The Land of Fire and Ice

Part 1 – Reykjavik, Dark & Windy Welcome to Iceland

Arriving in the dark of early morning to a windy and cold foreign land, our lack in sense of perspective was allowing our imaginations to make this land more massive then we would quickly come to find. We had just worked our way through the manageable size airport, and now waited at a shuttle stop with only a couple other travelers; the cold wind finding areas of our clothing to cut through.  We waited for a good 20 minutes prior to boarding the bus, then to the car rental.

“Extra insurance?” the car rental attendant questioned.

“No thanks.” we responded with a guilty smile, knowing that in the over the next three days we were only going to be driving up rocky bluffs and past volcanoes, near geysers and waterfalls, across tectonic plates and along black sand beaches.

Car keys in hand, still a couple hours till sunrise, we were officially kicking off Day 1 of our extended weekend excursion across Iceland.

With the sun finally up, our first stop was Hallgrimskirkja  cathedral. The wind nearly blew us away while walking around the tallest church in Iceland, but from the observation level of the cathedral we were able to see all of this historic and eccentric harbor town, Reykjavik.

We slipped into a warm coffee shop that seemed to be bustling compared to the rest of the city that appeared to still be waking up. We knew we were pushing our luck, but from there we attempted an early check-in at the room we would be staying in as we were more exhausted from our red eye flight then we anticipated. With success we were able to reach the owner, who provided us with the information to access the parking garage and apartment.  We were pleasantly surprised by the apartment we had rented as we had a kitchen, living room, separate bedroom, bathroom and laundry machine. With no hesitation we unpacked, took a quick nap, woke up and had some early afternoon Icelandic beers (we made sure to purchase two six packs at the aiport duty free), and then we set out to continue sightseeing around the capital city.

Since we stayed near the harbor, we were able to step out of our rental apartment and walk the harbor front, exploring shops along the piers and making our way east toward the Harpa Concert Hall and Solfar (“Sun Voyager”) sculpture.

The Harpa is an architectural sight to see, and not only from the outside.

As for the Sun Voyager, this outdoor metal sculpture was designed by Jon Gunnar Arnason to commemorate the 200th anniversary of the city of Reykajik. It just so happened that this 200th anniversary occurred in 1986, my birth year. It also just so happened that this thrilling weekend getaway was in celebration of my 30th birthday. It is said that the artist of Solfar, “intended it to convey the promise of undiscovered territory, a dream of hope, progress and freedom.” How perfect for the occasion!

We enjoyed walking a good portion of the city and taking in the uniqueness that it offered. Simply by observations of the street name signs at intersections, we knew we would not attempt to learn the complex but intriguing Icelandic language on our short weekend getaway. There were a few restaurants with some familiar American names, familiar as in Hollywood, which were hard not to notice amongst the surrounding Icelandic language. While the Big Lebowski and Chuck Norris bar and restaurants were fun, we elected to dine at a cozy harborside restaurant, enjoying several lobster dishes.

After the long travels the previous night and with plans to drive the “Golden Circle” the following day and, we decided to keep it a relatively early night, making one final stop at a small grocery to get supplies to pack lunches for the next days road trip prior to retiring to our rental.