Mike Jutan's World: Iceland/France/Italy Day 3: Reykjavik Part 2

May 1, 2011
Iceland Day 3: Reykjavik Part 2

Norm is here! I was up and chatting with an Australian girl in the hostel about her trips and then Norm arrived from the airport, hooray!! We chatted and I caught up on the details of her crazy airport experience, it sounded insane. We had some breakfast in the hostel and then headed right to Hallgrímskirkja church. It was awesome inside and I took a bunch of photos, and then we went up it and all the bells went off when we were at the top! It was loud and fun.

We took a walk through town after that, I was looking for an Icelandic Sweater. We wandered to Icelandic Fish & Chips which was not open yet, so I got another Pylsur and tried on a few Icelandic sweaters. They were too itchy!!!! I was sad because they look so cool and I'd love to get one, but they were wayyyy too itchy. Maybe I'll get an Icelandic-style cotton sweater instead :) The 66 degree North hoodies look cool, they are kindof expensive and not as typical Icelandic looking, but they are pretty nice too.

After the failed sweater purchasing attempt, we headed to a grocery store to buy a LOT of Skyr (Icelandic yoghurt). I also got a weird Egil's Maltextract water/sugary/beer soda stuff, it was gross!! Fun to try it though. We went back to the hostel after that so Norm could sleep and I could catch up on my journal.

While Norm was sleeping, I wandered around Reykjavik some more, it was amazing. There was lots of slush on the ground and I hadn't packed for snowy weather so I wore my shoes with some thick socks. I saw some cool alleyways and street art, and lots of cats wandering around. Reykjavik Harbour was very desolate and cool and had a chill vibe to it, I chilled out on the rocks there for a little bit. On the way back through town, 66°NORTH and ICE WEAR were both closed, and I decided not to get a sweater.

Back at the hostel, "Brennivin" the cat was there!!! What an awesome cat!! Apparently his real name is "Almost dark" or "Almost midnight", (maybe "Dusk"?), but Ernesto the caretaker at the hostel calls him "Brennivin" after the Icelandic liquor. He looks quite a lot like Norm's cat Benjamin, so we've decided to call him "Brenjamin". Haha. He is awesome. I got to give him a treat and now we're buddies.

Norm and I headed out for a late dinner at 8ish and saw some cool Graffiti Art along the way. We headed to Icelandic Fish & Chips and it was super good. I got Cod with Rosemary Oil Potatoes and it was fantastic. I wanted the Raspberry Skyr for dessert but they were almost out of it! They gave me a bit less "at a discount"!! Haha how funny. They were very nice there and helped to suggest some choices of "Skyrronaise" dipping sauces for us. We headed back to the hostel after a tasty dinner and had a quick Video Skype chat with Mom and Dad on my iPhone! Amazing to have that technology so handy, it rocks. We then had an early bedtime to prepare for tomorrow's long day trip.

Norm is here!

Me at Hallgrímskirkja church in Reykjavik

Hallgrímskirkja

Hallgrímskirkja up close

Organ inside of Hallgrímskirkja

Roof inside Hallgrímskirkja

Pews look like the church itself, nice touch!

Close up of the organ

Amazing photo inside the church of people praying at the Western Wall in Jerusalem. They had some photos showing several different religions there in the front gallery.

Photo 1 of Reykjavik from the top of Hallgrímskirkja

Photo 2 of Reykjavik from the top of Hallgrímskirkja

Photo 3 of Reykjavik from the top of Hallgrímskirkja

Photo 4 of Reykjavik from the top of Hallgrímskirkja

Polar bear with a rain jacket

This store had a slide in it!

Wall-E in Icelandic

Cars ("Bilar") in Icelandic

This is the bar I went out to the night before

Icelandic sweaters

Lots of tasty stuff for lunch. Also bought Egil's "Maltextract" - a sort of hoppy sugar water, like beer soda?! It was gross but fun to try.

Tons of Skyr, Icelandic yoghurt-like amazing food

A few kinds of Smoked Salmon

Hairspray

Wandering in Reykjavik

Try to pronounce this one!

Solon, the place I went for dinner the night before

Reykjavik Harbour

A new concert hall that is being built

"Baldur's Gate" :)

Brennivin the cat!! He is a neighbour of the hostel but comes to hang out sometimes. Apparently his real name is something like "Almost midnight" or something, but we called him "Brennivin". He was super awesome.