Reykjavik, Iceland, Feb. 7-9 2018

The flight went well and we were able to get a decent upgrade to economy plus so our seats were comfortable and we got a decent meal on the plane. We also got access to the lounge at SEA-TAC before the flight, which was nice. Since we had a long layover in Seattle we had a chance to leave the airport, take the light rail into town, and meet our friends Bob & Mandy for brunch at a bakery near University St.

It was a 7 hour flight and we left around 3:30pm. Despite the nice seats neither of us really slept on the way. We arrived at the Reykjavik airport around 6:30am local time and found our bus that would take us to the Blue Lagoon, which Kat had pre-reserved. We got there at opening time around 8am, so about 1am Oregon time. Sunrise wasn't due for another hour so we stored our backpacks, got showered and changed into our swimsuits and went out into the below freezing weather and took a dip in the hot springs. From time to time we were showered with hail as we soaked, but it didn't bother us too much. It was gloriously warm and beautiful and peaceful and quiet since it had just opened. We drifted around, put on mud and algae masks, had a smoothie, and just relaxed as we watched the sun rise. By 10:00 it was getting quite busy as more tour buses arrived. We really didn't have anything else planned for the day so we stayed until about 11 before getting out and finding a bus to take us back to Reykjavik.

We got back to the city by 1pm and we were fading fast and looking forward to finding our apartment and dropping off our heavy packs. Kat napped on the bus and I tried to stay awake to take in some of the scenery. As we were dropping people off at bus stops around town we were treated to a show as one woman got very upset at the bus driver for having seemingly lost her bags somewhere along the way. I'm not sure how it happened, but they ended up rendezvousing with another bus that supposedly had her bag and making the exchange. It delayed our arrival for quite some time.

 Once we got off the bus and found our bags (thank goodness) we had a short hike to where we were going to stay, Castle House Luxury Apartments. Thankfully our room was ready and we were able to get the keys right away. It's a small studio apartment on the ground floor, but around a corner and away from the street. It's cozy and warm and the bed is comfortable. We dropped off our stuff and we were both very sleepy, but we decided we should go find some food before we crashed since we hadn't really eaten much since the meal on the plane.

We went for a short walk and found a main drag with lots of options and ended up at a gastropub and tapas bar where we shared a few interesting dishes including some puffin meat. Food and drink is very expensive here. After our late afternoon meal we dragged ourselves back to the room and were in bed by 6pm. We slept until 8 the next morning.

Friday morning we got ourselves up and out the door by 10am. The weather was cold and a bit windy, although the sun was peaking out from time to time as well. We had come prepared however and we were plenty warm in our new winter gear. We grabbed a quick breakfast of chocolate crepes and coffee & chai latte at Cafe Babalu on Skovalorthurstigur then wandered down to see Hallgrimskirkja. Then we wandered around checking out various shops filled with hand-knit sweaters and other souvenirs.

Eventually we ended up by the cultural center, Harpa, then wandered along the water to see the viking-ship like sculpture Sun Voyager, or Solfarith. Turning around we headed back toward Harpa and the Old Harbor district. I had read about a ramen shop in the area and wanted to go try it out so we went in search of it. We got there around 1pm and we were ready for warm bowl of soup and noodles. It was very tasty and the shopkeeper was friendly and fun to talk to as we sat at the counter eating. He was born in Tibet, lived in India and New Zealand for awhile and then moved to Iceland to help a friend run the shop.

Satisfied and full of noodles and gyoza we were ready to head back out into the cold and do a little more exploring. We followed the winding streets and Kat found a neighborhood cat to pet. We wandered through some small parks and past the Parliament building and looped back around to large duck pond that our apartment was located near. We decided to go ahead and book a couple of bus tours for the following days and to schedule our airport transportation while we were at it.

We followed a busy road to the main bus station where we were able to take care of everything. Before leaving we decided to grab a couple hot chocolates from the attached cafe for the walk back. They were spendy, tiny, and ultimately disappointing, but at least they were warm. After all the exploring we were ready for a short break so we headed back to the apartment where we could sit down and recover until it was time to go out for dinner.