Reykjavik - Orca!

Plenty of time before this morning's tour so a bit of a pre-dawn walk is in order. So I walk up Laugavegur, turn right at Frakkastigur and arrive at Hallgrimskirkja - the magnificent church, all the more magnificent in the morning light...

Then down to the waterfront...

..and the concert hall - the Harpa.

Then it's after 9:00 so I think I'll buy a couple of postcards and a coffee and sit and write them. But everything is closed! The coffee shops are open but every other store is closed. So I'll just have a coffee then. As I'm heading off to join the CityWalk tour, the shops are starting to open - obviously Reykjavik doesn't open til 10:00 on a Saturday!

I had discovered this walking tour while googling Reykjavik. It had excellent reviews and seemed like a less formal way to see the city. It's a free tour, you just tip at the end however much you think it was worth. And it was worth a lot - it was great!

We met Marteinn outside Parliament House in front of the statue of the man who helped the town gain independence. When they had to decide date for Independence Day, they chose his birthday - Jon Stigurdson, not Marteinn...

The Parliament House doesn't fly a flag and there is no security. We have our initial introduction and basic information and then we just walk round into the backyard of the parliament building, no problem. Imagine that at the White House or 10 Downing Street.

Reykjavik's history is divided into three parts - Viking, building Reykjavik and independence. Marteinn talked about all three during the course of the tour, way too much to recount ( and I might be a bit muddled!) I know they descended from the Vikings and got independence from the Danes in 1944. Marteinn says you can rile the old timers up by mentioning those evil Danes.

The name 'Reykja-vik' means smoky bay and was named after an old hot spring that used to be at one end of town. Iceland is very forward in its views on equality - both for women and for gays. They have legalised same-sex marriage and had a gay mayor for years.

Marteinn is hilarious and tells the history really well, with funny anecdotes thrown in. There is the elf rock - elves live in rocks in Iceland - that they tried to move to construct new buildings but every piece of equipment that touched the rock failed and it remains where it was to this day.

He told of the Gryla and the 13 trolls of Christmas (or Santa Clauses). The trolls sound evil and horrible but they do give children gifts. There's Window-Peeper, Stumoy, Sausage-Stealer, and so on. 

We go through the old part of town, and past the oldest house. 

The old buildings were made of corrugated iron on the outside, wood on the inside and peat stuffing between for insulation.

Up to the court house and the statue of a Viking in a lovely park. This guy is from the sagas (Icelandic folklore) and he supposedly established the town. He put two logs in the water and said, "I'll live where they land" and they landed in Reykjavik. And last year, during gay pride week, they put lipstick on him so now he's the only gay Viking!

The crest of the town is two poles in the water - for the two logs. It is proudly displayed on the rubbish bins...

We head down to a school, they are taught English around 8 or 9 so it's no wonder everyone speaks it so well. He told of the police department which has photos on its Instagram site of them with puppies, eating ice creams, helping old ladies across the street. They are very active on social media because there is very little crime. 1.8 murders a year.

There is a prison but it's mainly full of bankers from the financial crash seven years ago. Ingason spoke a lot of the crash yesterday. It was huge here. They seem to be working their way out of it - tourism is helping. They had a million visitors last year and this year, they've already had that number and there's still two months to go so it's growing massively. So the tourists are outnumbering the locals, who number 330,000. But back to the prison - apparently it's so full there is a waiting list! Hilarious. While they're waiting to go in they wear ankle bracelets and check in with officers.

The last stop was at the Pond - beautiful natural waterway with old homes around it...

The last tale was of a recent mayor who made all the right promises and then promised to break every one of them. He won the election and proceeded to break every promise. And they loved him because he was honest. When elections came around again, they all wanted him to stand and he said he was bored with it and off he went.

I had to run away quickly so I gave him 2,000 krona - thought that was about right - (it's $21.8247) and headed off to the harbour to board the whale watching cruise. What a great business he's got, though. He's a history major and really knows his stuff but is also extremely entertaining. It's no wonder his tours are doing a roaring trade,

Part two of the day was whale watching! This is a bucket list trip!

Onto the boat, to the canteen to get a snack and who should be in the line but Paula and Petr! So lovely to see them. Gabrielle and Claudio were upstairs. Once they got their coffees, we went up and sat together as the boat sailed out of the harbour.

