Fourth Day in Reykjavik and the Flight Home

Fourth Day (Tuesday April 19th)

Our flight home was at 3:30pm so we were taking the bus to the airport at 12:30pm so we really only had a few hours in the morning to kill.  We slept in a bit then showered, packed and headed to breakfast with our bags.

For breakfast we went to Tiu Droppar.  This was the wine bar that I tried to go to the night before but it closes at 9pm or 10pm I guess?  Regardless their breakfast was really good and it was a really cute and cozy place.  We chilled out for a bit and set out for the bus station.  We decided to walk but slowly make our way there since we hadn't checked out many of the cool stores on the main street.  Once we turned off the main street there were lots of cute houses to see.  It was only about a 15 minute walk so it wasn't bad at all.  We would have taken a cab but we never actually saw one which I thought was odd.

Below are some street art pics from Reykjavik.  We saw some of it on our walk to the bus station but I'll just group them all together here.  I would say the street art rivaled what we saw in Berlin.  I had no idea it was so popular in Reykjavik.

When we checked in we were given seats in row 5 which I thought was nice since on the way there we were in row 32 and it took FOREVER to get off the plane.  I didn't realize until we were on the plane though that first few rows with WOW are seats with more room (and significantly more expensive) it was really nice getting these for free!

Anyway we basically walked through security and it took no time at all.  I have no idea why they tell you to get to the airport 2 hours early since I'm sure an hour would have been enough.  We shopped a bit at the duty free store and tried some samples of the different Icelandic liqueurs.  I got a rhubarb liqueur and Brandon got Brennivan which seems to be everywhere.  Then we got food for the plane and sat around and waited!  They don't open the US passport control until about 30-45 minutes before the flight so we couldn't even get to the departure gate.  Once that's open people basically just wait in a line to bet their boarding pass scanned, then you get on a bus to the plane which is out in the middle of nowhere.  They are still doing construction on this portion of KEF so I imagine eventually when the gate is done the plane will be right there.

The flight back felt long and annoying but I'm sure that's just because it's the end of vacation.  Our larger seats and leg room were pretty great though I doubt I'd pay more for them.  Coming back into the US through customs I have Global Entry so I answered the duty free question "yes" because I thought you had to say yes if you bought any alcohol from duty free.  I got a big huge STOP AT BAGGAGE CONTROL on my Global Entry slip but the CBP Officer was nice enough to explain to me that you only have to declare more than $800 of duty free alcohol.  Now I know!  Other than that Global Entry rules and I recommend it for everyone.

That's it for Iceland!  We definitely want to go back and rent a car and drive around a bit.  I'd like to go whale watching possibly up north out of Husavik.

We don't have anymore trips planned until the Galapagos in January.  We'll see if anything comes up before then!

Third Day in Reykjavik

Day Three (Monday April 18th)

Today we booked a Golden Circle day tour with Reykjavik Excursions.  We did the extended tour that also stopped at Fontana Wellness Spa (more hot springs!).

I'd never done a big bus day tour but it was actually really fun.  I was worried the drives would be long and boring but our guide (Albert) told stories and gave us cultural and geographical tidbits along the way.  He was funny and entertaining and made the drives go by quickly.  The bus has huge windows and they give a great view of the countryside.

We were picked up really early (8:30am!) so we got a quick breakfast at Bakari Sandholt again and then were on our way.  Our first stop on the tour was this weird horse theater thing that was just a half hour stop for the bathrooms and to pet some horses.  It didn't really add much to the tour but the horses were cool.  I'm assuming the only reason for the stop is so we aren't on the same schedule as the other Golden Circle tours that Reykjavik Excursions does.

This was about 10 seconds before this horse got snot all over Brandon's pants.

