Tuesday, 16 December 2008
Another lie in and another day of mixed weather. We decided this was the morning for a big breakfast. But we were to be betrayed by the vagrancy nature of the restaurant biz - guide-book recommended breakfast establishments were no longer there. We ended up at a place called Tivoli on the main shopping street and had the worst meal of the trip. You can't win them all!
We headed to the Iceland National Museum. This is a bit of a walk which was good after the greasy breakfast. We found a great map of Iceland in City Hall then through some of the more lived in neighborhoods of the city.
The museum is in a very strange building - 1970's-trying-to-be-art-deco office building look. But inside is very well done. The exhibit that made the biggest impressions was the outline of the settler boat on the floor, so you could see just how small it was. These people sailed from Scandinavia in something not much bigger than a van. The settler artifacts in general were interesting and extensive. There was also a recreated settler house - one room for living, sleeping, cooking, eating. Amazing to compare that to the two of us in a house with nine rooms effectively (10 if you throw in the garage - no of course the car doesn't live in there!).
The last exhibit is a look at modern day Iceland. Basically it looks like a pack rat's attic exploded - it is just long low tables with records, toys, kitchen utensils, all the modern conveniences and gadgets.
After a browse in the lovely gift shop, it was back out to the cold for another afternoon dusk walk. We had decided that we would have an at-home night. We borrowed a movie from the hotel (Night at the Museum), picked up a vast array of sushi and arranged to enjoy the roof-top Jacuzzi.
The arrangement of the Jacuzzi turned out to be the one bad experience that we had at the hotel. There was a miscommunication between members of the staff resulting in a conversation that I'm sure the staff member thought was pretty normal. To me, a non-Scandinavian who has worked in hospitality, it was pretty gruff. No matter though; all was soon remedied.
In the end it was worth the trouble - sitting in the hot water, snow falling off and on, enjoying some Viking beer, looking around at the city scape including the famous Hallgrimskirkja (under renovation so we'll have to go back to visit it), cooling off a bit. We then went in to gorge ourselves on terrific fresh sushi and lull ourselves into a dreamy state with a mindless movie.
All was set for an early night, but then Slim had a realisation. He was 30 minutes from 40, and this was not the mood to start that next decade. So, out of the pj's, into the layers of warm clothing and out into the quiet night. We didn't have much time so opted for Cafe Rosenburg; that had been our first stop on our Runtur and was just around the corner.
We found another piece of guide-book misinformation. The place was jammers! Icelanders aren't supposed to drink at all during the week. Wrong! There was even live music. A singer doing several covers and some Icelandic numbers (for one of the songs everyone got quiet and shushed any talkers - beautiful and slow but we have no idea what it was about).
So, what to drink. Well, we're in Iceland - a traditional Icelandic favourite of course! Brennivin, potato schnapps flavoured with caraway and Viking chasers. Happy 40th Slimmie!!!!
Shortly after midnight, our singer started up a familiar tune - Britney Spears' Toxic, adding another highlight to the evening.
A couple drinks later and we were back in our snug little apartment. But we had toasted the birthday boy in Icelandic style!
Wednesday, 17 December 2008
A very relaxed birthday. Slept late, snack breakfast, then out for a day of exploring the city. We tried to follow a self-guided, walking tour but ended up just going where the mood took us. Soon the mood turned to lunch. We had not yet enjoyed the Scandinavian specialty - hot dogs. We headed to the best in town which happened to be a shack on the waterfront, crunchy onions and all. Next was some shopping, including finally getting new Christmas stockings. Then back to the hotel to get ready for the birthday dinner.
I chose a traditional Iceland restaurant for dinner. I went for lamb carpaccio, arctic char and a death by chocolate dessert. Slim went for Langoustine Bisque and the Christmas buffet. I have no idea what he at - it was a never-ending line up of some very strange looking things honestly! He seemed to enjoy it though. I went all out on the candle!
One last task on the way back to our hotel. I can never resist making a snow angel, and this trip was no exception!
Thursday, 18 December 2008
Home again, home again. Late flight meant a relaxed morning of little more shopping and another Scandinavian favourite for lunch - smorrebrod - a Copenhagen discovery. Two shuttles, a scenic drive to the airport with a little snow and sun, one more Vikings and french fries at the airport, dinner at Heathrow (the multi-national Giraffe), midnight drive from Cork then great, big hug for the kitty. Another great adventure!
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