So, I'm back from Iceland and all the photos are processed.
People usually associate Iceland with stunning landscapes and stuff, but I'll get to those in a bit. Our trip started in Reykjavik, the capital. There are two main cities in Iceland, the other being Akureyri, which we didn't get to visit on this trip. All of the little towns that exist outside the capital are really tiny, usually consisting of a few blocks of houses, a gas station, and a hotel or two.
Our flight got in at 6 in the morning with 4 hours to sunrise, so we took a nap in the rental car while we waited for a cafe to open up so we could get some coffee. Cafes are probably our most visited places when we travel anywhere in the world. We always try to stop in to grab the free wifi and get our bearings. Not to mention, the caffeine helps shake off the jet lag, which got particularly wonky on this trip for some reason.
The weather wasn't so bad. It was in the mid 40s the whole time we were there. Until we got there I had been having panic attacks about being whited-out along the Ring Road, but it was extremely mild and at times I skipped my insulation layer. It gets pretty windy and rainy, but a proper shell (Gore Tex or any of its clones) will make them a non-issue. However, the weather gets extremely random and can go from a peekaboo of sunlight to a violent downpour and back in ten minutes. In return, you get a lot of rainbows. Rainbows everywhere.
Our accommodations in Reykjavik were pretty nice rental apartments. They ran us about $120 a night during our off-season trip. For some reason, we did not see a single queen or king sized bed our entire time in Iceland. They were all twin beds, either on opposite sides of the room, or separate beds bound together with a large sheet.
The apartments were furnished with lively interior design. So were most other places in Iceland, actually. It kind of reminded me of what I saw in Amsterdam and Stockholm.
Reykjavik is a pretty small city. Its main metropolitan area is about a mile square, and comfortably walkable in a weekend. Parking is pretty easy to find, and pretty easy to pay for if you have a car you want to just leave around for a while -- you can pay an entire day in advance. It didn't work out to very much.
If you want some decent views of the city, you can go to Hallgrimskirkja, a church situated pretty close to the middle of the city proper. It's also the tallest building in Reykjavik, so you can take the elevator up to the clock tower (for a fee) and have an unobstructed view all the way to the Snaefellsness peninsula.
So, what's the vibe in Reykjavik? During the day, it's pretty quiet. It's far from empty, though. There are plenty of tourists and plenty of business catering to tourists. There are lots of gift shops selling roughly the same Icelandic memorabilia -- stuffed puffins, things with vikings on them, things made of Icelandic wool, etc. That's not to say shopping is a drag in Iceland. I've always found the Northern Europeans to have pretty nice taste. There are some decent shops mixed in with the souvenir shops that will carry some interesting designer clothing and housewares.
For the most part, the locals seem pretty carefree and not in any particular rush. In Reykjavik, you're rarely ever from where you probably need to be, and it'll probably wait for you to get there, anyway. I guess the only thing that could ever be an issue is making use of sunlight -- in November, the sun rises at 10am and starts setting around 4pm. The only problem that really caused was with photography, but whatever. If it's too dark to take photos, it just means I'm off the clock.
Oh, speaking of good taste, keep an eye out for Icelandic lobster soup, or humarsupa. I must have had a gallon of the stuff while I was in Iceland. Make sure to order it every single time you encounter it. It will always be good.
If you're looking for a nice dinner, check out Grillmarkadurinn (Grill Market). They have a nice tasting menu. Warning, it includes whale. It was minke whale, which I made sure to look up and was kind of relieved to see that it was listed under "least concern" by the IUCN. Still, I didn't think it was particularly exciting -- think of beef that tastes kind of like tuna.
The rest of the meal was pretty solid, though. The dessert stole the show. I wish I remembered more of it, but they were particularly generous with the wine pairing, which paired pretty well with the jet lag.
Anyway, as I already said, Reykjavik is a pretty small town, so you shouldn't have to worry about missing out on too much. We actually took the time in Reykjavik to relax. We had a lot of travelling ahead of us.
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