Icelandic horse #2

Next we drove through Geysir to get to Gullfoss waterfall.  We walked down to the waterfall and it was like the coldest I've ever been in my life.  I didn't bring my gloves and I was pretty miserable for a bit but there was a small part of the trail hidden from the wind that was nice.  It was a really amazing view and I'd definitely go back to spend more time there (but with a heavier coat!).  There were also TONS of people with selfie sticks (like most major tourist attractions these days).

Gullfoss waterfall

Gullfoss

Brandon looks much happier than me.  I was freezing!

Afterwards we went back to Geysir park to see all the little geysers and watched the big one erupt a few times (FYI it smells like farts!).  Then we got lunch at the cafe there.  The food was super expensive but not too bad I guess.  We had sometime to browse through the shop and I send my parents a postcard.

Geysir #1

Geysir #2

After lunch was a 2 hour stop at Fontana Wellness Center which has 5 hot spring pools and some saunas.  It was pretty chill and a lot of fun.  All the pools are different temperatures so you can make the rounds a few times.  It was a little crowded with the whole group there at once but it was still fun.  I liked the comparison of this smaller, local type place to Blue Lagoon which is a major tourist attraction.  Two hours seemed like the perfect amount of time.  After soaking for awhile they had a little cafe and I got a glass of wine.  I also inexplicably lost one of my socks there so spent the rest of the day with just one sock which was weird.

Our last stop was Thingvellir national park which was probably the coolest stop.  It's where the Icelandic parliament was formed in 930ad and you can still see the earth foundations where they met IN TENTS for two weeks each year!  This is also the stop where the American and Eurasian plates meet and are slowly drifting apart so you can see huge cracks in the ground.

A good example of the large cracks the shifting plates create.

Thingvellir

Thingvellir

Thingvellir

We had a short half hour walk on a trail along the edge of the American plate and that was a really cool thing to see.

Me standing in front of the American plate.

So all in all it was a lot of fun and a great way to spend the day.  The Golden Circle is basically must-do thing when you're in Iceland and I thought this was a great way to see it for the first time!

After the tour we went to a Nepalese restaurant that had great reviews.  It was a little pricey ($25 entrees!!) but we thought why not since we're on vacation and haven't had Nepalese in a long time.  The entrees were actually pretty big and I think 2 people could easily split one but the food was really good (maybe not $25 good though!).  Brandon started not feeling good so I finished my food while he went to lay down.

Brandon wanted to rest a bit more when I dropped off his food so I went to find a cozy wine bar to read in which proved really hard to do.  I had a few recommendations from a friend but one was closed (it was about 9:30pm by now) and the other I couldn't find.  I walked into a gastropub type place and waited at the bar a few minutes but the bartender was totally fangirling over someone (who I didn't recognize at the time but later I found out he was Conor McGregor the MMA fighter who recently retired) so I never got a drink and left to find a new place.  I even found Le Bistro which was cozy and chill so I read for a bit and then Brandon met me and we hung out until they closed at 11pm.

When we got back to our room we found out the other room on our floor had people in it and they were SUPER LOUD and SUPER DRUNK and stomping around.  It bothered but it was our last night so I wasn't going to complain.  I think after about an hour or so they left (or passed out?) and we fell asleep.

Second Day in Reykjavik

Day Two (Sunday April 17th)

We slept in a bit, showered and went for brunch at a cafe a few blocks away.  Brunch was very uninspiring but edible and then we just walked around and explored for a bit.  We ended up at Hallgrímskirkja church and decided to go up to the tower.  I think it costs $7 per person to go up?  Initially I was skeptical since it seemed like a tourist trap but Brandon wanted to check it out so we went up.  It was actually really beautiful and a fun experience when the church bells ring right above you!  It was so clear and beautiful and the weather was absolutely perfect to get a great view of the city and mountains on the other side of the harbor.

Hallgrimskirkja

The view of Reykjavik from the tower.

Once we got back down the service was ending so we were able to go in and see the organ which my dad would have loved.  I got him a CD in the gift shop though!

After that we stopped at Reykjavik Roasters a few blocks down the street and bought some coffee to take home (by this time we had decided to pay for 1 checked bag on the way home so we were less concerned about weight) and had a cup of coffee there.

