Reykjavik, Iceland

First stop….Reykjavik, Iceland! I only got to spend about 10 hours here since I had a 12 hour layover. Rather than sit at the airport with others hovering over my laptop on Facebook, I decided to take the risk and wander out into the city by myself.

The flight here wasn’t too bad, it was a straight shot 7 hours from Seattle to Reykjavik via Icelandic Air. As I boarded the plane, I felt very welcomed. The airline did a great job in welcoming its passengers to Iceland. Every seat had a different phrase in Iceland, so immediately I started to pick up some words to use in the city. What did it for me was the fact that Sigur Ros was playing in the background as I was getting settled into my seat. 

[Sigur Ros is an Icelandic band that I was introduced to by my friend Andrew in Australia. Clint, Julie and I saw them perform last year at Edgefield on August 09] 

I was fortunate enough to sit by a lady who lives in PORTLAND, but was born and raised in REYKJAVIK! That was awesome, I talked to her about my upcoming journey and she gave me some tips of what to do/see/eat while I was Reykjavik. She talked to me about the culture of Iceland and how peaceful it was.

Fast forward 5 hours... I wake up uber thirsty (probably from the sleeping pills) and anxious! The pilot notified us of the weather/conditions of Reykjavik…FIVE DEGREES CELSIUS….that’s FORTY-ONE DEGREES FAHRENHEIT. All I had on was a T-Shirt and a light Nike Hoody…..great! I wasn’t able to grab my coat from my big backpack because it’s being transferred to London, oh well, I just have to man up and bare the cold.

I got off the plane, went through customs very fast, and straight to the flybus to purchase a return ticket to/from Reykjavik city center. Luckily on the bus there was free Wi-Fi, so I checked in with my family/friends and frantically googled/mapped the locations of restaurants and places I wanted to see. I knew I wasn’t going to be able to use my iPhone’s GPS, so I screened shotted everything. 45 minutes later, I got dropped off with a bunch of Americans at a hostel.

Not only was it COLD, it was WINDY as well! I had no idea where I was going. I just started walking….getting lost….exploring; my favorite part of traveling. I wandered towards what looked like a Shipyard/Port of Reykjavik. Then zig-zagged through the neighborhoods to see the houses and cars.

My first thought was, this place is a GHOST TOWN, no one is out and it’s VERY VERY clean; I didn’t see a speck of rubbish anywhere. On top of that it was kind of eerie because the wind howled through the streets. The weather changed very fast, sunny, cold, gloomy, rainy, sunny, etc.

About 30 minutes of getting lost, I started to get hungry and was wondering where the heart of the city was. Where the cafes were, where the shops were, where the PEOPLE were?!

I started to head towards the other direction and then saw the iconic church (Hallgrimskirkja) the lady on the plane was talking about. I started to walk towards that direction and finally I saw civilization…cafes, restaurants, stores, PEOPLE!

I had brunch at Café Loki, which served Icelandic food. First time I’ve ever had pickled herring and fermented shark (Hakarl). It was quite….interesting, not sure if I will order it again.

After brunch I wandered up to the top of the church and saw beautiful views of Reykjavik, snapped some photos and headed back down because it was so cold.

I walked back to the bus station and ended my short visit to Reyjavik.  There’s so much more to see in Iceland: beautiful sceneries, hikes, jeep tours, natural hot springs, etc! I will definitely be back and I know that flights from Seattle to Iceland is pretty cheap.

Next stop…London, England!

TL;DR;JLAP

• 7 Hour Flight with a native Icelandic lady who lives in Portland.
• Weather: 41F/5C - windy, walking around with just a light Hoody.
• Took a bus to the city center.
• Wandered around, got lost on purpose.
• Initial thoughts: quiet, quaint, eerie, cold, CLEAN.
• Found the civilization: people, restaurants, cafes, stores, church.
• Brunch@ Café Loki: Icelandic food – Pickled herring, egg, on Rye Bread with a side of fermented shark.
• Went to the top of the church’s clock tower to see beautiful views of Reykjavik.
• Way too short of a visit, definitely coming back.