Iceland 2014

Day 1 in Iceland

We have arrived! The sun is shining with heavy clouds all around the city and just a little rain for five minutes or so. But now we must wear sunglasses … no kidding!  

At our hotel, we ate a delicious breakfast before heading out into Reykjavik. First stop, while waiting for our hotel rooms to be ready, was a walk down Njalsgata into the downtown area and the Handknitters Association store. The ladies bought some mittens for the grandkids. It was a slow walk back to the Fosshotel Lind and then a much-needed nap. After an hour’s rest, Barb and I headed down Laugavegur to the harbor to visit the Harpa Concert Hall and then to the famous hotdog stand. For 350 ISK ($3) you can eat cheap & delicious hotdogs made with sheep parts. Yum! My toe began to hurt so I took bus #3 back to the hotel. Now we have just made a plan with the ladies to go get dinner around 6 p.m. and then, hopefully, head to the Sundlaug Pool for a soak in a thermal “hotpot.” It has been a very good first day here. Thanks for your prayers.

Day 2–Iceland

Word of the day…Laugavegur! That is the main shopping street in Reykjavik and is incredibly difficult for me to pronounce. But today, I have been practicing and think I’ve got it. Sounds a bit like “Loy a vay gor.” Anyway, we began today with a city tour by bus, visiting the Hallgrimskirka Lutheran cathedral, the presidential estate, the Pearl, the lower harbor. We learned that “vik” means “bay.” Viking means People of the Bay. So Reykjavik means “Smokey bay.” It wasn’t really smoke the first settlers saw but the steam from the geothermal activity around here.  

After the tour, we met up with the sweetest Icelandic lady (Gudrun) at a restaurant in the lower harbor and ate fish stew and seafood soup. Gudrun is the tour director and excellent knitter whom we met in 2011. What a delicious and delightful lunch we had with our friend! Saying good-bye, we visited the Saga museum and learned about the Viking history of this country and afterward took a slow stroll up Laugavegur to the hotel. We are happy and tucked in for the night, all set for tomorrow’s South Shore Tour. 

Day 3 in Iceland

Word of the day–foss. It means “waterfall” and is what we saw two of today on the South Shore Tour. There was also a glacier and the black sand beach in Vik. Our tour director was not good and probably shouldn’t continue. But the scenery made up for it. The intense green on the lava fields was called Machu Pichu green by Mary Lou, our travel partner who has been there. Truly lovely. We were dropped off at Meski Cafe where the knitting guild of Reykjavik meets once a month. Thank you, Gudrun, for helping to arrange this and helping us end a great day. Now it is midnight and still light out . Got to get to bed because we fly to the Faroes tomorrow morning. We have met some great people today–too many to mention now. Signing out from Fosshotel Lind in Reykjavik!