Since we last left off...a lot has happened. In fact, an entire week has gone by. While I would love to have the time to lead you all through the story of each day since the first, I am suddenly finding myself with, shocker, not enough time to do everything. So instead, here's the basics of what has been happening.
Day 2
We crashed, and crashed hard. I knew I had overdone it the previous day and so I had. We both slept for most of the day, only getting up to get groceries and explore what turned out to be one of our favorite places in Reykjavik: the public pools.
For 900 ISK, you get access to two giant pools (one shallower for kids, one deeper for lap swimming), several smaller heated pools of various temperatures (from 38-44 Celsius), a glacier pool (~8 Celsius), and a steam room. After such a long day hiking and feeling sore, there was no better treatment. There's also a stand outside selling some famous Icelandic hot dogs which are quite a treat with gravy, mustard, and some kind of fried bits for crunch.
Day 3
We took some time to explore downtown. The cathedral, Hallgrimskirkja, was beautiful in its simplicity dotted with bits of extravagance. The town itself is populated with several beautiful street murals. Most of the shops are located on two main roads, with some treasures to be found down various side streets. Harpa, the opera house, is a beautiful display of architecture, even if none of the shows playing look interesting enough to go see (for their price).
Whale meat is a lot like well spiced, well cooked steak.
The burgers are served close to raw, and are delicious, but expensive.
The local music scene, at least at the downtown hostel, was ambient electronica, and for a crowd much younger than us. Nonetheless it's enjoyable for what it is. Ashlen is into it, I'm ready to go sleep.
We find the penis museum on our way back, but it is closed, and pricey to get into (all museums are roughly $15, so you decide for you if it's worth it).
Day 4
We hear tell of a nearby zoo and botanical garden and decide to go check them out. We get started a little late, and wander slightly the wrong way and stumble into a beautiful church that overlooks the city. It underlines how often something interesting is hiding around a corner. We can hear the roaring and cheering of football fans from the stadium in the distance. They could easily keep up with Seahawks fans for noise level.
We wander down and find a lovely park, which includes the remnants of an old building and a grated hotspring where locals used to come and wash clothes or cook food. Our host later informs us that their mother used to work there, and that practically all of Iceland's progress has occurred in the last 50 years.
The zoo turns out to mostly be a distraction for kids, with only local wildlife, so we decide not to go. The geese, however, still come over to be our friends/get food from us at the fence.
By the time we get to the botanical gardens the light is fading so we decide to come back the next day.
It is on this night we learn the sausage we've been eating the past three days...is horse. Ashlen refuses to eat more. I like it, and eat the rest.
Day 5
We go back to the botanical gardens, explore the rest, explore beyond the church we had found and find little more than residential housing and a movie theater, and stress over where the hell we're going next one our airbnb is up. As we have so much time, driving the ring road around Iceland seems like a great idea. Our hosts are super accommodating, and tell us all the best places to stop, and that as it's the off season we should be able to find places to stay easily.
Day 6
We're getting sick of the city, but there's a flea market happening that our hosts tell us had the cheapest prices on everything we might want. This turns out to be very true, though while you can find entire racks of clothing for only $1 each, you'll be hard pressed to find anything cheap from this decade. However, there are also good prices on fish, so we get a puffin breast to cook later, and a cheap bit of whale blubber which turns out to be one of the most unique tasting things we've ever tasted...and can't finish, despite not actually tasting horrible. Later, the puffin meat turns out black, a little tough, and salty. Like chicken and fish together. Despite probably needing to be boiled for longer, it's not that bad.
After the market, we are going to bus to Perlan, the jewel of Reykjavik...but miss our bus by not being close enough to the street when it passes (despite being at the stop). We decide, screw public transit, and walk south about an hour to get there. It is beautiful and worth it. You can see the entire city and more from the top, even all the way back to the airport where we landed.
There's supposedly a hot spring pool/beach further south, so we make our way there. The forest around us as we walk is strange, as there are more trees here than practically anywhere we've seen. It's mostly undisturbed growth, except for a few clear camping spots hidden in the trees, and a fascinating/slightly creepy group of lean-tos and even the beginnings of a house made from trees that were obviously chopped down for the purpose.
By the time we reach the beach, the pool is closed and the wind is cold. But, it's my first time on the beach of a foreign country. Per personal tradition, I pick up a stone, and skip it out into the waves. 5 skips.
We keep walking, as the wind bites and my legs ache but the sun looks so beautiful shining over the water towards what must be Greenland. We discover an old WW2 bunker that looks out to sea, waiting still for enemy ships.
We wrap around the corner, around the fence that surrounds the local airfield, to get a good view and good pictures of the sunset. Something white peeks out at me from the rocks. It's a fish skeleton, with a large dorsal plate and fin...one I've yet to identify, but decide to take with me.
We walk forward, deciding to continue instead of turn back the way we came. I rest on the stones, my legs still unused to the large amount of sustained walking, but getting better. We see a bus in the distance. I am silently extremely thankful...until it doesn't move for a very long time as we inch towards it. Finally movement, as we are about 10 minutes away.
We walk. We reach a lighthouse, what appear to be abandoned warehouses, and the bus stop. It's the end/beginning of the line, and there's 20 minutes til the next one...which is sitting unoccupied across the street. An odd looking stranger joins us in our wait. He searches for the driver through the windows of the nearby building. We watch for the outcome from the stop, resting our weary legs. He is unsuccessful.
The driver shows up when it's time, picks us up, and drives us back into the city within about 15 minutes. From the names of the streets I gather we made it all the way to the western edge of the city.
Day 7
We spend the day planning, as all the cheap hostels and airbnbs we had hoped to find along the ring road turn out to be completely booked. Even our hosts are surprised as this is supposed to be the off season.
We soon abandon plans for the ring. We find a way to spend two nights in the south, one in the west peninsula above Reykjavik, three in the north at Akureyri, one last night back towards Keflavik, and finally a night at the airport waiting for our early plane to Dublin.
Day 8
We say goodbye to our hosts, thank them for the lovely time and advice, and finally leave Reykjavik behind to pick up our rental car and begin the second half of our Icelandic journey, starting with the famous "Golden Circle".
To be continued...
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