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.
That's a sight rarely seen, you with winter clothes, scarf and a hat on! Must be cold.......
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