We landed in Reykjavik at what amounted to about 2 AM our time, 6 AM local time and rode from Keflavik airport on a shuttle bus to downtown Reykjavik and our hotel. This in itself was somewhat confusing as their is a domestic airport right in downtown Reykjavik as well so if you ever travel here, be sure to check your airports!
Once checked in, we ate and crashed hard for a few hours. Thankfully 100 ISK go for roughly $0.82 USD currently so it didn't hurt THAT much to pay a ridiculous amount for hotel food. After our power nap, we headed downtown to shop and eat. Apart from some souvenirs for friends and family, I bought some excellent socks with a helm-of-awe and a viking head on them as well as a statue of the Icelandic female Krampus for myself. The statue is an old hag troll with goat's hooves, horns, and a bag of naughty children dragging behind. And right around Yule time too, perfect! Gruess Von Krampus! You KNOW that will be on display year-round at home!
All the staff at the hotel and at the shops downtown as well as all the citizens and fellow travelers we have met have been incredibly friendly and helpful, not to mention the air quality and view are markedly improved from our home near Manhattan. The water is crystal clear and the purest I've ever had anywhere. For dinner tonight we ate at Cafe Loki (how awesome?!). I ordered what was basically a traditional Icelandic Christmas dinner: lamb (smoked and both in texture and flavor indescribably blissful), boiled potatoes in cream sauce, red boiled cabbage, and peas. I washed it down with more water and birch tea. Yum!!
As of now, we are considering going out to try and spot the Northern Lights over Reykjavik tonight, but if not our next two nights are in Akureyri specifically for them so it's not necessary. Expect many more posts with pictures to follow as available. I guarantee a review of Icelandic lamb hot dogs, so be prepared!
This is right outside our hotel!
This church was pretty beautiful. Though I am an atheist, I can appreciate the art of many religions, not to mention many cultures in general. I really liked how this place managed to be so spartan but so pretty. I also especially liked that the organ had some horizontally projecting tubes. Unfortunately, I was not treated to any dirges issuing from it...
Dinner, day 1!
Leif Eriksson statue! Yes, I am stoked to be there.
*Content copyright The Samnambulist, 2013, unless otherwise noted*
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