Reykjavik, Day Two

I've just had a dinner of Hakkbollur (lamb meatballs) in gravy, with mashed potatoes, and with that, I think I'm officially over Iceland.

At this time of year, Iceland's days are roughly 20 hours long, and the "darkness" is more like dusk for the other 4. Apparently I was so worn out that I failed to notice any of this and slept for 12 hours last night. When I woke up, I felt totally refreshed, and was completely adjusted to the new time zone. I'll say it one more time: having screwed up circadian rhythms can be a blessing, but only when you're traveling.

After breakfast and coffee, I spent my afternoon wandering beautiful downtown Reykjavik, in the wind and drizzly rain. I saw lots of churches and statues, walked around the pond, bought some souvenirs, and took a few pictures. And now I'm pretty much done with this place.

It seems that Iceland is a country like no other in many ways, but that's because of the variety of natural wonders all within this small island. I'm probably 90% City Girl and I couldn't justify spending $150, and a whole day, exploring nature with a tour group. If I ever come back here, I'll rent a car and go find nature on my own. This time, I stayed in town, and there wasn't all that much to see.

The oldest building in Reykjavik was built in something like 1745, so it's not exactly filled with the historical sites of other European cities. The streets in the Old Centre are one tourist trap after another, and I was finding myself hard pressed to spot any locals. I'm a sucker for water, and there's plenty of that, so I quite enjoyed sitting on the various banks. It's a nice, friendly place and absolutely worth the trip, I've just had trouble experiencing anything distinctly Icelandic here.

Because of that, combined with the kitchen facilities in my hotel room, I decided to save money and not eat out much. I have tried local brews and foods: the aforementioned lamb dinner (meatballs a bit gamey, but fantastic gravy!), and skyr (sort of like yogurt, but technically a healthier form of cheese). I figured the (many many!) bars were full of other tourists, and skipped them for a couple of beers from the 1011. As a side note, every third store front seems to be a pub here, but I haven't seen a single store selling liquor or wine, and the grocery stores don't even have beer. The convenience store (1011, the Icelandic 7-11?) has only light beer with 2-3% alcohol. Very odd to me.

So I've foregone the drunken antics and am in for the night, especially since I have to get up at 4am to get back to the airport for my flight tomorrow. Next I'm off to Amsterdam. It's unfortunate that I no longer partake of any of the typical activities tourists visit the Netherlands for, but I'm sure I'll find something to get up to...