FOUR DAYS IN ICELAND: DAY 1 - REYKJAVIK

PROLOGUE:

My recent trip to Iceland had its beginnings back in April 2017 over a sushi dinner in midtown Manhattan.

I'm enjoying a night out on the town with my friend, Fran. With enough sushi for four people, we're catching up on what's been going on in our lives, when the conversation turns to Fran's upcoming milestone birthday in late October. As I'm stuffing an oversize piece of spicy tuna into my mouth, Fran says she's thinking about a girls' weekend, perhaps in a warm destination, like the Caribbean.

Nope, October is hurricane season......that won't work. A few ideas later, when I suggest Iceland -- literally, the north-polar opposite of warm -- she yells YES so loudly, quite a few people around us drop their chopsticks.

When I get home, I discuss it with Mr. Goo Shoes. He encourages me to go, and so, a trip is born.   

As it turns out, it will be just the two of us on the girls weekend. We are remarkably simpatico on planning our itinerary. Snowmobiling on a glacier? No, thank you. Hiking a volcano? Uh, no. Biking through the mountainous wilderness? Not our thing. Our priorities are seeing the sights, eating and shopping. It is not a fluke that we book a walking food tour of Reykjavik before finding a hotel. If Fran and I have one thing in common, it's that we are foodie friends from way back.

It's fortuitous that we have six months to plan this trip, because it will take us that long to figure out what clothes we are taking. Endless texts, phone conversations, and an entire three-hour dinner are spent discussing our packing list. In contrast, when I travel with Mr. Goo Shoes, our packing conversation is limited to "Do you have your pills?" and "Did you take a sweatshirt"?  Fran and I discuss every detail of every item that we plan to bring.

Six months later, we're packed and ready to go.......and.....by this time, I can almost spell "Rekyjavic"  "Reykjavik" without googling it.

DAY 1: REYKJAVIK

I wake up and think, I can't believe I'm leaving for Iceland today! Even though it's the new "it" destination, it still sounds so exotic to me. I mean, Iceland??? It's so........in the middle of the Arctic Ocean!  Ironically, however, it's the closest European nation to us in terms of flying time - just about five hours, and only a four-hour time difference. 



IcelandAir sends an email telling us to check in online, and it is only then that one of us realizes we would have gone to the wrong airport had that email not come (I won't name names, but it wasn't me). 

Somehow, two clothes junkies have managed to fit waterproof ski pants, packable down jackets, thermal underwear, hiking boots, hats, touchscreen gloves, rain shields for cameras, waterproof cases for cell phones, bathing suits (yes, bathing suits!) and numerous day and evening outfits into our carry-on bags. Of course, they weigh way too much to put in the overhead bins, and must be checked, but we're good with that. As they load them onto the baggage belt, I say a quick prayer to the gods who keep luggage from getting lost.

We begin our Icelandic adventure in the airport with a pre-flight flight of wine. By the time we are ready to board, we're actually feeling a little bit buzzed, but not so much that we can't find the gate. 

I cannot sleep on planes. Fran, on the other side of the aisle, however, is out cold before the plane leaves the gate. I amuse myself by watching IcelandAir's inflight entertainment videos of Iceland without sound, since I forgot my headphones. I would really like to be able to hear where I am supposed to eat and shop. 

Five hours and 2700 miles goes by rather quickly. In the same amount of time that I usually spend in the mall, I'm in Iceland! 

It's 6:30 a.m. when we land. After stopping at the ATM for Iceland Kronur, we find our way to the FlyBus, which will transport us to our hotel. The prima donna in me shows itself when we transfer from the bus to a van, and I have to heave my own luggage into the back. Oy, it's heavy!  

The next surprise is that the van is not allowed to stop in front of our hotel, so we are dropped off at the Hallgrimskirkja Church, the most iconic landmark in Reykjavic. Even in my sleep-deprived state, I'm excited to see this in person. We're left to find our way to the hotel on our own. I can't get Waze to operate, so we do it the old-fashioned way, by asking people how to get to Hotel Odinsve. Not that many people are up and about, since at almost 9:00 a.m., the sun has only just risen. 

Hallgrimskirkja Church

 
We will stay two nights in Reykjavik at the Hotel Odinsve. Deciding on a hotel was not that easy. We eliminated the one with the clear bathroom door (that's just weird under any circumstances), and dismissed the ones in the center of downtown that were reviewed as "noisy" on TripAdvisor. We planned to share a room to keep costs down, but it seems that a "double" room in most Reykjavik hotels means one full-size bed. Heck, I can't even do that with Mr. Goo Shoes. For just a few dollars more, we each get our own single rooms with a twin bed. 

