ICELAND
Iceland is so amazing and wondrous with all its glaciers, volcanoes and rolling seas. The land felt alive. Everywhere we explored showed me and my tour mates just how volatile a place Iceland is and can be. As it turned out, my flight into Keflavik and onward to Seattle had to be cancelled due to extreme weather. I can only guess that it was because of high winds on the ground at the airport. That’s Iceland - always a possibility that there will be a weather event that affects your travel plans. The rebooking by IcelandAir (Lufthansa from Frankfurt then British Airways from London), worked out just fine and I arrived in Seattle almost an hour earlier than my former schedule.
Accommodations:
Center Hotels Plaza, Aoalstraeti in Reykjavik - best things about the hotel is that the location is central and the buffet breakfast was very good with choices of full English to yogurt, cereal, fresh bread to slice, fruit to take, etc. The room was just so-so, bed was lumpy
Meals that stood out:
Lovely first meal in Iceland at Reykjavik Rost of a cappuccino and skyr, which was delicious and came with a harbor view. It’s a very comfy and warm place to have coffee and relax.
Íslenski Barinn in Reykjavik. I had the fish of the day of Arctic Char grilled perfectly. The meal was so good, I tried another night after my tour and the restaurant was way too busy. I wanted to have their “lobster hotdog”. It’s really like what you would see in Maine as a lobster roll. Ugh! My mouth is watering right now.
BTW, I didn’t try the Icelandic hotdog on this visit and wonder what the big deal is. There were hotdog stands around Reykjavik but I never stopped by. But I had several quick meals at Icelandic Street Food - their specialty is soup in a bread bowl. The Fisherman’s Favorite, which is mashed potatoes and cod with onions served with brown rye bread was Yummy and just what I needed before a good nights rest.
What I Did:
Explored Rejkavik after dropping off bags at hotel (9/29). I walked along the harbor enjoying a beautiful sunny morning, popping into a cafe for a cappuccino and skyr (type of yogurt) with delicious blueberries. Stopped into the Maritime Museum and wondered at how hard the fisherman’s life must be. There were nice interactive exhibits on navigation and equipment that has evolved over the centuries. There are many walls highlighting every fish you would ever imagine. After the museum, I enjoyed a very delicious fish soup at Saegreifinn, then I met up with Asta of the “free” historical City Walk. Asta showed our group (about 20 people) many of the highlights of the city including the pedestrian only rainbow street that leads up to the beautiful Lutheran church on the hill. We were only able to enjoy the outside of this gorgeous church due to a memorial service being performed at the time.
Reykjavik Excursions South Coast Tour (9/30): Eyjafjallajökull (glacier) Seljalandsfoss, Skógafoss and Black sand beach stop. Regina, our guide for the day, knew all about the glacier and explained how the land is constantly changing on this very active volcanic island. She took the time to take our photos at the glacier-the wind there was epoch and it was difficult to stand still for a photo. Regina, was smart about placing the waterfall stop on the way back to Reykjavik so that we could dry off in the van after going behind the waterfall. What a fun time we all had behind the waterfall - quite a unique experience for me and I’m so glad I added my rain pants before going.