A Day in Reykjavik

 Our First Day in Reykjavik:

Random photos in no particular order 

We started our day at 0700 with a good breakfast here at the hotel/ Some how an tooth implant of mine came off. Will get it fixed when we get home. Honest, the oatmeal was not that tough. 

After breakfast we struck out in the sorta nice weather for the Botanic Gardens, Good Old 14 bus took us there as they are just a short walk past the pool. At first I was not sure if we would see any flowers as most of the beds were bare and prepared for planting. A crew of horticulturalists were walking about planning the planting. Worry not as we did find some blooming flowers. We stopped in the conservatory for a WC break and check on the koi fish. We did see some  geese on the way back to the pool. 

One interesting feature near the Botanic Gardens is the Wash House. This is a location where one finds  remnants of the public location where clothes were washed and dried. The wash ladies would make the 3 km truck here carrying their laundry to wash and dry only to have to return the 3 km back to Reykjavik.  

We enjoyed a swim/soak at the favorite pool followed by a Hot Dog. :)

Next we were back on bus 14 towards the old city. Disembarking we strolled along the city pond finding our way up hill to the cemetery. 

In the cemetery you can find the grave of many famous Icelanders such as Jon Sigurdsson, the hero of Icelands independence. Some of the graves I found interesting were the mass graves of sailors who passed away in ship wrecks.  While  most graves are old there are some newer graves as recent at 2021. 

One other important thing to note is the Cemetery is a  green space where you can find examples of the many trees which used to cover Iceland.  

We finished the day at The Drunken Rabbit, just a good bit of pub time. Meeting some locals who work in the tourist industry, a coupe of guys fleeing Venezuela, an American from New Mexico, and a couple from Canada. A fun break before returning to the hotel.  

Denver to Reykjavik

DEN TO REYKJAVÍK & MORE:

We started the day by going to the gym, Went home and cleaned up, packed the car with our bags and The Boys. The Boys were all excited to go to Puppy Camp and howled and pulled us into the kennel. It is really nice to know they love the kennel. We then continued on to DEN. 

At DEN we went to the AmEx Centurion Lounge as we are flying IcelandAir and not UAL. Lounge is pretty darn nice we enjoyed drinks and lunch. Soon we scampered off to our gate and boarded our flight. 

They announced the flight was full, but it wasn’t and we were lucky to have a row to ourselves. Nice flight, nothing special in coach. Even with a row to ourselves we did not sleep well at all. 

We arrived to a cloudy and cool KEF (Keflavik), off the plane, through passport control, and out the door to the Fly Bus. After a short wait, we were on our way to the BSI where we transferred to another bus to take us to the CIty Hall. Then a short walk to our hotel for this trip, the Center Hotels Plaza. This hotel is located in the heart of the oldest part of Reykjavik. We have stayed here before and currently they are doing some major renovation. For us this is a great location, close to everything and the some. 

At check in we were offered an early check-in for 35 euro and this included breakfast. We jumped on it. After doing some unpacking we went to breakfast.  The breakfast here is a nice hot breakfast. 

After breakfast we headed out with swimsuits in hand. Over our many many visits to Iceland I have talked about getting an Iceland Wool Sweater. There are many places selling sweaters of Iceland designs but not Iceland wool and are manufactured in China. Yes, they look nice but….

I recommend going to the The Hand Knitting Association of Iceland. Here you get a known product, Icelandic Wool, and handmade, Yes you will pay a bit more, but the quality is ay better. The items there come with the name of the person who knitted your sweater. 

Yes I finally now own an Icelandic Wool Sweater. 

Next we took the bus to our favorite city pool, Laugardalslaug. It felt so good to soak in the warm saltwater hot pool. I also did a steam bath.

Surprise surprise, there is a hot dog stand right there at the pool entrance. Lunch was served. 

Backing up a bit, while walking to the wool shop we noticed a big change downtown Reykjavik, The old Post Office has been changed into a Bar/Food Court. There are several shops inside offering burgers, sushi, fish and chips, Steam buns, pizza and more. Most, if not all, are associated with a bar, it is well done and has a nice vibe. We hope to get there one night or for a lunch. 

Rejoining our tour :) the bus took us back to a stop near the Bonus (grocery store), but first, near the stop is Valdis, an ice cream shop. When in Reykjavik, do as Icelanders do, I had a passion fruit ice cream and Lynn had salted caramel. 

Bonus store was next to get some things for our room. A travelers tip, local chocolates, jams, sweet treats, etc. is a quite lot better priced at a local grocery over the tourist shops. 

We were beat after this outing and returned to our room to do some laundry, eat dinner (which we picked up at the Bonus store) and crash.