Iceland June 26

Ran down for a quick breakfast--crowded as anything since a group of 8-10 people arrived last night around 2 AM. Went walking down Laugavegur and decided to buy a book to learn Icelandic. Went to Kaffitár again



and sat in the window watching people while typing. I couldn't access the blog site, so here's what I typed up:

"Things I’ve seen in Reykjavik…some can’t be explained.

Parking spots with the road painted green and a green sign so that it’s easier to know that there’s a recharge box for electric cars, yet it can be used as a regular parking spot as well. You can see the box just beyond the car in front of the guy with the maroon shirt.



An AWESOME Klezmer band last night, Varsjárbandalagið Warsaw pact, although their MySpace page doesn't do them any justice—not my choice of music when I set out for Café Rosenberg, but not at all disappointed. What was particularly notable, however, was the 20ish white guy with dreads mosh-pit dancing to…Klezmer.

BBC Midlands TV…that’s OK
Sports, Eastenders, news…that’s OK
A bald white guy who’s a mix between Vin Diesel and Andrew Zimmern who’s signing for BBC TV at 3 in the morning? Wait, it gets better. First, why only at 3 AM? Not during any other time, not during the World Cup, not during Wimbledon, not during the news, not during the day. Plus, there’s just the wrongness of him doing this during a song with a group of rappers on a speed boat talking about going to Lagos (with a follow-up program on Lagos) where the guy’s signing while trying to look like a rapper rapping…although he did make efficient use of his signs as gangsta hand gestures. I only know a few signs, but I can’t help wondering if this was a “quick, who has a friend who can sign” thing. Growing up watching friends sign, I never saw them stick out their tongues or puff out their cheeks in disapproval as much as this guy did. UK signing may be different, but it seemed like no matter what the content was…God, black magic, lumber, death of a co-worker, winning the lotto, this guy was just unthrilled with the content of his work

To my chagrin, there are no dogs allowed on Laugavegur. Two girls were enjoying a coffee outside Kaffitár with a boxer and the police drove by. I had seen a sign, but I thought it maybe meant that you couldn’t let them do their business. Nope, no dogs allowed, since there are so many people, and because the dogs won’t necessarily be comfortable depending on their owners’ training of them."



Back in my hotel room now. Was on my way up to grab a sandwich at the Sandholt bakery:


and rolled my left ankle. So much for my walking tour today, and the tour of the Ölgerðin brewery was canceled due to lack of interest. That bums me out since there were a lot of tastings and especially of Brennivin--"for the discriminating liver". Often drunk after eating hákarl, or fermented shark, to wash down the taste.

Before twisting my ankle, I did walk some--to get my book on Icelandic--and liked the post office:




Since I can't do the tour, I may try going to the England Pub for the USA World Cup game and then hit Boston

Gonna watch the end of the World Cup game and head out for dinner

Iceland June 25

A pretty lazy day--I spent most of it in my hotel room 'cause I didn't want to lug all my guides and maps somewhere else to figure out what I wanted to do. Some of the tours I don't have gear for, and I don't want to buy new hiking boots just to go on a glacier hike or day hikes. Some I couldn't do because I was to far away--it would have been a 5 hour drive to get to Ísafjörður to get to the Western Islands, such as Vigur, or to do a sea kayaking trip in the fjords (for only $60).

So I limited to the Brewery tour, which has since been canceled.

Went to the Seafood Cellar. This is where I went last year--best meal of my life. This one wasn't quite as good because 1/2 of the lamb dish could have been better.

Complimentary starter: raw reindeer with cashews and cranberries
Bread: home made multigrain with a exotic fruit, oil, lemongrass dipping sauce, to be finished off with dipping the now soaked bread in crushed nuts and herbs.
Appetizer: the amazing lobster, foie gras, truffle, cauliflower dish steamed together in a little jar.
Entrée: The barbecue lamb chops weren't too special although the lamb filet with the garlic potatoes and sautéed peppers was amazing.
...second best meal I've ever had.
House wine was the only stuff by the glass, but it was wonderful.

Those of you who know Morris, and Bello's...well, what is there to say. I had food that wasn't salty and wasn't in a cream sauce...what a novelty !