Look at that day! It was perfect weather. It was a bit cold out on the water but the sun was shining. It was pretty much a matter of waiting and watching until the call came out there was a whale. It was a small minke whale. It came up,to the surface a number of times before diving down for a while. I only tried to photograph it for a little while. I've learned that it's just better to watch than to try and capture it coz you'll just spend your time focusing on that rather than enjoying it. This is the best I got before stopping...

Imagine the broad back of a whale as it dives forward, the fin cutting through the surface and down...

And it certainly wasn't an orca but a minke. At one point there was a horrid fishy smell, which our guide told us was the smell of the 'stinky minke'. We followed this whale for a while before leaving him alone to go on his way and we followed another, it was very exciting and fabulous. I'm just sorry I didn't get a good photo. Minke whales don't throw the tail fin out of the water as they are only a small whale and don't need to. So seeing that remains on the bucket list!

There were lots of people everywhere and at one point I heard a bang. Looked down to see a tween looking up with a horrified look of disbelief on her face. She walked past me, holding back tears, to her mother standing just behind me. She had dropped her phone and it was now floating away in the water. I imagine for a girl that age, that's the end of her little world! Every now and then she would go back to that rail and look down, as if that might bring it back.

We were out for three hours before heading back.

Came ashore with the Chilean family, Paula gave me a hug and we parted ways. I headed off to the Harpa (took this from the boat - love the sun) to get a ticket for tonight.

Popped back to the hotel for 10 minutes, had a quick pizza and then headed back down to the concert hall.

They built the Harpa when they were deep in debt, which didn't go down too well. Apparently they think it will never run at a profit. 

The performance space and auditorium is excellent - very modern with a great rake in the seating. The - not sure what to call it! It was a one-man comedy show with a list of things we need to do to become Icelandic. For instance, number one was 'always be right'. Which means you'll argue anything because you're always right.

There was one that said 'always speak in a monotone', which he demonstrated by comparing it to heaps of other languages and their quirks. It was hilarious. Others included 'eat weird things', 'enjoy bad smells', 'believe in elves', 'read the sagas', 'walk one of the two walks' and so on. 'Change your name' where you take your name and your father's name, so I would be called Sarah Dougsdotir.

It was a very funny and actually informative show and it was over in 60 minutes so I could get back early.

Reykjavik - Snow!

All the English and Scottish hotels provide tea and coffee. Some, like St Giles, provide a matter-of-fact service. Some, like Dalhousie Castle, provide it beautifully with the assorted teas, coffees and sugars in a beautiful wooden box...

Some, like Grassmarket Hotel, provide it in keeping with the funky nature of the hotel...

Iceland has a whole different approach...

I included the breakfast when I booked this hotel - obviously it must have  been a good deal and I wasn't sure of the 'breakfast' culture of Iceland. I normally prefer to venture out and find interesting (and cheaper) places to eat, but here, I am eating in and it was a good continental breakfast - with Nescafé! Have to say I am a heathen when it comes to coffee and I actually prefer the instant!

Then it's into the foyer to wait to be picked up for today's activity - which I had swapped with today's plans last night. And the super jeep arrives and it is very cool!

We drive to the other side of town to pick up a family from Chile - young couple, Paula and Petr and his mother, Gabrielle, and her partner, Claudio. Our driver/guide is Skarphedinn Ingason! I don't think we ever called him by name after the initial introductions. They pronounce things differently to how they're spelled. Here he is, though, with the truck. He was great!

He used to play basketball and must have been pretty good coz he played with the national team a few times. Then he got married, had kids and had to find a job. A friend knew of his love for boys' toys - snowmobiles and jeeps and super trucks and suggested he do this job. And he loves it!

Paula and Petr are on their way to emigrate to Berlin and Gabrielle and Claudio have come to see them settle. They're in Iceland until Sunday. Paula has the best English and we chat a lot.

It's a two-hour drive through amazing scenery - nothing like I've seen before. 

Ingason tells us all about the scenery and bits of the history and geography of the area. All the water comes from the snow that has run onto the glacier and then melted down. It takes 50 years for the water to make it down to the river.

He tells us how pure and clear the water is straight out of the tap. I had noticed that last night. However this morning, I noticed the hot water had a smell of sulfur to it - but that's only the hot, apparently. He pulled over and ran down to fill a bottle for us all to try. It was good water!

