Day 15, Reykjavik City Tour

We disembark from NCL's Prima cruise ship at 8:30 am, pick up our luggage and catch the free city shuttle into town. The shuttle drops us off at The Harpa bus stop. The Harpa is a concert hall and conference center with a distinctive glass façade representing the basalt landscape of Iceland. It's an impressive structure but we need to find the Holt hotel and drop off suitcases. It’s a good 1 km (0.62 mi) walk. This is mostly a flat route except for the last three blocks that are uphill. By the time we’ve reached the hotel it feels like it was a longer distance. We store our bags as it is too early for check-in and get refreshments.
Next on our agenda is to figure out where bus stops are for tomorrow's ride to the airport. We've asked to have the bus pick us up at the stop closest to our hotel about 7 minutes’ walk but just in case we check out other bus stop options. This gives us a good feel for the central city area.
All is scoped out and it's a good time to eat before our afternoon city walk tour. There's the American Burger Bar nearby so we get a seat. I am not an adventurous eater and a burger sits well with both of us. There's a wall of pictures of American actors which we try to figure out who's who. A few faces we did not know. The food was good and we are ready for the afternoon.
Mauricio, "Mo", is our guide for the City Walk. He is from the Dominican Republic, married an Icelandic woman, has twins and has lived in Iceland for the last 6 years. One of his other jobs is stand-up comedy so he keeps it interesting with his stories and experiences as well as giving us Icelandic history, stories of trolls, customs and notes about the language. For three hours he takes us to monuments, buildings, and places of interest in downtown Reykjavik.
A note about the Icelandic language, it is our guide's opinion that this difficult language will eventually go the way of the dinosaur. Only Icelandic people speak this language. Duolingo doesn't even have it listed as an option for learning, but we can learn Klingon of Star Trek from Duolingo. Hmmm. Apparently, when The Vikings' shows have their actors speaking Old Norse it is really Icelandic. I found that logical and fascinating. Another factoid, Game of Thrones had scenes filmed in the lava fields on Iceland.
After the tour we want to either go to the Harpa or to Hallgrimskirkja, famous Reykjavik church. Not enough time to do them both. We choose to go back to the Rainbow Street and onto the church. There is a statue of Leif Ericson in front of the church. This statue was given to the people of Iceland by the United States. The church is free to enter and look around. We get a ticket to ride up to the top for an overview of the city. The day has been sunny and warm. It's a great view.
Afterwards, we are ready to get some supper and call it a day. We go back down the rainbow street (Skólavörðustígur in Icelandic) where I see a gluten free creperie. I choose the savory pizza crepe to share with Alicia and a chai latte. It hits the spot.
Back at the hotel we settle in, shower, pack and get ready for our travel home day. For the last couple of days I've had a little cough, now it's worsening. My energy level has been good and I don't have a fever. There is chest congestion and I'm thankful I have my antihistamine and decongestant with me.Lue lisää