Our first day in Iceland was spent in our hotel adjusting to the time change while our second day was spent walking the streets of this stunning city:
Reykjavik
Day Two: Our alarms went off at 7am, thankfully this time we heard them, and woke with excitement for our day in the heart of Reykjavik. Adam and I caught the shuttle bus at 845am and enjoyed the views from our short but sweet ride.
The shuttle dropped us off by a lake surrounded by pretty birds and colorful houses, thus beginning the camera happy fingers I mentioned in my last post.
Do not let our smiles fool you, it was
f r e e z i n g out! The clouds began to pass and Reykjavik was greeted by the sun early on in the morning which was welcomed by tourists everywhere. Adam and I sincerely enjoyed being tourists. We each had a camera around our neck, map in our hands, and were constantly on the search for a local coffee shop and visitor center. Within minutes of entering the cold winds of the city we spotted something breathtaking..something we have only seen in paintings..are you ready?
The waters in Iceland were the richest blue waters I have ever seen. Adam and I are mountain people and these beauties left us speechless. We were (and still are) truly in awe of God's creation. After viewing these majestic structures, Adam and I walked the harbor path into the city. We had no trouble at all finding where to cross the streets or how to navigate through the city because there were paved walkways everywhere each with bold signs directing you. This was the easiest city walking I have ever done and would choose this style over New York, Chicago, and Minneapolis any day! Since we visited during Iceland's offseason we felt like we owned the streets! We had the time and room to stop to take pictures, pull out our maps, ask questions, act goofy, and to simply enjoy one another.
Adam and I are not "shoppers" but quickly adapted thanks to the darling shops and more so, the incredible people. We have been collecting Christmas ornaments from our various trips together and were delighted to spot a 'Little Christmas Tree Shop.' We found ourselves a wooden cut out of Iceland with the name burned onto it, it is perfect. As we were checking out, the woman who owned the store began chatting with us. She filled us in on Icelandic culture, her background, and asked us many questions about ourselves and what brought us to Iceland. After speaking with her for about 10 minutes, we asked her if there was a spot she would recommend for breakfast. She giggled with glee (seriously), grabbed my hand, and walked us out a block and pointed to her favorite place. Please keep in mind she was the owner and only worker in her store and walked out without hesitation to assist us--this is definitely not something that would happen in the states. Adam and I were thrilled and expressed our appreciation and watched as the cute old woman made her way back to her shop. I'll let the pictures speak about the food we got..and yes, it was written on the menu as "American breakfast with American pancakes." -So cute.
After breakfast we continued walking the city and stopped in numerous shops, cafes, and visitor centers to receive a "you're here" on the map. Adam bought himself a beautifully crafted wooden pipe and I picked up a few goodies for the house which I hope to show you in a post soon. The day remained cold but being a Jersey girl and Minnesota boy I think we did alright :) The weather is fickle in Iceland going from cloudy to sunny, rainy to snowy, and cold to warm--oh wait, just cold--all in the span of a few minutes. We enjoyed it, kept us on our toes :)
Reykjavik's tallest building is this stunning church. The statue in front is of Leif Ericsson who is famous for discovering North America and was given to Iceland from the U.S. Unfortunately, the church had a funeral the day we visited so we did not get to see the inside. I can only imagine the gorgeous detailing and architecture.
Something that stuck out in Reykjavik was the graffiti or street art as we viewed it. I am used to seeing spray paint say vulgar things but in Iceland it was actual art and it was spectacular. Take a look:
As the weather became unbearable, we stopped in Reykjavik's Art Museum. We enjoyed the exhibits and may have had a little too much fun in doing so!
When the rain stopped, Adam and I opted to walk home and skip the shuttle bus. This was the coldest windiest 30 minute walk of our lives. We are pretty certain the locals had a good laugh at us while driving as they watched us walk along the highway path getting knocked from the strong wind gusts and losing our hats over and over again. The intense weather did not keep us from enjoying ourselves and laughing at these reallyreallyreallyreallyginormousicelandicwords:
Try saying those bad boys three times fast ;) Here is a view of our hotel from our walk home:
After 8 hours of walking around the city you would think we would have crashed..but we did not! We changed into warm dry clothes and headed up to the
Perlan or as tourists call it, the Pearl. It was a mile hike from our hotel and we were feeling up to the challenge :) This amazing structure sits atop a great hill overlooking the city. Four out of the five large cylinders hold the city's water which is taken directly from the glaciers. One of the five cylinders was made into a museum. Inside there is a cafeteria on the third floor and on the fourth floor, inside the dome, there is a fancy shmancy restaurant that rotates 360 degrees. We heard a rumor it is listed in the top 5 restaurants around the world. Guess where we ate?--Cafeteria! Adam and I were not even allowed to walk up to the dome simply to look because our attire did not fit it's standards.
Before eating dinner, Adam and I walked outside on the observation deck to view the city. The first photo in this post is the panorama Adam shot from the observation deck. This time I was prepared for the cold and wind with my hat that made me look like a local..or at least I thought :)
The cafeteria set up was just as you imagine--grab your tray and pick your food! Adam and I both went all out and ate true Icelandic cuisine. I had 'Traditional Icelandic Meat Soup' and Adam had crepes stuffed with rice, chicken, leeks, corn, cheese, and a garlic sauce. I was hesitant about trying the soup because I was scared what type of "meat" it would be and as I was deciding a beautiful Icelandic woman came up to me and said,"Hi, I am Icelandic. Please trust me, this soup is delicious. Here take this spoon and try my soup, I have not eaten yet. Take a bite of mine to see if you like it before getting a bowl." She insisted I try her soup right there--I tried to say no but she did not let me! This was something that has never and will never happen in the states. The soup was amazing and I had two bowls of it. The mystery meat was mostly lamb with a little reindeer mixed in..yikes.
Before heading home in the snow, Adam braved the weather to capture this stunning photo:
By the time Adam and I returned to our comfy little room and laid in bed our lights were officially out.
I hope you remembered your warning from
Day One's post about a picture-Adam's face-Katie's face-overload.
Are you still with me? I hope so--Day Three is coming next week!
