It all started when a friend sent out an email asking if anyone would be interested in going to Iceland at a special rate being offered by an online company. I replied I was and the process began. The rate was for a four day/three night stay at the Hilton Hotel in Reykjavik and air travel with Iceland Air for the rate of $648.50 per person making it a quite reasonable rate. We chose the dates of February 8-12. Everything was going fine until my friend decided he no longer wanted to go. So much for the reasonable rate! The tickets were non-refundable and I was now stuck with the bill for both, making the cost now $1297.00. I could have changed the name for the other person going with me for a fee of $150.00, but unfortunately, after I had made my plans for the trip and before I had let him know, one of my best friends here in Seattle set the date for his wedding to his partner on the day I was to leave. So, my Seattle friends were all going to the wedding. I also could have changed the dates of travel, but there was also a $450.00 change per ticket, so that course was not feasible. I am okay with traveling by myself and was ready to do that when I received a phone call from a good friend living in Stockholm, Sweden saying he had heard of my situation and asked if I would like some company. I jumped at the chance to have him share the experience.
My flight took off from Seattle at 3:30 p.m. on February 8th. It was a seven hour and fifteen minute flight, getting me into Reykjavik at 6:45 a.m. on February 9th. When I had made reservations, I had also made reservations for the Fly Bus that takes one from the airport into the city...again for two people at $40.00 each, so the total price of the trip was $1377.00. The Fly Bus was well worth the purchase. When I arrived, I went through Customs without a hitch, walked outside and caught the Fly Bus into Reykjavik...around a 50 minute ride. The bus was quite new and for the first time that I remember, there were seat belts. Free wi-fi was also offered. It was still quite dark for the whole trip into the city, so I was not able to see anything. When the bus dropped me off at the hotel, my friend, Mike, was there to greet me. He had arrived the night before. My room was not ready, so we took my bags to his room and then went back down to the Vox Restaurant within the hotel for a free breakfast that was included as part of the package. It was an extensive buffet. If you wanted eggs, you could have them soft-boiled, hard-boiled, scrambled or fried...all laid out in the buffet line. I am sure if you wanted your egg fried a certain way they would have done that too. After breakfast we checked and my room was ready. We got our bags from Mike's room on the sixth floor and headed to the eighth floor. Mike and I talked for a while and I was getting quite groggy. Mike said he would check out downtown and come back to the room in a couple of hours while I tried to get a little sleep.
When Mike came back we proceeded to go back downtown. He said he had wanted to check out the big church near downtown, so we headed out.
A block of colorful buildings on the street leading into downtown.
As we were headed into town we saw this interesting museum across the street.
This is Mike standing in front of the The Icelandic Phallological Museum.
Lots of souvenir products were available.
An introduction to what could be found inside.
Poster for the museum.
Some of the houses within the city were pretty colorful with very unusual combinations.
Statue of Leif Ericson in front of the steeple of the church Mike had mentioned.
Close-up of the Leif Ericson Statue.
Ericson is spelled in more than one way...Ericsson, Erikson, etc.
Back of the Leif Ericson statue.
The flag of Iceland.
Looking at the front of the Hallgrimskirkja or Hallgrims Church, a Lutheran Church.
When I came into the city it was still dark and this church was lit up like a
Christmas tree as a part of the city's light festival.
Baptismal in the church as seen from the side.
The baptismal as seen from the top down.
Looking back at the large pipe organ.
I would have loved to have heard the sound coming from this pipe organ.
This was one of the few stained glass windows within the church.
Looking towards the altar.
A closer look at the pipe organ.
A look at Hallgrims Church from the side.
Hallgrims Church as seen from the back.
The church is located at the top of a hill at the end of a major street.
Another view up the street.
Kiki Queer Bar
The only Post Office I came across. I never did see a mail carrier. This office was more like a store with all kinds of postal related items for sale and only one person at the counter. It was very expensive to mail a postcard or letter back home...$2.43 each. Postcards also cost around $.90 each, so needless to say, I limited the post cards I sent.
There is a lot of new architecture in Reykjavik.
Sometimes the new was mixed with the old.
If you embiggen this picture (by clicking on it), you will see people in the background walking on the ice and when you look at the foreground you see ducks and geese on the edge of the ice. I don't think I would have been out there. We even saw some people with baby carriages out on the ice. It must have been thicker where the people were.
Mike standing next to the Monument to the Unknown Bureaucrat.
Another view of the lake with ducks and geese swimming in the foreground
and people walking and skating in the background.
A sculpture in a storefront window I found interesting.
Hanging vases in the same window.
Apparently, a lot of gloves are lost here.
"Speed Dating for Single Gloves"
Saw this sculpture kit in another store window.
The box came with a bunch of fish bones and you created your own sculpture.
This barber shop/salon was filled with antiques
including these great barber chairs.
As we were heading back to the hotel, we stopped by this nice little bar,
The Kaldi Bar, and had some tasty unfiltered dark beer.
We got here right at the beginning of Happy Hour and the place was
quite empty, but soon it was packed. A nice introduction to the locals.
When we left the bar we were both getting hungry. Mike had heard of a couple of good places to eat...both serving Thai food. When I told him I was not too keen on Thai food due to the premonition I had of the hot spices, he convinced me that there would be things that were not that spicy. We stopped by the Ban Thai Restaurant (it can be seen on the right side of the first picture in this post). I ended up ordering a dish I had heard about called Pad Thai and really enjoyed it. Thanks Mike for getting me out of my comfort zone.
After dinner we headed back to the hotel and called it an evening. The next morning we were going on our first tour and needed to be ready to go by 8:30 a.m.
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