Our hotel was just a few blocks down on the same street so we stopped back there to drop off our stuff and make sure we had everything read for the Blue Lagoon trip that evening.  Then we tried to go for a walk along the harbor but it promptly started snowing, sleeting and hailing and it was really miserable and painful when it's that windy and the snow hits so we ran back to our room!  Once we waited for it to clear we went to Bakari Sandholt to get a small/quick bite to eat before the bus came to pick us up for the lagoon.

We were initially planning on going to the Blue Lagoon on our way to the airport but the opening time and bus times didn't really match well so we made a seperate trip out there.  The bus ride is about an hour but it isn't bad at all- mainly because there's wifi and the scenery is absolutely beautiful!  We took the 3pm bus, got there about 4pm then swam/soaked/chilled until 6:30pm and had dinner reservations at 7pm then took the last bus back to Reykjavik at 9:15pm.  That seemed like the perfect amount of time for everything.  We didn't feel rushed or bored at all and it was a really lovely evening.  The food at Lava was reasonably priced and really good.  In some ways it was better than Fridrik V because it was less experimental if that makes sense?  I had the cod and Brandon had the steak and he said it was some of the best steak he's had.  We had the cheese plate and pears for desert.  All the cheese was from Iceland and it was wonderful!

Brandon enjoying the cheese plate.

On the way out the sun was setting over the lagoon and I think this is one of the best photos I've taken with my phone!  I would totally recommend going in the evening and staying for dinner.  It was not crowded at all and we will probably go back next time we're in Iceland.

Sunset over the Blue Lagoon

Our bus ride was pretty funny.  When the first bus was leaving the driver drove about 6 feet, said there was a problem with the bus so we were going to get on a different bus.  Inwardly I thought "Oh god this is going to take an hour or more us just sitting here" because WMATA in DC would do that!  But no this is Scandinavia and they are nothing if not efficient so another bus pulled in literally a minute later and we all hopped on and drove off.  After about 3 minutes of driving the second bus driver said he had to turn around and pick up the driver of the first bus!  It was pretty funny when we got there and he was just waiting in the parking lot.  The second driver also had lots of funny quips and anecdotes as we drove through different neighborhoods to drop people off in Reykjavik.

When we got back to our room it was pretty late so we drank the wine we got in the duty free store and went to bed early.  We were getting up very early the next day for our Golden Circle tour!

First Day in Reykjavik

Alright despite my aspirations I am not a very good real-time trip blogger so I'll be publishing mini updates with pictures now that we are back!

Day One (Saturday April 16th)

We slept a few hours and then got lunch at a Thai place on the one main road in Reykjavik.  One of the reasons we chose this weekend to go was that a band we really like (Foxing) were playing at Hurra.  Brandon is friends with Jon in the band we met up after lunch to go to the Icelandic Phallological Museum which is basically a museum with a bunch of animal penises.  It is as weird as it sounds but it's only $10 a pretty fun.  Would recommend!

I think this is a sperm whale penis?

Jon and Brandon

I do not remember which animal this penis belongs to.

Afterwards we walked down the main road for a bit and went to a pretty big flea market.  There were a lot of junk stalls but also some great ones like the stall that sells lots of metal shirts and another that sells whale bones.  I bought some lava rock earrings for my mom and sister.

Then we headed back to shower and change before our fancy dinner at Fridrik V.  I'm going to go on a mini rant here about hair products that will be probably be of zero interest to anyone but me so skip to the next paragraph if you don't care!  I didn't bring any bath stuff (other than toothpaste) since I assumed our hotel would have them available and we were trying to not pay bag fees to WOW.  They didn't but he brought us some shower gel when we asked.  We bought this 2 in 1 conditioner from the Bonus supermarket that my hair hated so my hair was a frizzy tangled mess the whole time.  Next time I'll just check and bag and hopefully my hair won't get so angry!

