We landed at 6:15am, about an hour before the sun would rise. I had recently seen an article on the Internet stating that Keflavik airport had won an award for being one of the best airports in Europe so I was curious to see why. After deplaning (I always think of my Auntie Shirley with that word...she was an English teacher in England and despises this coined term), it seemed like we went up an escalator, then back down and up again...but I'm sure there was some rhyme to this reason. Then there was a security check...wait a security check, isn't that a bit late? Well no, there were signs that due to the varying degrees and methods of security checks around the world, Iceland wanted to perform their own for new arrivals...fair enough. Customs was a breeze...one question: "Where are you going?".
I responded "Iceland for 5 days and then on to England". Done. I somehow missed one sign for heading to the arrivals level and ended up in the main waiting area of the airport with shops, restaurants and comfy chairs. Okay, I can see how they could have some accolades but getting out should have been easier, I'll blame it on tiredness. Once I retraced my steps and found my way out, I collected my bags and bought a ticket for the Flybus, a nice coach, to get into Reykjavik. After a 20 minute wait, the bus departed the airport as the low overcast skies began to lighten to a dull grey. The landscape could easily be mistaken for a Chia Petted moon. Not a tree in sight with fields of moss covered lumpy rocks...yes, volcanoes just recently molded much of this place...well recently in geological terms. Forty-five minutes later we were in Reykjavik, a clean looking city with various colorful and modern looking houses and apartment complexes with a Scandanavian flavour to them (not that I've been there...but they looked Ikea influenced in their design). We arrived at a bus depot where I was to hop on a smaller bus to get to the hostel. A woman who was sitting across from me on the larger bus was also transferring and she couldn't help but mention something about my large pack (no reading into this!). I explained that it was day 1 of Wandergliding (notice I will be capitalizing this word to give it more credibility...I'll be applying for my trademark soon). I was the first to be dropped off although my hostel was around the corner from where I got off...I trusted the bus driver that it wasn't far to go as I was not going to be able to huff it too far with my 80-90 pounds of gear. Sure enough, it was a stone's throw away. I checked in at the hostel but wouldn't be able to access my room until 2pm, and here it was, 8am. What to do? Well breakfast of course. The hostel puts on a brekkie for 1000 krona (a little over $8 CAD). Sadly it's just toast or bagels, some jam and cream cheese, cheese, OJ, tea and a few other odds and ends, but I was hungry and this filled the void.
So what now...off to wander around the city, get the lay of the land and try and find Hallgrimskirkja, the modern looking Lutheran church sporting a 74.5 meter spire and ranked #5 or 6 of the tallest structures in Iceland. It has an observation deck that has the best view of Reykjavik. I found a visitor's information center by chance so thought I'd get even a bit more info than I had received at the hostel. I then walked about 5 minutes to get to the church, with a statue of Leif Ericsson, considered the first European to step on Iceland, in front. He stands there in a "let's go forward, and conquer the world" type pose. As I reached the double doors of the Lutheran church, who was walking out but the woman from the bus! We chatted for a few minutes. Her name is Linda and she was returning from a business trip from Boston to Edinburgh. She works for Analog Devices, a semi-conductor manufacturer. We decided to wander around the city for the day together. We popped in a few touristy type stores but I had no intention of purchasing anything. One book I saw caught my eye...50 Crazy Things To Do In Iceland...more on that in a later blog entry.
Hallgrimskikja:
The view from the observation deck: 
Mount Esja, the backdrop of Reykjavik: 
Linda suggested that we get an Icelandic hot dog and I had also heard of this supposed delicacy in my research prior to the trip. She had a name of the vendor to find from an Icelandic friend. Sure enough, there was a line-up, so it must be good. We both purchased dogs "with the works". There were tiny chopped up fried onions on the bottom, the dog, then a strip of some slightly yellow mayo looking condiment which was topped by a strange brown strip which we were both unfamiliar with. Turns out they are pylsusinnep, Icelandic mustard, and remoulade. Our reviews were not terribly glowing...but when in Rome!
Linda's unsure reaction to the local delicacy:
We strolled down to the harbour. I joked that we saw the entire Icelandic navy as there was one grey boat moored there, it was actually a coast guard ship. We tried in vain to find our way out to a breakwater, similar to the one in Victoria, but instead just found a skeleton of a Minke whale hanging on a tour ship and the place for lobster soup but we didn't go in. Heading back inland, we strolled past the big Catholic church in town, Landakot, and opposite to it was embassy alley with the Canadian one looking like a 1960s communist throwback. We checked out a variety of birds enjoying the large rectangular pond nearby including a whooping swan that seemed to be practicing some yoga. Can you explain this kind of sodding?
Linda planted the seed of having a pints (gotta love Brits) so we found a little coffee like lounge, with no signage whatsover on it, for a brew. It was cozy and the clientele included 3 separate guys on laptops and three new moms with their infants. After a light colored, refreshing brew, we separated ways as Linda expressed interest in doing some real shopping while, as most of you know, shopping just sucks the life out of me. I opted for another pint in a sports bar that was primarily showing rugby, British sports news and women's handball, which I had never really seen before. It looked a bit vicious at times.
A few hours later, I met Linda at her hotel and we went off in search of dinner. We checked out a restaurant suggested by the concierge that supposedly served puffin (yes, the cute little bird..I'm sure it tastes like chicken) but it seemed a bit pricy so we returned to an Italian restaurant we had walked by en route. After dinner we went for a drink in a bar across from her hotel called Cafe Rosenberg. It was quite devoid of patrons when we first arrived and I think we were both starting to fade due to jet lag and the time change. However we powered on for another half hour and then the entertainment began...and we weren't disappointed. It seemed to almost be talent night in that each song had a new singer taking the stage while a keyboardist accompanied most of them. My fave was a guy with greasy blonde hair that sported a slight mullet. He and his group of friends, most of whom performed were sitting in a comfy section just behind the table Linda and I were at. He was wearing a World War II US navy type shirt, white with the blue flap with stars hanging from the back collar. He said a few words in Icelandic and then burst into a fantastic rendition of Gary Numan's song "Cars"...loved it!!!
In the second set he nailed Depeche Mode's "New Life", complete with the proper accent. Half of the songs were in Icelandic and the others were classics like Elton John's "Rocket Man" and John Denver's "Leaving on a Jet Plane" which was performed by a woman that seemed to have been beamed through space and time directly from Woodstock, complete with a flower headband, white cotton dress with pants underneath and she strummed a ukelele. We stayed until the show finished and then called it a night...a great random night.
The performers:
No comments:
Post a Comment