Day 14, Sep 7: Reykjavik 2

The rain cleared out overnight and the day was sunny, bright and breezy. After breakfast at the hotel, we went next door, literally, to the Settlement Center. This museum is located underground and is the site of an archeological excavation of a turf-roofed long house, supposedly from about 872. The site was discovered during the construction of the hotel we're staying at, Reykjavik Centrum. The displays on the walls tell the story of the earliest settlers and the discovered artifacts have been dated accurately to plus or minus two years. The description of the long house was very similar to the reconstructed house of Erik the Red that we saw. The wall displays continue the settlement story through the centuries to the early 20th century. It was very informative.

Icelanders take a lot of pride in their history. The country is the only one in the world that has its entire history documented. There were no people here before the first documented settlers and they have kept good oral records and sung its legends ever since. The earliest years, beginning around the 870s, was documented in writing by the 11th century. The Sagas are part of the histories, and they are reasonably true. The histories of herring and cod wars over many centuries is well documented. We've been exposed to various parts of these histories as we've traveled the Ring Road. The Settlement Center provided a recap and a continuous story. This city, Reykjavik (Smokey Bay, probably because of steam vents across the bay), traces its origin to the first recorded settler, Ingolfur Arnarsen, who built the first farm here in 872 or so. The city can trace land ownership from Anarsen's time to incorporation.

We walked over to the Flea Market held on Saturday and Sunday. A few dozen stalls were selling a mix of cheap woolen goods, Icelandic foodstuffs (we sampled the dried cod, ok), antiques, and typical flea market trinkets and t-shirts. Walked on past the famous hotdog stand, with a line 20-long even this early. It was blustery and a bit chilly as we approached the Harpa, the principal event venue in the capital. This glass prism enclosed, awesome building is home to the country's symphony, opera, chorale, and big band. We got tickets for a show tomorrow afternoon and walked around inside. Strolled along the Old Harbor walkway to the Viking boat sculpture. Turned into town and climbed the slope to the shopping street, Laugavagur. Walked and looked in the shops then stopped for a pastry and coffee at Sandholt. Down the street and more shops until, at the bottom, a government office building, the office of the speaker of parliament - un-pretentious and plain. Back to the hotel for a rest from walking.

I walked up Tungata to check out the Catholic church and mass times. After the Catholic church was built in 1929, the Lutheran fathers decided they needed a better church. So they hired the same architect to design what is the Hallgrimskirkja that rises higher than the catholic church. Lutherans outnumber Catholics by about 9 to 1. Back to report on my walk. We'll probably go out for dinner in a short time.

We went out looking for dinner, for a guidebook recommended but they were booked up. Down the street and around the corner, we came to Hresso, billed as "The Original Icelandic Bistro." Had a great dinner with a starter of an Icelandic Taster plate, which had dried, pounded fish with butter, smoked salmon, pickled herring, artic char mousse, bacalao mousse, flat bread, rye bread, and a couple other things - Great! For main course, Gail and Marie had the lamb chop while I opted for the fish pie - also good. (Here I am raving about food after ranting about it the other day.) Back to the hotel.

Some things we didn't do: No hiking. Marie did some small hikes some evenings after we camped but we were on the move and couldn't find the time. There are, however, plentiful hiking trails all over the island and helpful maps at many roadside rests. It's a hiker's paradise. We didn't see the northern lights - it's not the time of year. Didn't go to the Westfiords. Too far to go in our time frame. There are hundreds of places and attractions we didn't see, even though they were on our route. We had to pick and choose. It's trite but true, the more you see, the more you know there is more to see.Read more