 

  

A brief stop for coffee and then on again and up towards the glacier. Once we get close, he has to deflate the tyres so we can go off-road. The roads are extremely rough and it's a bit like a ride and is fantastic fun! And the scenery is amazing.

Then we arrive at the hut and get suited up - snow overalls, over-shoes, (don't know what they're called) balaclava, helmet, gloves...

Then it's back into the jeep for a short way until we arrive at...

Snowmobile! Very cool. We have a quick lesson...

..and then we're off - Ingason, Paula and Petr, Gabrielle and Claudio and me at the rear by myself. Only took a minute or two to get the hang of it and then we are speeding up the glacier! Amazing! Unfortunately it was not possible to drive and take photos. Also I can't operate the camera with gloves on and it was freezing so the gloves are staying on. We stopped for a moment and I snapped this...

It was amazing riding up that glacier - white snow all around, cold wind in your face, a few rocky outcrops to the right, on the left, some crazy-shaped volcanic mountains. The snowmobile bounces over the snow and is quite loud. It was just amazing. And the it started snowing!! Could it get any better?

We stopped briefly to survey the world and as we were standing there, the snow started to storm and within minutes, you could not see a thing - it was just white - incredible. See you can't see anything past the Ingason?

My hands were frozen and we realised he hadn't turned on the handle heater! So we remedied that. 

This storm created a slightly dangerous situation as it made the crevices and cracks wet and more open. Thankfully we have GPS now! So we just followed in a line down to the bottom. This was a whole different kind of amazing - couldn't see anything around us, just the three snowmobiles in front and every now and then the front two would disappear into the white. A couple of times I had to zoom ahead to catch up, which got a bit scary!

It cleared up just as we came down the last little bit. Apparently it can do that - be sunny one minute and storming the next. There were other groups arriving now and another one coming down. We stumbled over to the jeep - the walk was treacherous!

Then we manage to peel off the outer snow gear and hop back into the jeep. Paula shouts a gleeful 'yes' to Ingason's question of if we wanted to go off road and proceeded to climb this hill...

As we were approaching the main road again, the jeep stopped altogether. There was a flurry of walking talkie and mobile phone conversations and they worked out that the mechanics had been working on it and driving it and hadn't filled it with gas. And they hadn't fixed the broken petrol gauge. So it was a simple case of ran out of gas. But we were halfway up a hill in the middle of nowhere.

Two of the other jeeps in the area quickly came to our rescue and towed us back...

I think the Icelandic nature came out here and it's similar to the Aussie one - 'ah, it's an adventure. We'll get there.' And our 'she'll be right, mate.'

And she was right, mate. We were quickly at the restaurant for a late lunch - a very delicious broccoli soup and crusty bread rolls.

After lunch it was a short half hour drive to the Secret Lagoon - one of the many hot springs dotted around Iceland. I'm not a total fan of hot springs but think I might have a go. Until we get there and you have to shower before going in and it's a public change room - there are no cubicles. Not a chance I'm going in there! I'm more than happy to sit while Ingason showed me family photo. This is what the lagoon looked like though...

Then it's back home. I was in the front passenger seat and Paula was sitting behind. She leaned forward and the three of us had a great conversation listing the pros and cons of our different nations, comparing notes on politicians, health, unemployment, sport, and so on and so on. At one point we were comparing something and we're trying to use a currency we all knew - we had Oz dollar, Iceland krona, Chilean peso (?), euro, American dollar and pound. It was a really interesting conversation.

Back at the hotel, I wander back to one of the shops Ingason recommended, had a really good pizza but did have to wait a long time. 

And now to do tomorrow what I meant to do today! 

The Langjokull glacier is pretty much in the centre of Iceland so we drove to the centre of this place in two hours!

And it was such fun!!

Reykjavik, Iceland - Land of the Unpronounceables

A good, if short, sleep in the little cabin. Then into the lounge car to charge the iPad - I couldn't find a power socket in the cabin. 

Breakfast arrives and it's good - creamy Scottish oats with honey, a muffin/scone thing but a hideous coffee.

Just halfway through brekkie, the porter comes along the corridor tapping on the doors to say we've arrived and basically to get off. Which I eventually do. We've arrived at Euston station so I walk down to   Kings Cross to store my suitcase for a couple of hours. Kings Cross coz that will give me a direct ride on the Piccadilly line to Heathrow. I also find the free wifi to post yesterday's blog.

