OMG IT’S SUNNY!

The hotel breakfast buffet was doing us no favors, so I got on the website for the Grapevine, Reykjavík’s alternative weekly newspaper (well, bi-weekly) to find a place for breakfast and hit the jackpot: Prikið.

*photo by Chris McAvoy - August 2007 (I didn’t get a shot of it)

Their “Breakfast of Champions” and “The Truck” worked their magic and we were ready to tackle the day. We started by shooting things we’d been waiting to shoot until we got better light.

The most photographed piece of art in Reykjavík is the Sun Voyager, a steel sculpture by Jón Gunnar Árnason on the waterfront.

And finally the outside of Hallgrímskirkja. The statue is of Leifer Eriksson, and was given to Iceland by the U.S. in 1930 to mark their Millennium. Yes, Iceland is a 1000+year-old country. Mind-blowing.

It was time to do something very Icelandic: go to the pool. Soaking in thermal pools is part of the culture in Iceland so we grabbed a cab out to Laugardalslaug, the largest pool complex in Reykjavík. The complex has an Olympic size swimming pool and a pool with a water slide in addition to two thermal pools. We were the only tourists there. We followed proper Icelandic pre-pool procedure:

and then spent two hours luxuriating in the warm waters. These are not bubbly hot tubs. They’re the size of small backyard pools of calm, very warm water with seating. To say we were relaxed is an understatement.

Since the weather was gorgeous and holding, we decided to walk back to the hotel.

These Stone Bramble trees with their bright orange berries were everywhere.

The LADA Niva, a 4-wheel-drive Russian-made Chevy in the Laugardalslaug parking lot. I would totally drive this car if I lived in Iceland.

Höfði House, where Gorbachev and Reagan met in 1986 - a meeting which is widely viewed as the beginning of the end of the Cold War. It’s also haunted, but that happened way before the meeting.

Colorful buildings were a common site on our walk back.

Reykjavík’s newest movie theater.

Þjóðleikhúsið (The National Theater of Iceland).

Þjóðmenningarhúsið (Culture House), home of the great Locker Debacle of 2010 and the Icelandic Sagas.

It was finally time to stop for food, and since we had yet to sample the famous Icelandic pylsur (hot dog) it was time to go to Bæjarins Beztu, the tiny shack by the harbor and home to the best pylsur in Reykjavík. I ordered mine with “the works” which includes ketchup, sweet mustard, fried onion, raw onion and remolaði, a mayonnaise-based sauce with sweet relish. Eric got his without the sweet mustard.

On the way back from pylsur heaven we passed by the Harpa Reykjavik Concert Hall and Conference Center that’s being built on the harbor right across from our hotel.

One day they’re going to be very glad they built this place, as long as it quits catching fire. It’s going to be beautiful.