Our dinner at Fridrik V was really one of the highlights of the trip I think.  They have a surprise 5 course menu every night and we got the wine pairings.  Each ingredient had a cute story of origin (like the reindeer was shot by the restaurant's lawyer in sector 7) and the waiters point to the map of Iceland on the table to tell you where everything comes from.  I found out about them from their Trip Advisor page and I feel fortunate that we were able to get a reservation since they're closing in June.

Here are the courses we had:
Amuse bouche: tomato soup, smocked mackerel, dried orange slices, cod jerkey, assorted biscuits
First: Reindeer filet and pate, beet chips and beet jelly/reduction type thing
Second: Cod ravioli
"Break": Lobster cappuccino - this was really strange but fun.  It was lobster soup/liquid served in a cappuccino cup garnished with nutmeg
Third: Ribeye with grilled carrots and mashed potatoes
Fourth:  Cheese plate with rye bread, pomegranate seeds and marmalade
Fifth:  Chocolate cake with Icelandic strawberries and strawberry ice cream

We finished the meal with espresso.  Our reservation was a 6pm and we were the only ones there until about 7 and even when we left around 8pm there were only 5 tables filled.  We saw them turn multiple people aware without reservations so I assume they only seat a limited number of tables each night due to available ingredients.

Each table had a map for the server to show you where the food came from.

The cheese plate at Fridrik V.

Dessert!  Wish I had remembered to take pics of other courses.

Also we tried to leave a tip but one of the servers wouldn't let us.  She saw the money sticking out of the bill holder thing and literally pointed at it and said "DON'T TIP it is not a tradition here" so that was very helpful!  We tried because we had such a great time and felt the price was very reasonable but she was insistent.

After dinner we rallied and headed to the show.  A couple of Icelandic bands opened for Foxing which were actually pretty good.  I had listened to their stuff on Spotify beforehand and wasn't too impressed but live they seemed much better- each band had 5+ people in it so they were fun to watch.  Foxing was the best of course and I was so busy having fun that I didn't take any pictures or video.  Sorry!

A picture of the show's flyer since I have none from the actual show.

Afterwards we took a cab back to our hotel (I keep saying hotel but it was really just like a house with a few rooms for rent) because it was freezing cold and went to sleep.  All in all I was up about 24 hours with only a few hours nap when we landed.  It was fun though!

I think the staying up for 24 hours thing was too much for me since I promptly got a cold Saturday night/Sunday morning.  It was super annoying but I felt fine and we were able to do everything we wanted so whatever!  The hotel caretaker probably wonders why we went through like 5 rolls of toilet paper in 4 days though.

Flight to Reykjavik

Note:  I wrote this during our trip and apparently it never uploaded.  So here it is a few days late!

--

I'm on the bus to the Blue Lagoon so this seemed like the perfect time for a mini-update.  

We left Friday for BWI and traffic was terrible on 95 and the BW parkway so it took us almost twice as long to get there as it normally would.  Luckily we left plenty of time to get there. 

This was our first time flying with WOW Airlines and booking the ticket I did notice that carry on bags had super strict weight and size limits but I thought 11 pounds (5kg) would be more than enough for 3.5 days.  Of course the night before we were packing and weighing our bags and 11 pounds fills up really quickly.  If you don't pay for your checked bag over 24 hours in advance it's about $75!  So we were very determined to make it work- which we did but it was really frustrating and time consuming and one of the reasons we won't fly WOW again.  

The check in desk was in a quiet deserted terminal (E) that I'd never been in before.  There were zero security lines since I think our plane was only one of two leaving that day.  There was one overcrowded restaurant where I got a mediocre grilled cheese for the flight.   

The flight left about 30-45 minutes late which was pretty lame.  There was a lot of turbulence but the length (about 6 hours) wasn't bad.  I thought it was also pretty lame that you had to pay for everything (even water) though I knew that in advance I guess I didn't realize how annoying it would be. 

