Before I go any further I feel like I must provide a bit of a disclaimer: I'm typing these posts from the slideout keyboard of my Droid in a blogspot app that doesn't seem to have spell-check and makes formatting with pictures rather cumbersome. Please stick with me, I plan on going back through on a desktop, cleaning things up and adding more photos with better captions. That said, on with the blawgins.
Having checked into the hostel Erin and I ventured out to find some breakfast. It had been some time since our meal at SeaTac so we asked the attendant at the hostel for a suggestion where to get a bite. She said there was a good little place across the street. Neither Erin nor I listened very well as she told us where it was, so we wandered down the street the wrong way until we realized we weren't making any progress. We turned around and quickly found it once we started paying attention. We went in and found a very cozy little café decorated in all sorts of Icelandic memorabilia. The food was delicious, two eggs, fried tomatoes and potatoes a waffle, toast and a pile of bacon that would put a giant grin on any Redditor's face. So good, I hope all of our food lives up to that first meal here.
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| First Breakfast |
The weather continued to be windy and snowy... mostly, again the weather here changes on a dime and can suddenly calm and the sun comes out. We left the cafe and began taking a stroll down the street. Kollafjoder bay lies just a few blocks north of the hostel, so we wandered down to the waterside, where were were pummelled by winds that quickly chill to the bone. We were treated with a pretty incredible view out over the water to Videy, a large island that juts rather abruptly from the water. It didn't take long before we decided we should retreat back up the hill and seek shelter from the biting winds amongst the buildings and narrow streets of the city center.
A bit about Videy
Walking back up the hill we headed toward the most conspicuous landmark in the city, the Hallgrimskirkja church. This large Lutheran church occupies a commanding location on top of a hill, giving it a fantastic view of the surrounding city. Inside the spacious church was dominated be the sound of an organ player filling the building with rather impressive, if a bit imposing, music. In front of the church a bronze statue of Leif Eriksson (the Viking discoverer of North America) stands atop a monument, a gift from the US government in 1930 commemorating 1000 years of the Althing (Iceland's parliament, the oldest in the world).
The church and statue
At this point we both realized it was time for a break so we headed to a café, claiming to be the oldest in the city, where we had a coffee and perused brochures. We've started to build a rough framework of our plans for the next few days in the city. We then decided we had best head back to the hostel and grab a nap and a shower before we did anything else as we were both dragging, having not slept in 20 plus hours. We got back to the Backpackers and laid down for a little over an hour. Getting up to take a shower I discovered the hot water to smell quite sulphurous, a side effect of the geothermal heat used rather ubiquitously here. It wasn't terrible though and I hardly noticed by the end of he shower.
Well, that pretty well catches you up, right now I'm waiting for the sister to meet me here in the lobby so we can continue our journey! Stay tuned.
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