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Published: September 20th 2016
Oh yeah...
...fun spot, and the rug really tied the room together...And now for something completely different...having done most of our traveling in warmer climes, we decided to take a detour and head to a more northern destination this time: Iceland! Seems to be the popular locale right now, and after visiting I can certainly understand why...the plan was to be here for ten days (a couple in Reykjavik, 7 days driving/camping around the Ring Road and a final day at Blue Lagoon) followed by three more in Amsterdam...wicked!
Arrived in Reykjavik at the tender hour of 6 am, and after the somewhat obligatory stop at the duty free in the airport (best prices in the country for wine/spirits apparently) we arrived at our hotel an hour later...due to the exorbitant costs of hotel rooms (and frankly everything else) we opted to not book the night we flew in, hoping we may be able to check in early...sadly 7am is too early so we dumped our bags and went for a wander to get our bearings, breakfast and kill some time...
Off to join what I dubbed "The Zombie Walk"; exhausted people stumbling around waiting for their hotel room, we fit right in...It was really funny; the only folks out
Hallgrimskirkja
The famous church, really cool... at this hour on a Saturday morning are other tourists in the same position as us, wandering aimlessly up and down the main drag window shopping...
Managed some breakfast at a neat little spot called Grai Kotturinn (a favourite of Bjork's apparently, cool little book/art/cafe) before we were finally able to check in around 11am...a couple of hours of napping ensued before a somewhat more awake wander about town (I don't sleep well on planes, and while the red eye seemed like a good idea at booking I don't think I will do it again...).
Started with a stroll along the waterfront (okay, I lied, I actually went to a record store around the corner from our hotel while the Lovely K was getting ready, one of my favourite things to visit while on the road), it was a beautiful day and a great way to scrape off the weariness of the flight...passed by Harpa, the town's concert hall before heading back in to Laugavegur street, the main drag with all the shops, restaurants and pubs...
Well overdue for a pint so found our first stop called Kaffibarinn, cool little pub off the main drag...discovered it was
happy hour which certainly helped in the finance department! Really dug this place, lots of charm and nice folks...after a bit more wandering came across the Lebowski Bar, a must stop as it's one of my favourite movies...all done up in bowling motif, and quite popular with the locals, fun hang!
Stumbled around some more, then a bite to eat and a pint at the popular Dillon before calling it a somewhat early night...
Day 2 was our final full day in Reykjavik so after a hearty breakfast at the hotel we were off and running...big thing we wanted to do was hit the weekend flea market in search of the traditional Icelandic sweaters, success! Fun market, picked up some sweet sweaters and then took a wander around the harbour...
I'm not a big museum guy but we decided to pick one and do it, the winner was the Reykjavik 871: The Settlement Exhibition...really cool archeological ruin of a 10th century Viking longhouse that was unearthed in the early 2000's...all sorts of artefacts found during the excavation are on display, and a boundary wall at the back of the museum is the oldest man-made structure in Reykjavik...
Getting a little hungry so off to our next stop: Baerins Beztu, reputed to be the best hot dog stand around...for some reason hot dogs are a big deal in Iceland, every gas station sells them and they're a hot ticket...being a fan I couldn't wait to sample 'em after hearing all the hype, but to be honest I really didn't dig them...tried again on the road a few days later but same reaction, meh...haha...
Time to hit one of the top attractions in Reykjavik, the famous Hallgrimskirkja church...located on one of the highest points in town, the church towers over the city and offers fantastic views from the top of its tower...built to resemble basalt columns, it is quite architecturally unique and striking, and can be seen from miles away...a must see for sure...
Back for a pit stop at my new local hang Kaffibarinn and then off to one of the quirkier attractions I had ever heard of: The Icelandic Phallological Museum, yep, a museum dedicated to the penis...as Lonely Planet puts it: "From pickled pickles to petrified wood", this would seem to sum it up perfectly...a wide variety representing all Icelandic mammals and then
Baejarins Beztu
The (in)famous hot dog stand... some...a couple of human ones as well, with some bizarre "pledges" to donate the bits and bobs upon death, a wee bit strange to say the least...
Closed out the day with another stroll along the waterfront and one more pass down Laugavegur before calling it a night...loved Reykjavik, it has a really cool vibe and a great place to start our adventure...
(Some photos copyright of Karen C., denoted by (KC)...used with kind permission)
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RENanDREW
Ren & Andrew
Beautiful
I can see the boat design, but I still keep picturing 15 candles on those forked things :)