May 30th 2017 - June 5th 2017
May 30th:
Arrival. The trip (via bus) from the airport at Keflavík to the hotel made me feel like I was on a whole other planet. After checking in at the hotel, I walked to the tourist information center, it's about an hour's walk.
May 31th:
I got up at six o'clock, local time and made a morning walk along the water to the harbour where I would get on a boat to see whales.
We didn't see the humpbacks, as I had hoped, but we did see dolphins, porpoises and a mink-whale.
We also saw puffins (I didn't really have an opinion on them before I took the trip here, but after seeing these little fellows on the water ... I was sold, I love 'em).
Next up was the Whales of Iceland museum (they have an app with audioguide, I highly recommend it!), where I did see the humpback whale (and all other whales, albeit fake). It was magnificent. Afterwards I walked around the city for a while and went back to the hotel to fix some issues.
June 1st
Again I made the hourly walk to the city ... next time I should find a hotel that's closer to the centre, or I should find some means of transportation. In the tourist center, I bought a museum pass from a Fleming who lives in Reykjavík for a while.
Then I went to the Settlement Exhibition, about the first settlement in Iceland; followed by a short visit to the small photography museum. Next up was the Volcano House; which was basically a small one-room cinema where they showed a documentary containing the two most important volcanic eruptions (Heimay in 1973 and Eyjafjallajökull in 2010). The documentary wasn't quite worth the money, though the rocks and ashes that were also on display (which you are allowed to touch, by the way), are more interesting.
The Maritime Museum housed an exhibition about fishing and the whole cod-war Iceland had with Britain. Outside of the museum lays the Oðinn, a coastguard vessel. While waiting for the tour of the ship, an older British lady asked me the way to the Volcano House; I just came from there, so I gladly explained her how to get there. The woman at the ticket booth for the Maritime Museum overheard our conversation and asked me what the Volcano House showed. After my explanation (which wasn't all that positive, I must admit), she said she wouldn't visit it; but that's mainly because she experienced the eruption of Eyjafjallajökull herself. The woman owned a summer house nearby when the volcano spew its ashes and lava. She explained how the volcano damaged and destroyed the surrounding houses and farms and showed me pictures of her summer house. She was so enthusiastic in her story, that she kept other tourists waiting.
The guide for the Oðinn arrived and cut the woman's story short. It seemed that I was the only one who signed up, so I got a private tour of the ship. The guide was a bit eccentric, but he was very driven and passionate; even when it was just one tourist he was showing around.
Next up was the Saga museum, which told the tales of the Vikings, heathenism, the introduction of Christianity, the persecution of the heathens and other fascinating stories; an audioguide tied all the stories together. It's definitely worth the visit; but I've had enough of my daily dose of museums, so I walked to one of the cemeteries and on the way I met a cute Icelandic kitty.
After the cemetery I walked through a beautiful park and decided to go back to the hotel. On my way to the hotel, I passed the Punk Museum, from which loud guitar noises could be heard. So I thought I'd check it out. Weird place. I continued my way to the hotel and passed the only Penis Museum in the world, but they just closed for the day.
June 2nd:
It was a slow day; it was after 10 in the morning when I got out of the hotel (I had to upload yesterdays pictures first).
First I went to the zoo. I've never been a big fan of zoos because it's obvious that the animals aren't happy there, but on the other hand it does allow me to see animals that I would normally not see [side note: this was written before I became vegan; now, - as a vegan - I won't visit zoos anymore]. I comforted myself with the knowledge that I didn't pay directly for entrance to the zoo (it was included in the museum card). There aren't a lot of animals out. It was raining, maybe that's why. The zoo shared the same area as an amusement park and an arboretum. The arboretum was still under construction, although it was possible to see a part of it.
The amusement park was full of children, so I passed on that.
Next on the list was the world's only Penis Museum, quite interesting, I must say.
The Hallgrímskirkja followed. What a view. The hour long walk from the hotel to the city center and back took its toll. Today was a shorter day.
June 3rd
I had planned for a nice walk on a small island (with a memorial for John Lennon), but it was hard just getting out of bed.
June 4th:
A new day. As by accident, yesterday, I discovered (online) a park at the outskirts of the city, called Elliðaárdalur, so that was where I would be today. It was a wonderful, breathtaking, heavenly oasis in between busy roads. I found a hill from which I had the most stunning view, it brought tears to my eyes.
After spending some time in the park, I took a walk towards the beach (yes, even Reykjavík has a beach), but in passing I came across another cemetery. The beach itself was rather small, just like so many things in Iceland.
After the beach, I came across a construction site where they are building the first Ásatrú temple in 1000 years in Iceland, followed by a walk through a forest and then I made my way to the Perla.
June 5th
My flight back was at 7 in the morning, a bus picked me up at 4h30. At around 1 in the afternoon I arrived back in Belgium.
