Iceland {Part VII, Fin}

...aaannnnddd we're back for the final Iceland post.

Day 13: 

• Explore the city by foot
• Eat good food, drink good beer, hear live music
• Walk the campus of the University of Iceland

We did a lot of wandering this day. Down by the waterfront, around the old part of town, past the city cemetery, to the National Library (which was closed), through the university, and more.

Adalstraeti 10, the oldest timber house in the city, built in 1764

Lake Tjornin in the center of town

University of Iceland

Laundromat Cafe (with laundromat)

Micro Beer Bar

a shot of 'black death'...was expecting something black-er...

bar/music venue L and I attended  the night before

jazz

Day 14

• Whale watching!
• More exploring!
• To the beach!

There were about five whale watching outfits competing for duty in the harbor and all seemed to offer an identical experience, so we went with the one that had the best customer service at the info booth! There was one group offering whale encounters from a sea-going vessel no bigger than a pool floatie, but the price tag and general safety of the whole thing ruled them out on the spot.

Fearing mother nature's unreliableness, our guides were sure to set us up for disappointment from the get-go. Once we pushed away from the dock and were puttering just outside refund range, the announcer was forthcoming with the fact that neither whale nor puffin had been seen 'round these here parts in the last couple of days. Well. Great. 

Thankfully, our boat broke all those recent trends and we got great views of plenty of minke whale and sea birds, including puffins.

beautiful day

puffin! courtesy of master photographer, Lauren

Commercial whaling was made legal again here in 2006 and many whalers hunt minke just for the purpose of domestic consumption. We saw plenty of restaurants in Reykjavik featuring whale on the menu, including the one below, made famous by their delicious lobster soup! Whaling is a contentious topic the world over, including in Iceland. Here's a WSJ article from 2008 addressing tradition vs tourism.

We three went our separate ways for part of this day and I decided to go back to Hallgrimskirkja to take the elevator ride to the top of the church tower where I got 360-degree views of the city from above.

That evening C rallied us up for a bus trip to a part of the coastline with a public swimming area and hot spring - Nautholsvik. Some people believed the fanciful myth that the geothermal water mixing with the ocean water makes for a nice swimming lagoon, but dipping one's toe in the lagoon disproves this. Thankfully, they had concrete hot pool for the rest of us.

trying hard to believe the water is warm

crazy

Day 15:

• Departure day
• Walk the waterfront
• Eat one more pilsur

We ventured away from the city center in the morning along the coast to this home made and adorned with found materials. 

With the little time we had left we split up for lunch. C chose the most famous pylsur stand in all of Iceland and stood in line for one more tasty morsel.

After lunch we packed up at the hostel and left for the airport. It was a remarkable trip and what sticks with me more than anything is the vastness, the beauty and the solitude that can be found all over the island - even if you are a few paces off the main road or just outside a town. I feel like we saw a lot but I still cannot wait to go back. Some day I will put together a video compilation of the many action clips we have, but first I need to catch up to real time with this here blog. Thanks for viewing!

I will end with some street art/graffiti that was prevalent in the city. We seemed to run into it around every corner, but I wanted to group it all together in one post.

Bless og takk fyrir, Iceland!

Iceland {Part VI}

Day 11:

• Boat ride back to Bolungarvik
• Drive South toward Reykjavik
• See the sights in the Golden Circle

Fun fact:

• The first geyser to be written about by modern Europeans was a huge geyser in the Southwest of Iceland. Its name was Geysir and it was the geyser after which all other geysers were named! Geysers!

The boat came as scheduled, but the ride back was a little harrowing. The winds out on the open water were much higher than a few days before, creating one-meter-high waves that caused the boat to roll and pitch distressingly. One poor kid vomited on and off the whole three hours, and our bags were soaked by the end.

We made it to dry land and hit the road toward Reykjavik.

couldn't pass up Dynjandifoss

pit stop at this farm and creamery with laser-guided milking machines!

cheese, ice cream and a buggy windshield

After taking an unplanned detour through the countryside on an F road (too stressed for pictures, apparently) we made it to Þingvellir (Þ pronounced th). This place is not much to look at - just some more beautiful countryside, really - but it is a site of incredible social, political, and geological importance, and one of Iceland's most visited sights.

Þingvellir is where the first parliament was established in 930. Politicians assembled here from its inception until 1798, although they only held legislative and judicial powers until 1271. In the early days there was only one paid member, the Lawspeaker, who would climb up on a rock and recite entire laws by memory to the assemblymen. Commoners also used this meeting place for markets, festivals, and feasts.

Geographically it is interesting for a couple of reasons: it is beside Iceland's largest natural lake, Þingvallavatin, and it is right on top of the separating tectonic plates of the mid-Atlantic ridge, which creates cool surface features like fissures, and causes occasional earthquakes.

the flag marks the site of the Lawspeaker's rock

wide open space...when suddenly...

...fissure! and the North American plate!

We left Þingvellir at about 10pm, determined to see all the Golden Circle sites by the end of the day. Next up: active Strokkur geyser and site of the sleeping geyser of infamy, Geysir.

We watched Strokkur explode three times and pushed on. Next stop: Gullfoss. Time: 11:30pm. We're gonna make it!

i'm convinced that midnight sunset is the best time to see this

We drove back towards Þingvellir and found a grassy campsite for our last night in tents!


Day 12:

• Drive to Reykjavik
• Check into hostel
• Shower!
• See the city

Fun facts: 

• There are no Starbucks or McDonald's chains in Iceland!
• What is hakarl? It's shark that is caught, killed, buried underground for three months, cut into strips, and hung to dry for three more months before being consumed at traditional Icelandic festivals, or daily by tourists!
• Iceland's current Prime Minister is a lady!

We left our campsite early and were in the city in no time. The task of getting all our camping gear and road trip grime out of the rental car was daunting, but the lovely rep at Iceland Car Rental let us take the car all the way to the hostel and they came to pick it up later. Fantastic!

We dumped our gear in the lobby of the swankier-than-expected Kex Hostel and went to get food and see a bit of the city before checking into our room. We walked along the waterfront, hit up an indoor market (where we sampled the famous putrefied shark), and saw one of the main streets downtown before retiring back to Kex for a thorough de-griming. Fortuitously, we checked into the hostel on the day of their Block Party - a 12-hour music show right on our patio that we enjoyed over beers, and during dinner, and in the shower, and then late into the evening.  

The Sun Voyager - famous waterfront sculpture

Kex bar/restaurant

loved the attention to detail - this was the bottom of my bunk

Kex Block Party

X marks our room - right above the stage

  

hipster central

A couple of sights from our first roam around the city:

windows of Harpa concert hall

statue of the Iceland's first prime minister, Hannes Hafstein

Landakotskirkja, Catholic cathedral

Hallgrimskirkja, Church of Iceland (Lutheran)

Next post will conclude the trip. Stay tuned!