My little hotel room, and the view from my window just after sunrise.

Because our flight arrives so early on Saturday, we booked our rooms for Friday night, allowing us to check in immediately, and sleep for a couple of hours before hitting the streets of Reykjavik. But somewhere over Greenland, panic sets in that we haven't left enough time for shopping, so sleeping will have to wait. Shopping always wins.

As anxious as we are to start spending our Kronur, it's no fun to shop on no sleep and an empty stomach. We find our way to Braud, a bakery recommended by the hotel. There is a line of mostly locals, which gives us time to survey the delectable offerings and decide what to order. 

Braud Bakery

After making our selections, we head to Reykjavik Roasters for coffee, and have a picnic outside on the bench, since the temperature is comfortably in the 40s. I have no idea what this pastry is called, but I am sure is it one of the best things I have ever eaten. We will discover later that the bread in Iceland is amazing. 

We have only two hours to shop before our walking food tour. We try to hit as many shops as we can on Laugavegur and Skolavordustigur, the two main shopping streets. 

Hallgrimskirkja Church serves as a compass in finding our way around Reykjavic.

I'm suffering from souvenir-decision-disorder, but Fran is serious and ready to buy. She buys an Icelandic sweater faster than you can say Eyjafjallajökull. Okay, bad example. Let's just say, I'm still reading the sign on the window, and she's putting her credit card back in her wallet.

We make our way down to Harpa Concert Hall, where we are to meet the food tour guide. It is COLD down here by the water. I am thankful for my many layers of clothing.

Harpa Concert Hall

The tour is four hours long, and we will sample 13 different foods (separate post on the food tour will follow), as we walk the streets of Reykjavik. Our tour guide, Anna, points out the colorful old homes covered in corrugated iron.

These older homes are quite desirable, and come with a hefty price tag.  I wonder, as I always do in a new locale, if it's a place I could live in. I love Reykjavik's colorful charm, but it's a long way from Trader Joe's and Broadway shows. 

When Anna shows us Reykjavik's most exclusive neighborhood, I almost change my mind. A waterfront home and 24 hours of daylight in summer? I'd consider it!

Reykjavik is like no other European city I've visited. It reminds me more of Anchorage, Alaska. It's a bit wild west, but yet it's hip and sophisticated, too. The local people would not look out of place in the West Village, and the trendy restaurants would get stellar reviews should they be rated by the NY Times.

Anna explains why so many of the homes are covered in colorful murals. There was such a graffiti problem, that homeowners commissioned graffiti artists to paint murals on their homes, and there is now an understanding that those homes (and businesses) cannot be targeted for graffiti by other artists.

Well, that's the way it's supposed to work, anyway.

As we stand in front of the old prison, Anna enlightens us about Reykjavik's crime rate, which is virtually zero. There are only about a hundred or so prisoners in Iceland's jails, and most of them are foreigners, with drug-related convictions. 

The Old Prison

There are 330,000 people in Iceland, and they are quite passionate about keeping their elected officials in check. When the prime minister was found to tuck away money in off-shore tax havens, Anna tells us that thousands of protesters filled the square, banging on pots and pans, and throwing skyr (Icelandic yogurt) at the Parliament building. Hmmmm.....  

Parliament Building

We head down to the marina area for another food tasting. Although it is windy and cold today, I try to imagine it in summer. The idea of sitting outside down here by the water at midnight -- in broad daylight -- has me scheming to come back in July with Mr. and Junior Goo Shoes. 

Although I am fading as fast as the daylight, we go back to shopping after the food tour. I fear there is new meaning to "shop till you drop."

After a quick nap, and a hot shower, our bodies and our appetites get a second wind. Fran and I head out for dinner at Grillmarket. We don't know it at the time, but tonight is the only night the skies will be clear enough for the Northern Lights to be seen. In hindsight, we should have skipped the lamb chops, and hopped on the Northern Lights tour bus. But, we are currently oblivious to this fact, and enjoy our dinner immensely.

Tomorrow is our excursion to the Golden Circle area. It will still be dark when we board the tour bus at 8:30 a.m.  Of course, we'll need time for breakfast first. 

Girls gotta eat, you know.

To be continued....... 

Resources:
IcelandAir
Reykjavic Excursions FlyBus
Hotel Odinsve
Braud 
Reykjavik Roasters
Reykjavic Food Walk  
Grillmarket

Here's a sneak peek at Day 2:

Iceland Day 2: The Golden Circle

Linking With:
Best of the Weekend
Metamorphosis Monday
Cooking & Crafting With J & J 
Our World Tuesday
Wow Us Wednesday  
Travel Photo Thursday
Take Me Away