After dinner, I went to Café Rosenberg, but there was no one on stage so I came back, took a nap and headed out around 11:30. And what a band: Varsjárbandalagið Warsaw pact. Most of their stuff sounded like "Candlestick" on their site. Very nice--see also 26th's posting with regard to mosh-pit dancer. Some page said that Icelanders love their hot dogs and like to finish their night with one after the bars, so I walked back into town after Café Rosenberg and went to THE hot dog joint--been there since 1937: Bæjarins Bestu. kristjanagl at "Next Stop" lists the stuff on an everything dog: ketchup, mustard, remoulade, onions, & fried onions. Photo's from there too:



It was good--hot dog popped when bitten into, but the remoulade was interesting. Someone in the family PLEASE remind me to go to Pott's next time I'm in town...or let's go together. Icelandic dog is good, but I prefer a Pott's with everyting: mustard, cheese, onions and chili.

I'm typing this up on the 26th, so I've just seen that the US tied with Ghana.

After the hotdog I went to the 24 hour grocery story in the heart of the city for some Skyr--Icelandic yoghurt but incredibly thicker--almost like the consistency of a thinned out cream cheese.

Iceland June 24 bis

(Photo by aslaugsvava on Flickr)


Forgot to mention a restaurant I went to for a beer...and the forgetting pretty much describes it all.

I'd asked for a good place to go, was told by one tourist bureau that "Boston" was a good choice. She gave me wrong directions so I checked in with another one who'd never heard of it. They did an online search for me, found that it was a few block back towards town. Found it, but it wasn't open, despite its posted hours.

So I went to Svarta Kaffið,suggested by the tourist bureau a few doors down. I was only going to read and have a beer, but the soup some people had sounded good. It wasn't bad tasting, and it came in a nice bread bowl, but their "Mexican meat soup" means a cream of mushroom soup with turmeric and not a lot of meat. Flavor not bad, just not expected or special--and some more meat would have been nice. Beer--Gull and Polar--enjoyable but journeyman.

Departure & Iceland Arrival--24 June 2010

Keep checking my Google Map as it grows:


View Reykjavik in a larger map

Got a ride down to the Twin Cities--thanks, Julia--and worked at airport for a while since my flight didn't leave for another 6 hours. Got bored with the coffee and Humphrey terminal so I took the light rail over to the Lindbergh terminal for a beer.



Flight was OK and the little baby girl next to me was quite good. Only problem was that I'd only had 2 hours of sleep with final trip prep and the plane wasn't very conducive to sleep, so....I got into Keflavik at 6h35 with about 4 hours of sleep in the previous 48. Did finally sleep on bus to Reykjavik, which was good because I had to walk around the city.

Dropped my bag of at the Hótel Leifur Eríksson



and they kindly let me have breakfast even though I wasn't checked in yet.

Walked across the street for the Hallgrímskirkja. There's a group of organ recitals coming up so I hope to attend one performance.


















Grabbed a coffee at Kaffitár and read (Kaffitár's the red place on the left),



Kaffitár on Facebook

did some strolling and decided to read in the park overlooking the harbor.









On the far right there are kids playing in the playground. 2 things to love: 1) they ALL where refelctive construction vests so that they're more easily seen and 2) the kerchiefs on the little girls heads. Here's a better shot from when they were leaving:



You're right. It's not the park in Morris, but that's the friggin' point. I'm not at all displeased to be missing the talent show. Last week the singing was so off key I had to put music on in the house to cover it up so I could keep my windows open.

It's wonderful to be here, but I must say that it's a little disheartening to see the city quite so dirty. It wasn't like this last year. Paper plowing around, beer bottles and full cups of beer on the sidewalks--I expected this on the weekend, since Reykjavik is definitely a work your butt off and party hard kinda place, but it was midweek!

Came back and slept--I know, I know, not the best thing but I was wiped out. Here are some other shots of the city:

I just loved the look of this space, the kayaks, clock, flowers, headboard, sky lights as I went down Frakkastígur:



Here's a look down Skólavörðustígur with the bay in the background:



and one down Laugavegur:



And finally, through a window that needs some cleaning...

2 AM in Reykjavik on 24 June 2010: