Iceland Day 16 - Reykjavik

I must admit, I am glad that this is my last daily post of the Iceland trip.  I plan to do a couple more Iceland-related posts, but it might take me a few days.  I'm exhausted from writing every night.

Today was a lazy kind of day, which explains this post time at 1.47am.

We started our day late, heading out for lunch around 12.30/1pm.  We had planned to get substandard sushi but passed a Korean place, K-Bar, and decided to try that instead!  I liked the decor of the place, it had a lot of books (arranged by colour) and plates that looked like buttons - they may even have been buttons - on shelves.  We ordered the bi bim bap with pork belly (not bad), ginger scallion noodles with salmon (fish was cooked to perfection, noodles were ok) and chicken wings (batter was pretty thick but taste was good).

Not much activity for today so I decided to explore less known Iceland things.  I saw from afar when we were first in Reykjavik a building with towers like a church.  Hog managed to discover with the apparently-wonderful Google app that it was a church called Hateigschurch.  I went too late so the church was closed but here are my pictures from outside.

Last stop of the day was a second visit to Tapas Barinn.  We ordered a few items that we had previously ordered and found slight variants.  The char I ordered did not have the same Israeli couscous and sauce as the previous, and the skin was soggy which was a major crap hole.  The paella did not have those 2 luscious prawns with heads.  New dishes - scallop dish but with oxtail this time, and the oxtail was delectable; salt cod croquettes were my favourite of the meal, but I have a thing for mushy fish.  For dessert we had that same chocolate cake which we got the other day, similarly amazing.  We also got the chocolate mousse with pistachio cookie.  I hate ordering chocolate mousse, frankly, because I can make it for like 50 cents, and I got it more for the pistachio cookie, but I must say that was one helluva chocolate mousse.

I return home to the motherland tomorrow.  I'm tired, and I just need to eat some healthy yummy food and drink green smoothies.  Hope it's warmer there than here.  Pooped.

Iceland, you've been really fabulous, thanks for the great memories, but I won't miss you when I'm gone.  Hog, I will miss you when I'm gone, but I know I will see you soon.

Signing off, good night.

Iceland Day 15 - Reykjavik

Today was a lazy day, one of those I'm-sick-of-running-around-and-don't-want-to-look-at-another-map kind of day.  We returned our rental car, clocked a total of 3,327km.  No wonder we were so sick of being in the car.

We ran a few errands, which included going to the post office.  Mailing a postcard from Reykjavik to Singapore costs 240ISK, which is more than US$2.  I think that's a bit crazy.  But I guess everything costs when your only option is to fly.

I tried to detox (failed miserably, read on to find out more about my failure).  Hog had a croque madame with a well done egg and a mango juice at Laundromat Cafe.  She said it was not bad.

Our only planned activity for the day was snorkeling in the Silfra, which is a fissure between the North American and Eurasian plate.  According to our guide, it is the only place in the world one could swim between two plates.  The water was 2-4 degrees Celsius.  It was the first time I had been in a dry suit and it was really uncomfortable and claustrophobic and smelled weird.  Better than being cold though, as I later learned.  Hog took this photo of me with her GoPro.

Here are some pictures I took of the Silfra, from land.

Here are some pictures Hog took as we were snorkeling.  The water was very clear with various shades of blue and green and turquoise (I just wanted to say that colour because it sounds more sophisticated).

As I mentioned, this water was fricking freezing.  Today was supposed to be a detox day for many reasons, and I had made it through so far with only eating fruit, oatmeal and half a granola bar.  I started out the snorkel feeling quite nice and warm inside the suit, but at some point (thankfully close to the end) I started freezing.  We were promised hot chocolate and cookies, and I probably had 3 giant cups of hot chocolate and 10 cookies after harassing one of the guides to get me out of my suit.  I was feeling very tired, ill, frozen, dizzy and nauseous, especially after the van ride back to the hotel.  Hog made me some instant porridge and noodles (yummers) and that helped my body recover.  But in short, detox did not happen.

Now that this short blog is done, I have to rally to floss.  Wish me luck.

Iceland Day 4 - (CenterHotel Plaza Breakfast and) Golden Circle

I wanted to write really quickly about the breakfast at CenterHotel Plaza.  This breakfast was included in the rate, which in late July/early August was about US$165, decent for being in such a central location.  Now the breakfast was not stunning, but I just wanted to let people know what they have, and I think it is really not bad.  Granola, cereal, oatmeal, assorted fresh fruit, scrambled eggs (these were cooked WAY too well and though I did not eat them I can only imagine they were horrible), bacon, sausage, hard boiled eggs, many different kinds of bread, jams, and my favourite (and most unhealthy) oat squares which was some bar with oats and either chocolate or raisins/dried fruit.  The spread was really decent and I think it deserves a thumbs up.  Too bad no pictures, but it was not gourmet or anything, and nothing much could be left to the imagination.

This was our last morning at CenterHotel Plaza.  Gosh I will miss not having to think about breakfast.  The road trip begun and I was excited.

We picked up the rental car from Budget, and after GPS and insurance it cost an arm and a leg.  Luckily we have plenty of cup noodles so we will be saving money on food and I probably will not eat out much.  Funny sign at the rental car company.

We saw a number of cars stopped by the side of the road, and this was the first site we saw.  Beautiful and got me excited about what was to come!

Our first stop was Þingvellir.  I learned that Þ is like "th", some small knowledge about the Icelandic language which up to now scares the crap out of me.  These long and weird names and vowel and consonant arrangement...  Anyway without digressing so much.  Þingvellir is the site of the world's first parliament, and started in 930AD.  Do you know in those days a judgment against someone could be passed, but it was up to the individual who pressed charges (pardon my knowledge of judicial terms, most of my knowledge comes from Law and Order SVU) to enforce the law.  So, imagine I sued someone who owed me money and I won but he/she refused to pay, I would have to hire a hit man to do a number on said person, or I could seize his/her car for payment.  That's how I imagine life at that time to be like.  Hehe.  Beautiful site, even with the drizzle that pounded down on us.

Next stop we went to some site of 2 geysers, Strokkur which was active and Geysir which was defunct.  There were a number of other pretty coloured pools too but I'm not sure if they were actually formerly geysers.  I waited in the rain with the bitter cold blowing on my frosty fingers, and managed to get this cool shot.  I've wanted to go to yellowstone to see Old Faithful for a while now, but this will do for now.

Last stop was Gullfoss, a waterfall which is apparently stronger than the Niagara Falls according to a sign there (I don't really believe it, but I've never been to Niagara).  It was really quite powerful, and between the rain and the splash from the falls itself, it was a bit of a damp experience.

We were supposed to have a couple more stops along the way, driving along the Kaldidalur pass which was not allowed by the rental car company, Deildartunguhver which is supposedly Europe's most powerful hot spring, Viðgelmir, one of the largest lava caves in the world and Hraunfossar, a seemingly less spectacular falls from the pictures.  Sadly time was not our friend, and we decided to return to the hotel instead.  Being the kind of person who likes to do everything, I was really bummed, but I also had a poor night's sleep and rest was much needed.

We are staying at the Icelandair Hotel Hamar, which is quite pleasant (expensive at 28,900ISK which is around US$260) and new seeming.  Breakfast is not included, and is 2100ISK/person.  It has a golf course.  Here is a picture of our room.

This was dinner for the night.  Tastes like home sweet home and cost is a fraction of anything we could have gotten here in Iceland.  Complete with a hard boiled egg stolen from breakfast this morning.  :-)

Distance driven: 302.9km

Good night and good luck!

Iceland Day 3 - Reykjavik

There's not much to do in Reykjavik itself.  Today was spent wandering somewhat aimlessly, visiting maybe 5-8 grocery stores, doing absolutely nothing.  The fabulous news is I have not suffered too poorly from jetlag.  I took a nap each of the first 2 days here, slept about 8 or 9 hours through last night, and I feel fantastico!

It is really nice to have so much daylight.  It really keeps my spirits up.  Reminds me of my time in Alaska.  It is not as cold as I imagined, and I hope it continues this way because I did not bring that many clothes.

Saw a cool hill.  Did some research and found out it was Þúfa, a small man made hill, 26 meters in diameter and 8 meters high, with stone steps to reach the top. On the top is a small fishing shed where the plan is to hang shark and different types of fish for drying.  Stole this info from this website.

We were not too adventurous in terms of food after yesterday.  I feel a bit sad that I am at this point unable to continue on my "local" food hunt like I normally do when in foreign land, but yesterday was such a scary experience.  Today we visited Fiskmarkaðurinn/Fish Market and Ramen Momo, both substantially better experiences than yesterday's lunch.

Also my phone charger cord broke and I had to go to MacLand, the local computer store that cost a fortune, which set me back about $30.  :-(  On a happy note I have a very unique pretty blue cord that I am sure no one in the USA has.

Tomorrow we begin our driving journey and I'm very excited for that!

Þúfa.

Icelandic horse doo doo.  Yum?

Lunch at Fiskmarkaðurinn.  We had sushi but did not try the cooked fish.  Salmon was pretty good, tuna was just so so.

Ramen Momo.  Udon with shrimp tempura and ramen with chicken.  Comfort food, hit the spot, but coming from a big city I cannot rave toooooo much.

Iceland Day 2 - Reykjavik

I think I finally know how to pronounce the name of this city.  :-)

Here are some random photos from walking around today.  I've also decided that Nordic food is not for me.  After Noma during our trip to Denmark, and this place called Sjávargrillið that we tried today (recommended by a friend), I have thrown in the towel.  Bæjarins beztu pylsur for hot dogs was OK.

Sjávargrillið - supposed to be resto #4 on Tripadvisor.  Did not like it at all.  Tried whale, puffin and shag in picture 1, which was super weird and salty.  Picture 2 shows we barely ate any of it.   Ordered grilled salmon and fish of the day, which were just weird too.  A bit too salty, with weird flavours I know not how to describe.  Smelled like it was washed by smelly water.

Bæjarins beztu pylsur (English: The best hot dog in town) - according to their website, the majority of Icelanders have eaten here.  The dog was not particularly special, and we really did not like the brown sauce, and I normally don't like mustard, so we scraped off all the sauce to render it edible.  There were some bomb crispy onions.  380ISK makes for a cheap meal.

Interior of the largest church in Iceland, Hallgrímskirkja.

Random energy drink.  So cute!

Random street art.

Solfar (Sun Voyager) Sculpture

How could I resist penguins and ducks.

Iceland Day 1 - Information about Arriving and Reykjavik

I arrived at Keflavik airport early, around 8.30am, after a most uneventful flight on Delta.  Did not eat much plane food as the plane smelled like puke and the food smelled like... well plane food, but I did manage to get a yoghurt in the morning which tasted edible and smelled normal.  The airport has free wifi, and it was pretty easy to sign in by just providing your email address and place of residence.  Yay for hassle free!  The wait at immigration was short and there were no forms to be filled up.  The immigration officer seemed to ask everyone how long they were there for, stamp them and wave them through, and that was it.  Then I walked to find some shops to purchase a SIM card.  The walk was VERY long.  At first I went to the duty-free shop on the same level as the walkway and immigration, but was flagged to go downstairs to the duty-free shop there to get it instead.  Purchased Alterna, which was relatively cheap, about 2500ISKwhich is slightly less than USD$20.  I wanted a nano and a micro since I had a friend who needed one too, and then guy at the shop told me that this one with the "nano" sticker on it had all 3 sizes of SIM card inside, but this was not the case.  So folks, don't get tricked.  I had to walk 30 mins to the actual Alterna store in Reykjavik to switch this out.  :-(  Thankfully I had time today so it wasn't quite the biggest deal in the world.

I took the Flybus Plus which dropped me right outside my hotel.  The bus leaves after every flight, so you will always have a bus to take!  It has free wifi, and depending on which hotel one is staying at, one might need to switch to a smaller bus for the transfer, but it is relatively hassle free.  The whole ordeal took a little over an hour.  It really was a good experience but after the 2 plane rides, a 6+ hour layover, and my kid girl neighbour on the flight from New York to Reykjavik sticking her head and legs halfway into my tiny last row economy seat, it just seemed like unnecessary torture.  So just kidding, and I really do recommend FlyBus.

We chose to stay at CenterHotel Plaza for a  decent (and mind you, decent is all relative, especially in the summer) price and very central location.  It is on a plaza or square which is adjacent to the main shopping street, and also very close to the water.  The wifi network here is very good.  The bed is a bit soft and lumpy.  The shower is my biggest complaint so far - it is designed poorly and after my shower there was a giant pool of water on the bathroom floor.  But no real big complaints.  Breakfast is included, and is at 7-10am.  I'm a big breakfast person, so I'm excited to check it out, though trying not to be too excited.  I hope it is healthy, since my goal is to lose some weight in Iceland due to expensive and probably not-so-exciting-or-good food.  I do hope to be proven wrong, especially on the latter, but weight loss is always a good thing, right?  ;-)

My first meal today was at Sea Baron/Sægreifinn, which is famous for their lobster chowder.  I got that, and it came with a loaf of bread.  I thought it was just OK, the lobster meat was sweet but a bit mushy.  The ambience was nice and relaxed.  They had some fish and vegetable skewers, and whale meat which I wanted to try, but I thought I would wait for my friend the Hog who was arriving tonight.

The other "meal" I had was rice pudding.  Part of the "diet" and also because I've been a bit crazy about trying to find supermarket rice pudding since going to Sweden in April and finding Risifrutti rice pudding in the grocery store.  This one was 134ISK in one store, but I had to buy it at the expensive store closer to town because the store was closed by the time I woke up from my lazy ass nap and got my lazy ass over to the cheaper and further supermarket, it was closed.  I just keep telling myself, good exercise.  When I opened it, the consistency of the white stuff looked like yoghurt, but I fluffed it and it indeed had rice in it.  The choices of topping were caramel and some berry thing which I believe to be raspberry.  The topping was a bit too sweet and tart for me at the same time, so I ended up eating very little of it but I finished the rice pudding which was not bad but does not hold a candle to Risifrutti.  In case anyone is wondering, the diet did not go so well.  I ended up eating a small bag of (healthy) chips and a granola bar, but at least that's probably still healthier and a ton cheaper than eating out.  I'm saving the eating out for tomorrow anyway, and I have places on my list, so I am SUPER excited about that!

Other random sightings today.  MOTUS which is a nickname I recently acquired since I can't be POTUS but I'm bossy (M for Mushroom) and Lee which is my real last name, Iceland is really rooting for me.  Random band performing on the street.  Random people and random giants watching random band performing on the street.  Largest church in Iceland (but the bus driver made sure to tell us it was not THE cathedral of Reykjavik).  View of the water as I walked to the phone company - check out them blue skies.  Chuck Norris grill, isn't he famous in the US?  People painting colour blocks on the street, it's like going to the MOMA but with no entrance fee!