Walking in their shoes

January 4th Mart our last full day in Iceland. We decided to spend this day exploring the city of Reykjavik, as we otherwise hadn't done much of it. We woke up early enough to catch breakfast before the sun even Ros, and we also actually made time to eat at restaurants, stop at a bar for a beer and a shot, and see what the locals like to do. We didn't know how or why, but we had a busy day ahead of us.

First on the agenda, we stopped at the Garden by the square for a free City Walk tour of Iceland. Are tour guide was a recent history graduate from the public university of Iceland, the biggest University. Most of the Locale to go to school go to this one, and tuition is probably somewhere around a quarter of the cost of the United States. Government assistance programs for school are also very prominent in Iceland. Our tour guide showed us the business district, the oldest neighborhoods and houses in Iceland, the incredible geographic map of Iceland and City Hall, some of downtown Reykjavik most prominent tourist attractions, and then end of the tour at Harper Hall. Along the way, we learned a little bit about the sagas, how Iceland came to be as it is, Vikings, local Laura, and the history behind everything and Iceland. We also contemplated knocking on the prime minister's front door. Of particular mention, the current president of Iceland was a history major in college.

Some politicians are just blockheads!

We then stopped at the Icelandic Punk Museum to learn a little bit about their Punk scene, stopping at the end of the tour to play some bass guitar and smash some drums. After all, that's what they were there for. The museum itself was actually constructed out of a public bathroom that was closed down in the mid-2000s. And I'll serve this purpose well, educating local and tourists alike about one of Iceland's most eclectic music scenes. We grabbed a bite at Icelandic street food, which I covered in a different post, and then headed for a local Art Museum.

The art museum we went to actually ended up being closed, and we had walked nearly half hour out of the way for it. Defeated, we headed for Hall Grooms Kirk you to see the inside of Iceland's biggest church. The church itself was beautiful and massive, and so all inspiring that we decided to pay 900 Kroner to go to the top of the Bell Tower. From here, we could easily see over all of Reykjavik, noting the Jelly Bean Style rooftop colors the dotted the cityscape. After taking in the all inspiring building that took 41 years to build, we headed for the Icelandic Saga Museum.

At The Saga Museum, we got to dress up as Vikings, snap a few pictures, and go on a historical tour Guided by audiobook we learned about the sagas of Iceland, as well as hell true they both are and are not. In this Museum, there many historical accounts of things that happened have not happened. The individuals from folklore continue to have relevance to this day, as the stories of Iceland's Foundation continue to be Provident in their culture today. After absorbing this Museum, it was time for a quick bite to eat and for my companion and I to split ways for a little bit.

We went to a fish and chips restaurant to get some small picking food, just enough to hold us over until night time. At this point in time, Dakota went to one of the modern art museums down the street it, and I went back to the Airbnb to get ready for some intense yoga. The other house guests and I went to one of their local gyms where they had a free Kundalini Yoga session. It lasted just a little bit over an hour, and include its own the most intense yoga poses I've ever experienced. The signature Breath of Fire, or strong exhalations, wall holding these erratic pretzel liked roses, had me feeling like I just did an entire week's workout and one night.



After the art museum in yoga, weary converged at the Airbnb and decided to check out there nightlife a little bit. Earlier in the week, we went 2 a coffee shop and bar at the end of our day, experiencing there Rich Coffee Culture as well as what some of the locals do on a random weeknight. This time, we went to We went to Icelandic beer and snacks too enjoy our free beers and chat up the locals. And so we did just that. They also got to see a local acoustic artist perform, which was very neat. His English and Icelandic were both on fire. I swear, Iceland is completely filled with musicians, as I've seen musicians around pretty much every corner here. Maybe some are trying to become the next sigur Ros? Time may tell. Next, we went to press o to play some board games, ended up getting Playing Cards Against Humanity for 3 hours.

To top off the evening, right before heading home, we went to reykjavik's most famous hot dog stand, which has been operating every consecutive years since 1937. The shop location itself has only moved a total of 20 m since it started business. Having to move due to housing developments. When ordering a hot dog here, if you're ordering and Icelandic the, you must be careful of your word pronunciation. Because of the difference between anal Med ocular and Dana mockler comma is the difference between one hotdog with everything and one prostitute. I got a hot dog with everything, and although this was my first time eating red meat and almost three years, I still thought it was a very good hot dog. And it didn't leave me feeling empty or nauseated afterwards. It really did hit the spot, and part of the secret is said to be that the hot dogs are made with 70 to 80% lamb meat, unlike conventional hot dogs. Regardless, after this, we said farewell to our Icelandic friends, promising them a visit next time we returned, and hit the sack. The next day was going to be a very long day full of airport hassles, Security checks, and waiting for things to happen with the plane.

