After checking in at the hotel it was time to explore the city and try and find some food, which is easier said than done. Whenever we are on holiday we always make sure that we eat new and interesting food rather than wasting the very few meals on the same old thing. However we always make the same mistake, waiting until we are starving hungry before finding somewhere to eat. After walking past all the Chinese restaurants, which there seems to be a huge amount of in Reykjavik, we decided on a sandwich, Icelandic pastries and a coffee. A very good way to start the trip if I do say so myself.
With full stomachs we made our way to the old harbour to visit the flea market that my girlfriend was very excited about. We had a lot of fun looking through all the knitted jumpers and trying to guess the prices (even if we still couldn’t figure out the exchange rate properly) and seeing the very strange looking assortment of dried fish in the food section. I was very tempted to get another comic to join my Italian Spiderman that I bought in Venice but decided against it this time. For some reason I found it very funny that Superman in Icelandic is Supermann. It’s the little things in life isn’t it?
On the way back to the hotel we took the very scenic route. First we visited the famous Hallgrímskirkja (or big church as I call it because the real name is too long to easily remember or pronounce) as the sun was setting in the distance; a pretty amazing sight. Once we had taken our pictures and enjoyed the view we went down to Reykjavik chips which was now nice and empty. We had popped our heads in the door when we first walked through town and it was full to the brim; clearly the peak time of day. We went for ketchup which was nice but after experiencing the famous Bearnaise sauce later in the trip that would definitely be my choice next time. A nice little place that seems to always be full during the day and has a very simple menu of chips and beer as the name would suggest.
We ended the day by a nice long walk along the waterfront in the fading light and taking in the amazing view of the mountains. All the buildings in this part of the city weren’t what I was expecting. It seemed very American with big industrial steel and glass office blocks in all directions which was a very big contrast to the amazing natural scenery in the opposite direction. For some reason I had expected the city to have lots of wooden house everywhere but as soon as you leave the centre it changes drastically. The main roads leading to Reykjavik even had KFC and Taco Bell…
Once we got back to the hotel we decided to spend a little time in the hotel bar and enjoy a cold Icelandic beer which was very tasty. The bar itself was nice with big winged booths with enough space for two people to sit comfortably without being on top of each other. Once the beer was all gone we went back to the room and fell asleep phone in hand, exhausted from the very full and exciting first day.
Keep an eye out for the rest of the adventure here and the photos and videos on my social medias.
Ciao for now!
Enjoyed this post? Why not check out the rest of our Icelandic Adventure…
Icelandic Diaries Day 1 – Planes, Lanes and Automobile
Icelandic Diaries Day 1 – Food for thought
Icelandic Diaries Day 2 – A new beginning
Icelandic Diaries Day 2 – Walking, Whales and Wonderful Food
Icelandic Diaries Day 3 – The Golden Circle
Icelandic Diaries Day 3 – Waterfalls, Christmas Shops and 3 Course Meals
Icelandic Diaries Day 4 – Waterfalls, Glaciers and the Church on the Hill
Icelandic Diaries Day 5 – Stacking Stones, Hiking to Waterfalls and Basalt Columns
Icelandic Diaries Day 6 – Return to Reykjavik and the Strange Viking
Icelandic Diaries Day 7 – The Blue Lagoon and an End to Our Amazing Adventure