I've decided my last port of call in London should bookend my first...

It's the start of the Poppy Day campaign and there are armed forces everywhere collecting. There is a bit of a stand and lots of cameras at one point in Covent Garden. I recognise Barbara Windsor, from Eastenders and the Carry On films but only because of her height and hair and a street cleaner told me it was her. He was 'right chuffed' to see her and get a photo with her. Couldn't see much of her original face...

Of more interest was this original spitfire.

Had a lovely walk around, found a decent coffee and then headed back to pick up my bag and get on the underground to Heathrow. Bit sad to be leaving England and I must make sure it's not another 20 years before I come back.

I got an Oyster card for the tube - their ticketing system - and when you leave, you can get any money left on it refunded and they also refund the £5 for the card itself. 

Then it's through to Terminal 2 and check in. Stop for a bite and wait for the flight to board.

Some notes on England - no one seems to wait for pedestrian lights to change to the green man. You'll see one person think, "I can get across here." And off he goes. Then others think they can do the same and they take off too. Meanwhile, a double decker bus rounds the corner and they are in its direct path. They then run to the other side, laughing about how they 'got away with that'. But it's stupid and unsafe and unfair on the drivers. And it happens all the time!

There are a lot of smokers. It also seems to be okay to drop butts in the street.

I saw a man reading a newspaper on the train and when he finished, he threw it behind him. I thought that was a bit bad but then noticed others doing it. The trains leave daily papers out for people to read, which is a great touch.

And some other stuff - the falconry at Dalhousie is also called a mews - like the Royal Mews.

I was going to find Sweeney Todd/Mrs Lovett pie shop and looked it up. Then I saw it was on Fleet Street and realised I should have known that - it's not 'The Demon barber of Charing Cross Road...

The character in Shrek is not Lord Farquahar but Lord Farquaad.

When I was checking in my bag, I was asking the lovely lady at the counter if there were any Poppy Day collectors around to give them my leftover coins. She hadn't seen any but there was a charity for this exact reason and she could take my coins. Nice chat but at the end, my bag had gone through and she still held the information sticker that should have gone on it, labelling it with my flight and details. So I gave her a description of the bag and she promised she would sort it out! That would be great on arrival in Iceland - no luggage!

While waiting to board the plane, I'm charging the iPad and can see out the window to the plane. I see a trolley of luggage get loaded but don't see mine. Then another trolley rolls up and there it is. The men hover around it for a while and I want to shout at them to put it on...!

Which they eventually do, to my relief. Then it's on we go. Uneventful flight. I never know where to look when we land - on one hand, I want to know when we're about to touch down, on the other, I don't want to know.

Through customs, collect my bag - hurrah! - and welcome to Iceland! The airport has lots of quotes by famous Icelanders on the walls. Loved this one.

Get some money - $100 Australian equals about 9,000 Iceland krona so that is going to be interesting to translate. Then it's on to the shuttle bus I booked on the plane. I normally would have looked it up but forgot and so wasn't expecting the one-hour drive into Reykjavik! You could feel everyone on the bus, who had just had a two-hour flight, fall into a stupor - will this trip never end?

The landscape is almost barren, volcanic, dark soil with mountains in the distance and lots of cloud. When we reach habitation, the homes are very box-like, square and a lot of apartments.

We arrive at the bus depot but it's still not over - we then transfer onto smaller shuttle buses that will take us to our hotel. Thankfully this doesn't take too long but the entire journey has been over half as long as the entire flight itself - which is not bad, if you are expecting that...

Hotel Fron is my destination - again, a single room in a central location. And it's right on the Main Street.

Looks better in real life...

Then it's a bit of a stroll down the main street...

..before popping into a tourist place for help sorting out Saturday, I have everything set and planned but can't quite work out Saturday. The guy is great and shuffles a few things around, job done. Just a slightly different order of events but saving me $400 so that's good. And it all starts tomorrow!

Two points of note - travelling days are exhausting!

And another bucket list ticked. I remember playing the game Where in the World with Lisa Robertson (my neighbour and best friend at the time) and amongst Rome and Paris and Athens was the very exotic Reykjavik. And it's been on the list since then, now checked off.