Will The Circle Be Unbroken

At this point in our Journeys, we have already seen and done a lot, considering that daylight hours are very limited in the winter. Because of this, however, flights were much cheaper than they could have been. The only thing that made the prices higher was the fact that we were flying shortly after Christmas and arriving shortly after New Year's back in our home country. This was our second day starting our Journeys from Reykjavik, and we were going to see and do as much of the Golden Circle is humanly possible.

We had actually already done things of Austin, the first stop in the Golden Circle, so we were able to forego good doing that. So our first stop today was gay Siri, the geothermal field home to 3 of Iceland's most impressive geysers.

An active volcanic field, geyser itself hasn't erupted in about 15 years after a series of earthquakes swept the central region of Iceland. It's brother, Strokkur, had a lot more to say. Stroker is slightly smaller then geyser, and would spew several leaders of boiling water into the atmosphere every 10 minutes or so. We stood around and watched the waters dimple in the middle, a Telltale sign that the eruptions were soon to occur. Strewn about the field or other craters in which public pools of water word Lane, beds of steam Rose from the grounds, and ice covered the surrounding area. Watching the geyser erupted is quite a humbling feet, as it reminds you of Earth's Shear force and willpower in spite of all obstacles. Just remember to peed the caution of warning signs, or you might end up like the one German fellow who died after trying to sit on the geyser.

Next up was Gullfoss, Iceland's most impressive waterfall. Cascading 32 m, this Horseshoe Fall was almost home to one of Iceland's biggest Hydro electric dams. However, Iceland's most prominent environmentalist started the petition and a fund to make sure that it didn't happen. And so it remains an impressive geographical location, with winds around the waterfall being so strong I thought I was going to fall in. The Roar of the waters from the two observation decks were absolutely spectacular.

Although moose toys and their, there are some additional stops on the way back to Reykjavik. The first stop was the secret Lagoon, which laid just beyond go with us and contain some of the freshest natural hot spring water and all of Iceland. We still had much more to see and do, and admission price was right around $30, what are 3000 Kroner, so we decided to not go in. Instead, we headed for Skylar holker Kia.

After the overnight conversion to Christianity, Skywalker Chiara came to fruition and south central Iceland. The church has been rebuilt nine times, with most having been shut down or destroyed in fires or other natural accidents. The history of the church however is a men's, with a huge stained glass window behind the pulpit, a fully functioning organ, and a small Museum in the basement. Almost a thousand years later, and church services are still held in the same location the ones house every powerful Bishop that ever spoke and Icelandic.

Because of the time of year and factor of Darkness, the next few stops I will mention we're closed. However, if I get to go back, I will go during the summer so that I have it running chance at seeing all of these locations. First up is Geysir, a geyser said to harness magical properties. Then comes skogafoss, one of the most majestic waterfalls in Iceland. It was too dark, so we for went going there. There are also two geothermal plants along the way, and selfoss and between selfoss and Reykjavik, but both were closed. There are a few other things along the way that I have since forgotten, but most important to note is that there is a lot of Scenic driving to be done on the Golden Circle. Every kilometer of this journey is worth it.

The falls were very cold, too!

 

There are plenty of toward roots that depart from Reykjavik on a tour of the Golden Circle. Most of these tours span 3 or 4 hours and cost $80. As such, we decided to do it freelance Style. This way, we can spend as much or as little time as possible. Just the way we like it. However, feel free to carve out your own path. It will be the adventure of a lifetime regardless of what you choose to do.

Departure from Akranes, and first Impressions of Reykjavik

On January 2nd, it was our time to leave the town we had called home for the past 6 days. Albeit bittersweet, it was necessary to collect whatever memories we could and move on. We topped off our gas tank and headed south for it Reykjavik, arriving in the middle of the afternoon to our second Airbnb.

Although we were initially lost and unable to find the location, the guest house operator and her mother came out to greet us and celebrate our presents, warming up the house for us quite nicely. At this point, we had met our house guests, a couple which came to experience Reykjavik, flying all the way from Alberta, Canada. We would become very good friends in the next few days to come, including attending a yoga session that I will talk about later.

Some views of town before we left.

Shortly after we unpacked our bags, our dear friend from the New Year's party had come by to pick us up to give us a tour of the city. We drove around, seeing most of the shopping and business districts. Here. We saw the center of business that looks like a middle finger, the strip mall that look like a phallus, and the Commerce Center that looks like a breast. We stumbled upon a museum, walking along the side of the road to capture pictures to avoid paying the $15 entrance fee, and way then descended upon and Icelandic Botanical Garden.

The garden, albeit dark, was beautiful!

After viewing the Botanical Garden, we went to the remains of old Icelandic baths, reading the literature about the few women that boiled in the water and the accidents surrounding the baths. The baths were ultimately shut down in the early 1900s for safety reasons, but half of them remain intact to this day. We pondered the beauty of nature in these Botanical Gardens, took a few pictures, The Departed for the nearest grocery store and then home.

