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Published: June 17th 2017
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A Little Bit of Sunshine Jet lag really messes up a sleep schedule which meant we ended up sleeping
in until 11. Since we missed the regular breakfast at most places, which
ends at 11, we went back to the Laundromat Cafe, they serve breakfast
until the afternoon. Eggs, bacon, pancakes and coffee for $40!
The sun came out in little intervals today interspersed with short
10 second hail storms. The weather seems a bit sporadic and crazy except
we're from Colorado so we're a bit used to weather changing by the
minute.
We spent most of the day wandering up and down the small streets
browsing in stores and buying knickknacks and souvenirs. Marleah got an
Icelandic sweater which was the one thing she was really looking forward
to buying while we are here. John bought an outdoor waterproof jacket
because the weather says rain all day tomorrow and the jackets he
brought probably wouldn't hold up against the weather all day. Cool
little shops, really a quaint town. All hills and you can see the water
and mountains from almost every point. John dragged Marleah into only
one record store, unusual for our
travels as he usually has to go to a
handful. This one specializes in metal and used 60s rock, so
expectations were high. Soooo tiny, little back room jammed with stacks
and stacks of records. Nothing really that we didn't already own, so it
was over quickly. Stopped for cappuccino / espresso in a cafe on
Laugavegur street (main shopping street) to rest and people watch.
Höfnin restaurant, in the old harbour was our dinner destination. We
had a great view of the water, the boats and the mountains from our
table. Ordered a bottle of wine and we were really looking forward to a
great meal because the menu looked outstanding. The appetizer was pretty
good if a bit disconnected. Duck confit and langoustine with oranges,
parsnips and arugula. We both ordered the same meal because it seemed
so good. Rib eye steak, langoustine, mushrooms, potato, béarnaise foam.
The steak tasted like diner food, the langoustine (tiny lobster/large
shrimp) weren't seasoned and the sauce seemed out of a box. This place
got such high marks from other foodies and seemed really well
recommended that we were a bit shocked by the sad food we received. We
felt ill afterwards (probably psychological) and we were so
disappointed. We didn't eat very much of it and just ended up getting
drunk on a $50 bottle of wine that costs $15 at a restaurant at home.
All of northern Europe is so expensive food-wise. We've been really
fortunate in our travels to have some really great meals all over the
world, you just never know.
Quick trip back to our room to bundle up in warm clothes before
going back down to the harbor for a boat tour. Our Northern Lights tour
that was cancelled the night before was rescheduled for tonight since it
isn't pouring rain. The boat was big and there were probably 200 people
on there with us. The trip lasted three hours, it was freezing outside
so we sat inside in the corner the whole time. We spent the entire
swaying boat ride watching everyone walk back and forth, back and forth,
observing everyone getting increasingly more drunk as the night went on
which meant they were louder and more obnoxious and listening to all
the American tourists talk and talk about nothing. A beer swilling
maniac from Florida, a
Skólavörðustígur Street
Hallgrímskirkja church at the top of the hill. group of snobs from LA with the most irritating
California accents etc etc. And to top it off, it was too cloudy to see
the Northern Lights. It was a completely awful and pointless tour! There
was a bright spot, though. The captain rambled almost incoherently at
low volume the entire time, and at one point started reciting Icelandic
poetry and then singing. This, combined with the drunken Americans, made
for a really hilarious juxtaposition. We're already talking about other
trips to go see the lights, maybe Norway.
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