I flew from Seattle to JFK and then caught my connection into Reykjavik. I arrived early in the morning and it was a stark difference between the night lights of all of the planes and city life of New York compared to the pretty desolate landscape of Iceland out of my plane window. I took a quick shuttle from the airport into the city and walked until I stumbled upon my hotel. It is my first European country during all of my travels and it felt strange to me. I kind of missed the chaos, warm friendliness, and complete different environment I normally feel when I arrive in a new city. I was fighting off jet lag and the 3 hours of sleep I got on the plane, but decided to push through it and go explore the city. The morning started off sunny, but was soon drizzling just like the saying went in Iceland "If you don't like the weather, just wait a minute and it will change." I walked up and down the waterfront to see the Sun Voyager sculpture and the Harpa Concert Hall, eating street food as I went like lobster soup with cream and a lamb sandwich. I got my bearings and checked out the architecture such as Radhus with its moss covered walls and colorful houses and looked as the fun graffiti in alleyways and on the sides of buildings. It wasn't as cold as I had expected, so I was able to wander all day, stopping inside museums or shops when the heavy rains came. Went to Hallgrímskirkja, a church with a statue of Leif Erickson outside. I ate dinner in a cute little pub with a local musician and enjoyed drinking a few Icelandic lagers. I turned in early to get a good sleep before my early dive the next morning.
Got up to watch the sun rise over Hallgrímskirkja out my window. Ate the included breakfast with my hotel (with yummy Icelandic yogurt) and waited for the dive company to come pick me up. The group I went diving with were a fun bunch. Luckily, I was not the only one with no dry suit experience. We drove out of the city to Silfra Rift. The place was beautiful on a lake. It was my first time seeing all the black lava rocks and moss of white, green, yellow, and sometimes pink up close. We geared up in the cold wind in our dry suits, after being given a quick briefing of the area and our equipment. The suit was huge. They warned us that the water was cold as it came straight from the glaciers (2 degrees Celsius!). After immersing into a little pool, you start swimming through these underwater crevices. It is crystal clear water (delicious to drink). Your head and hands go numb in seconds, as they only have neoprene wet suit material covering them. It is shallow, but amazing. The algae was bright green and the water was so blue. No aquatic life, but I did get to see a duck's butt as he floated on the water above me. At one point during the dive, I actually got to reach my arms out and touch both the North American and Eurasian plates at the same time. Super different dive for me, but really fun. I had a few buoyancy issues at first, but got the hang of the dry suit pretty quickly. At one point, I forgot to inflate the suit and not just the BCD and felt the "Dry Suit Squeeze" where it feels like you are being vacuum sealed. It is a cold walk back to the vans, and I was glad I chose to only dive it once instead of going back in.
Afterwards I went to few sights along the Golden Circle. Due to Iceland's constantly changing weather, there are rainbows galore. I even saw double rainbows! First was Selfoss, a massive waterfall. The sound of the rushing water was tremendous and depending on the winds, you get pretty wet walking along side of the path leading down to the falls. Again, the rich green vegetation next to the black lava rock was beautiful. Next was Geysir, a hot spring erupting geyser. There is a smell of sulphur in the air, but not overwhelming. It was quite active when I was there and pretty fun to try as get as close as possible, waiting for the thing to erupt and hoping the wind didn't blow it your way. I watched many a tourist with a full camera set up get completely drenched right. Wandered around the area, checking out the colorful earth and steam seeping out of areas in the ground. Then I enjoyed my first Icelandic ice cream before heading back to the city.
I had tried to make it back to the city in time to check out the world famous "Icelandic Phallological Museum" which just happened to be right next to my hotel. Sadly, it closed right before I made it back, so that will jsut have to wait for another time. Instead, I decided to attempt to eat a supposed national dish called Hákarl, which is fermented Greenlandic shark that is then hung to dry for months due to its poisonous levels of urea. I suppose it is no shocker to anyone that fermented urea poison shark tastes freaking TERRIBLE. Acquired taste my butt... I have tried all kinds of suspect things, but this was by FAR the worst. I was gagging to get down the second urine-odored piece and then gave up. I luckily had the Icelandic liquor Brennivan to chase it with (which is also terrible and known as the "80 proof Black Death", but far less terrible that after rotten piss shark, it actually is a welcome flavor).
My last real night in Reyjavik before meeting up with three couchsurfers the next day to check out some of Iceland's Southern and Eastern parts, I watched the sunset from the top of the tower in Hallgrimskirche. It was a very nice view and was even better with the sounds of choir practice coming from below. Then I walked the waterfront again, amongst all the evening joggers and walkers. The Harpa Concert Hall has lights under its glass panels that change color and design, which is fun to see at night. Afterwards then I treated myself to one of the most amazing restaurant meals I have ever had. I was given the recommendation by a previous co-worker turned chef. The restaurant was near the waterfront and was called Fiskfelagid or Fish Company. They had a four course Icelandic chef tasting menu, using locally sourced food. It was a splurge, but it was fabulous! I had found that while Iceland is kind of expensive, a meal like this at home would have been comparably priced. The first course was fried cod cheeks & scallops with cauliflower couscous and pureé, topped with smoked icelandic skyr and smoked cod foam. The second course was perch with marinated shrimps, fried chicken skin crisps, & pickled celery. The third course was prime of lamb and oxtail with rhubarb, beets, onions, potatoes, water cress. And lastly, dessert was skyr mousse and with liquorice sponge pudding topped with bilberries. Fantastic!
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