At the grocery store, my Icelandic friend picked up some grocery items that I was to try. Specifically, it was Sviðasulta, which I will cover in a separate post on food and alcohol. After she dropped us back off at our place, we decided to go for a swim in the local pools, which I will also cover in a separate post. After our little tour of Reykjavik, we spent our evening relaxing in the sauna temperature waters of Vesturbæjarlaug. At the end of a long day is exactly what we needed. Next time on our adventures, the Golden Circle!

Food and Culture of Iceland

The wildest part of anybody's journey to Iceland has to be without a doubt the food and alcohol that they ingest. Icelandic food and alcohol stand out because resources were scarce when the country was settled around 870, so the nomads and Vikings had to get super creative in their approach to... well, everything. They also get quite gross with it. The biggest examples of this? Hákarl, Súrir hrútspungar, Slátur, and Sviđasulta (the latter of which I have personally tried).

Hákarl was first produced in the late 900s, when Viking Sailors would discover basking sharks that breached upon the shoreline. When they first tried eating them as they were, cooking them with blood and guts and all over campfire, a lot of them died. This is because there are a lot of toxins and impurities in the shark that are lethal to humans when consumed. They discovered the process of removing the head, disemboweling the shark, and fermenting it with human urine in a crater in the ground for 2 months, which resulted in the dish Hákarl. It is likens to being rancid fish cheese, and based on facial expressions of people that have tried it around me; it is something that I don't intend to ever try.

The next few dishes I mentioned we're all made using different parts of the Rams body. Since Lambs, shape, and other creatures as such ran rampant across the countryside, native Icelanders used every part of the shape to make meals out of. Surir are soured Rams testicles, Slátur directly translates to slaughter and is made from sheep fat, sheep gut, and sheep blood, and The Taste is said to lie somewhere between English blood pudding and Irish haggis. I did get the honor of trying sviđasulta, which is a pate made from boiled and smoked Rams Head, and because of the texture and taste, it was out of my mouth faster than you could say"what is it currently in my mouth".

On the brightside, Iceland does have great food as well, notably their hangikjót, smoked puffin, kjótsuppa, stoneplate rye bread, fried Leaf bread, garđfiskur, plokkfiskur, and skelfiskursupa, the last two of which I have tried. Iceland by far has some of the best fish I have ever had in my entire life, and even though the plokkfiskur was a microwavable meal, it too was quite delectable. Their soups are incredibly creamy and Hardy and full of local produce.

Talking about Iceland's interesting take on alcohol, they utilized pretty much anything they could to have a good time. brennevin, or black death, is a perfect example of this. For this concoction, they fermented caraway seeds with potatoes, in the style of a Scandinavian flavored spirit, and effectively created something as strong as vodka but with the taste of rocket fuel. Another staple, Opal, pretty much taste like Licorice and Robitussin cough syrup mixed together. My friends drink some of this when he had a cough, and his cough went away for the rest of the night. Plus being 20% ABV, it gets the job done. Of more pleasant mention are the alcohol beer care and Reyka. Reyka is Icelandic vodka distilled from Arctic spring water and processed through Lava Rock. It is the smoothest vodka I've ever tasted, and because my card declined several times at the bar, I actually got to try it on the house. Meanwhile, Byrkirhere is a Icelandic schnapps made from birch bark, and has a very pleasant root beer taste to it. It also comes with a birch sprig in the bottle.

Last but not least, the beer of Iceland. There are a lot of non-alcoholic beverages that were inspired by alcoholic beverages, namely Yola oil and malt extract. Both are wonderful multi beverages with alcohol remove. Of the alcoholic options, older hresso and Gullir are the two biggest local draft. Both remind me of Heineken in a way. Although very expensive, these beers are very refreshing. You can clearly taste the difference between beer from anywhere else in the world and Icelandic beer, mainly with the quality of the water.

If you want to try at all, I would recommend going to Icelandic Street Food right next to the parliament and the Reykjavik Punk Museum.

Icelandic Street Food is the cheapest Icelandic food around, and with an unbeatable quality as well. Upon entry, expect the owner of the store to greet you and thank you for coming to his store. He's a very outgoing fellow who speaks more than a couple languages. I ended up chatting him up about Iceland and America both, and because of our gregariousness, he ordered us two beers on the house at his restaurant two doors down, Icelandic beer and snacks. This is a feat that would almost never happen in America. For $17 American, we got two cups of free coffee, shellfish soup in a bread bowl, a good conversation, and two Icelandic lagers. And considering that the bar has open mic night almost every night, it is a feat that cannot be beat. Make sure to bring plenty of money to Iceland, and you'll have no problem enjoying the food and drink like the local do.