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.