, "Icelandic hot dogs are the best on the planet". She admitted that she wasn't a big fan of hot dogs to begin with.
Then agreed, this was the best she ever had.
We got the car from the garage, and found our way to the airport, stopping only for fuel. The pumps wouldn't take our American credit cards, so we opted to pay the extra charge for returning it with only 1/2 a tank. Good riddance! Have I mentioned, having a car in downtown Reykjavik sucks?
We had fika at the airport cafe, and waited for the bus home. When we transferred to the small bus at the BSI, we talked our driver into dropping us at the pool, closest to our hostel.
A nice shower, a soak in the natural geothermal waters, a steam bath, and another shower. We were right as rain.
We walked slowly into town, enjoying the sights.
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| The Russian Embassy |
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| The French Embassy Pretty swanky neighborhood. |
Getting into the oldest part of town.
Sally made a friend
Feeling a bit peckish, we stopped for a bite. I mean, how can one pass a Mexican/Icelandic fusion restaurant? I'll be darned, if it wasn't actually pretty good. But I already gave you the scoop on the food here.
Uh-oh, Sally's window shopping. Don't fret dear readers, she has decided to ship everything she buys, and 3/4 of what her daughters packed for her, just to make her luggage manageable.
And the
Reykjavik.
Good night.
