We are here! It took us a while. All flights were on schedule, it’s just a long way.

The flight to Toronto was very comfortable. The overnight flight to Reykjavik was much less comfortable and the food was pretty bad. It was a small, older plane and even though we were in what would have been business class seats in the old days, my feet did not comfortably reach the ground. This caused all manner of discomfort trying to sleep and yanked my back around more than I had hoped. I think we both snoozed a couple of hours at best.

Here is our first view coming into the airport:

It is quite green and the jagged lava rock mountains are clearly visible. Of course through the entire flight I had been looking at beautiful, carefully curated images on the TV monitor so this photo is barely worth the bits it is using to appear in the blog. I just wanted to provide a flavour.

When we landed we were one of three flights at the tiny airport that were not IcelandAir.

We were up and out as quickly as we could manage, greeted by very chilly wind whistling through the jetway (which left me immediately regretting my decision not to bring a heavier down jacket). And the smell of hot dogs. Yep – hot dogs are a thing in Iceland. They are not just any North American hot dog; these pooches are made from organic, grass-fed, hormone-free, Icelandic lamb, pork and beef. To my uneducated “dog” nose, they just smelled like any old hot dog.

Icelanders have Kim Kardashian to thank for getting their weiners on the map. She and her entourage stopped at a historic hot-dog stand Bæjarins Beztu, by the old harbour in downtown Reykjavík. Bill Clinton was also a fan, famously calling them “the best hot dogs in the world”. (Haven’t had one yet – will at some point.)

I know – we haven’t even left the airport yet….

Navigating the airport was a breeze and I am pleased to say that the first stamp on my shiny new passport is “Keplavik Kurflugvollur” which feels kinda special.

Luggage arrived quickly and our driver was waiting for us with a sign. I have to say – those drivers are one of my absolute favourite things about travel. Nothing beats getting off a plane and not even worrying about where to go. <Delighted sigh>

The 40 minute drive into the city was enjoyable. His English was excellent (as is everyone’s) and he gave us some little snippets of interest:

• It was a particularly cold summer as it never really got above 10 degrees C
• It is already snowing in the north (we head north in 2 days so back to that point about a warmer coat)
• The huge buildings we drove past were in fact an aluminum smelter for Australian aluminum that is shipped here, then shipped back. Cheap power – geo-thermal and hydr-electric makes shipping it back and forth more affordable than manufacturing in Australia.
• The steam we saw rising up from the ground near the Blue Lagoon was from the volcano. It had been evacuated a week or two ago due to volcanic activity. The locals don’t get particularly concerned about it. The lagoon is surrounded by large protective walls to divert flowing lava away from the pools and so far, they have worked perfectly. This means we are still looking forward to going there tomorrow.

Another not great photo, but we were moving at a fair clip and the windows were tinted. You can see the steam.

The scenery is very craggy and quite barren. The few trees that existed many moons ago, primarily birch, were used to build homes. There are grasses and mosses of varying shades of green, but not much else.Worth noting that there are few treed spots in the city and they are actually shown on the map complete with little tree images so you know they are there.

We arrived at our hotel and were checked in by 9:30 a.m. We forked over the extra $37.00 to get immediate access to our room vs waiting until 4:00. It was worth it. The hotel itself is small and sparse but has everything we need. Well, almost everything; there is no coffee maker! We will have to manage with instant coffee only for a few days. (I recall Mom and Dad drinking instant coffee when I was kid. Awful stuff really….)

Quick turn around. We changed into warmer duds, quickly charged our watches and phones and were out the door in no time. We had mapped out a light route with a few things in mind – starting with a cafe where the coffee and the scones were delicious.

The streets were not crowded. The wind was howling up the side streets and between the buildings. I had wanted to go to 66 Degrees North to get some Icelandic outdoor clothing or gear but could not wait. We stopped into one of what is would end up being something like 100 outdoor gear stores, and I acquired a very affordable, warm down jacket on sale. As far as I can tell, outdoor clothing and puffin stuffies seem to be the main items of trade here.

Street art is a thing and it is mostly good. Here is a small sampling:

Our first stop was Hallgrimskirkja. I am sure you are curious – maybe this guide to it’s Icelandic pronunciation will help? [ˈhatl̥ˌkrimsˌcʰɪr̥ca] No? Me neither…. :0(

Actually we discovered the easiest way to navigate the streets was to memorize the first 4 or 5 letters of the street name, forget trying to actually say it and just look for that. It got us most of the way there.

Back to the church – Hallgrimskirkja. It is the largest church in Iceland and also one of the tallest structures (244 feet). It was named after  Hallgrímur Pétursson (1614–1674), author of the Passion Hymns.

I encourage you to stop there. I went down the Wikipedia rabbit hole for a bit chasing one thing after another. Nice music. Poetic. Feel free to comment if you can offer more as it would be welcome. Moving on.

The church took 50 years to build. It was designed to reflect the rocks, glaciers and mountainous Icelandic landscape. Job well done. The church has a carillon of bells at the top that ring each hour, though we did not time it well so missed them completely.

There is a status of Leif Eriksson (spelled about 10 different ways) in front, a gift from the US to celebrate the 1000th year anniversary of the discovery of America… and Newfoundland/Labrador… which he discovered before arriving on the northeast coast of what is now officially the USA.

This is not your standard church. It is Lutheran and perhaps that informed the design choices. It is stark and stunning. The organ has 5,257 pipes. The baptismal font is reminiscent of ice and the pulpit lives below “fire” which seems to be an excellent representation of Iceland.

We took the elevator, then I climbed the remaining steps to the top of the tower. The sound of wind whistling through was soooo loud. I took some view photos though they were very challenging to get as every time I popped up to snap a photo the wind roared and pushed me back to the ground. Ultimately though, mission accomplished.

The church is on Skolavorduholt Hill, known as the “Neighbourhood of the Gods”. Fifteen of the streets carry names from Norse Mythology e.g. Thor, Freyja, Odin, etc. (Note: it is in fact spelled the English way with an ‘ou’ on the sign.) At one time they tried to name the area “Asgard”, one of the nine worlds in Norse mythology, but it never stuck. The effort might be more successful now after 17+ Marvel movies that include appearances by Thor, Loki and other Norse Gods. (Includes live action, and animated. Feel free to correct me….)

Ahhh, it appears that hand-made jewellery is also a thing here. And Icelandic sweaters. Though the hand knit ones are the most beautiful, they are also very, very expensive.

We spent the last hour or two of our awake time at Landnamassyningin, otherwise known as the Settlement Museum. It is centered around the remains of a Viking era longhouse belonging to Iceland’s first settler, Norwegian Ingolfur Arnarson. The building dates back to 870 AD, and was discovered below the streets of the city. The museum documents the history of Reykjavik from that time to current day, and was interesting, albeit a bit dry at times.

Back at the hotel we have had an early dinner of local cod and chips and are in our room. We are really just waiting for it to be late enough, and dark enough, that sleep seems like a reasonable decision. Iceland is 7 hours ahead of Vancouver though, so we are experiencing our 2nd (3rd, 4th, 5th) wind as it is now daytime!

Big adventures await tomorrow. I will see you then.