We were sitting next to a man from Reykjavik on his way home from visiting DC and Pittsburgh. It was really interesting hearing his observations about how different Iceland and the US were.  I think my favorite thing he said was that while he was in Pittsburgh people were "hanging out on their porches like in the movies!"  Also in Pittsburgh he went to a gun range to shoot an AR15 and showed us a video of him shooting it which seemed super weird to show while on a plane.   He was very surprised by gas heating because everything in Iceland is heated by radiators.   

Anyway we landed around 5:30am and basically just walked into Iceland.  There were zero lines at passport control and then there wasn't even a customs area to go through.  So, I thought we would be in Reykjavik soon but we got on the bus to the city and just sat there for half an hour.  Then we got to the bus depot and switched to a smaller van and pretty much everyone was dropped off before us.  I was very tired and annoyed.  We didn't even get into our room until about 8am and I was so thankful we had a room to go to!

Okay that's about it for the flight and getting to Reykjavik.  I'll make a separate post about the marathon first day!  

Reykjavik Changes

As we come closer to leaving for Reykjavik I was getting more and more nervous about arriving there around 6am and not being able to get into our AirBnB until 3pm.  I tried to find things to do in the early morning but almost nothing is open until 9-10am other than coffee shops and I really did not want to be sitting in a coffee shop for 4 hours after an overnight flight.

AirBnB sent me a generic confirmation email about "Your stay is coming up soon!" and I saw our host had a flexible cancellation policy and it suddenly dawned on me that oh wow I could cancel this and stay somewhere else where we could check in at 6am!  I had seriously never even considered that before.  (If I didn't mention it someone had reserved our AirBnB for the night before so we couldn't check in earlier and when I made the reservation I just never thought about how we should reserve it for Friday night too).

I messaged our host and told him what I was doing and he was very understanding and nice and then I found an Apartment House on booking.com that looks perfect.  It seems like there are a lot of these apartment houses in Reykjavik that seem more like condos than hotels?

So now the plan is to check in around 6am and get some sleep THEN get some breakfast and check out some museums or something.

We are putting the finishing touches on our India itinerary for next summer!  I am beyond excited- did I mention that yet?  We're up to 17 or 18 nights there (not including flying) and we're basically just staying in Rajasthan with a few nights in Varanasi tacked on to the end.  I will never understand people that try to see a whole country (or more than 1 country!) in like 10 days or less.

Reykjavik Itinerary

We leave for Reykjavik on Friday!  I finally put together our itinerary so here you go.  We are really only there for 3 nights so it's pretty quick but it's a relatively cheap/short flight from DC so we can always go back for something longer if we want to.

Now that I have more vacation time at work I'm looking for more long weekend international trips that aren't an expensive flight.  I'm really surprised by how expensive it is to get to Western European cities like Madrid or Paris!  It seems like the flights are $1,000+ which seems silly since we can fly to Thailand or India for less.  I'll keep an eye on flights though and hopefully get something cheaper.

Anyway here are our plans for Reykjavik.  I'm a little nervous about landing at 5am and not being able to check in until 3pm but we will make it work!  I am excited about getting a dinner reservation at Fridrik since it's closing soon.  According to Trip Advisor it's the #1 restaurant in Reykjavik.  It's a 5 course "surprise menu" with wine pairings.  I can't wait!

In other trip news, we are putting a deposit down for our Northern India trip in August/September 2017 in a few weeks.  I am ridiculously excited!

Friday April 15th

Depart BWI 4/15 7pm

Saturday April 16th

Arrive KEF 5am

Dinner

6pm

Fridrik V

Laugavegur 60
101 Reykjavik

Foxing Show

Hurra

Tryggvagata 22
Reykjavík 101

9pm

Sunday April 17th

Blue Lagoon with dinner

Monday April 18th

Golden Circle and Fontana Spa Tour

Tuesday April 19th

Departure Flight 3:30pm