A Very Very full day

Day 2 

The evening was filled with short stretches of sleep as we are adjusting to the time zone change. The weather is still windy and I can see a star or two in the dark sky. 

We started  the day with a walk along the waterfront past the Harpa, city opera house, to the Solfar.  

Busy morn to pickup and sign a cache lots of Muggles as the Geocachers say.  

In 1986 the district association of the West Part of Reykjavik funded a competition for an outdoor sculpture, to celebrate the city’s 200 year anniversary. The Sun Voyager was the winning piece.  

It is a common misunderstanding that Sun Voyager is a Viking ship. It is quite understandable that many tourists think this when traveling in Iceland, the land of the sagas. Nonetheless, it should be known that this was not the original intention. It is a dream boat and an ode to the sun. It contains within itself the promise of undiscovered territory, a dream of hope, progress and freedom.

We tried to locate a geocache at the Solfar but alas it had not been noted as found for several years. We feel good about our finding the location but feel the cache is no longer there. 

Making our way back towards the Harpa, we passed another Geocache, Yes we found the cache but given the large number of people about we did not retrieve and sign the cache. We had fun finding the location and that is what is important to us. 

It was time to purchase our Reykjavik Card so off to the City Hall Visitors Information desk and made our purchase. This card gives one admission many attractions around the city, including several city pools, as well as public transportation.  

A stop at Bæjarins beztu pylsur was in order. For about the next 6-12 months this famous hot dog stand will be located near the Raddison Blue down town. There is an amazing amount of construction happening along the Waterfront causing the stand to be moved to this temporary location. 

Maria, who was working the stand, told us it would be returned near the original location when the construction projects allowed. We each had a pylsur with everything for lunch. Yes my friends these are the best hot dogs in the world.  So good we ate them before we could even think about taking a picture. 

With our Reykjavik cards activated, we next stopped at the Settlement Exhibition or 871 +/- 2. 

While digging an underground parking garage in 2001, construction workers came across the ruins of a large Viking-age longhouse in downtown Reykjavik. The archaeological remains were excavated and found to be dating from 871 plus or minus two years.

The longhouse is now preserved at its original location and is the focal point of the exhibition about life in Viking Age at The Settlement Exhibition. Using digital projectors the Viking longhouse is brought back to life providing insights into the environment of a Reykjavik farm at the time of the first settlers.  

This gives one a good sense of how the early peoples of Iceland lived. Thus our next stop was the National Museum. 

Photos along the way at 1300: 

One should make time for a trip to the National Museum which will leave you fully enlightened about the making of the Icelandic nation and its history.

The museum offers a variety of fascinating exhibitions and one permanent display illustrating lavishly the story of Iceland’s past, from the medieval days of Viking settlements to current contemporary culture. The main exhibition has over 2,000 artifacts discovered in various parts of the country. In pride of place amongst the museum’s many treasures is the Valthjófsstadur door, featuring elaborate medieval engravings depicting scenes from the legendary 12th century knight’s tale Le Chevalier au Lion.

Thor

Drinking horn with the Garden of Eden carving 

Trawling line cutter used during the Cod Wars - More on that war later 

Skaters check out the bone skates on the left 

What struck me on this visit was the information about the first Viking settlers. The Vikings traveled to new lands to raid, trade and settle. Their travel to Iceland was only to settle as Iceland was uninhabited when  they arrived. Their boats had to carry supplies to start their settlements, so they would have carried animals and seeds. Their boats were only about 66-70 feet long and had a beam of abut 20 feet. These are my estimates from an outline on the floor. 

Interesting that Skyr has been found in the excavation of many sites, Skyr is Icelandic Yogurt, so when eating Skyr one is really eating an age old Viking staple. 

I was intrigued by the wood carvings, impressed at the detail. There are many examples throughout the exhibits. 

The next floor of the museum deals with the development of modern Iceland. Here one learns of the influence of fishing and wool as trade items. The waters around Iceland are excellent fishing grounds and once discovered, were soon fished by many other nations.  

I should mention the Iceland Flag, white symbolizes the glaciers, the blue symbolizes the sea and sky, and the red in the cross is for volcanic fire. So there you have some Fun With Flags, Sheldon would be proud. (some will get the Big Bang reference). 

Time for a swim so we start walking to a city pool. We passed a bakery and were drawn in for a local doughnut, a fried twist of sorts. Lynn’s was chocolate covered and mine was plain. It gave us fuel to continue our walk. 

Vesturbaejarlang is the city pool we visited. Here as one enters there are several signs instructing one how to shower, including the areas of the body not to miss. The pools supply a shower soap and oft times there is a monitor to make sure you shower.  We enjoyed a nice thermal swim in various pools of different temperatures. 

It was rather quiet probably due to the time of day. A youth swim team arrived and started their practice session. The Swim coaches were dressed in insulated overalls as the temp was -1C. I think it would be hard for them to observe the individuals form due to the steam rolling off the water. 

After our relaxing soak, we walked to the water front for the sunset at 1600.  There was a statue we think dedicated to the life saving efforts. The tide was low and there was a good number of various waterfowl and shore birds in the area. I would only be guessing at any identification of these birds as  it was rather dark. 

We then jumped on a bus to get us back near city center. Traffic was getting heavy and we jump off and walked along the lake to city center and stopped at the Drunken Rabbit Pub. 

The Drunken Rabbit Pub is Irish in nature and the lads tending the bar are, yes, from Ireland. Good fun having a pint and a ginger beer (for Lynn) chatting with fellow travelers. We were told there is live music there every night starting at 2200, like I will be awake by then, LOL. 

Look a Hot Dog Stand!!!

Christmas lights still up

Kewl Bike Rack 

We then carried on returning to our hotel, stopping for yes another hot dog.  Our dinner was a cup of soup, bread and cheese, with Skyr for dessert. 

I was really tired and crashed early for me. Thus is must have been a good day.      

It is nice that these museums offer free lockers for stowing your coats and packs.