For our final days of exploring Iceland, the Island of Fire and Ice, we investigated Reykjavik, the capital city. Nearly 70% of Iceland’s citizens live in the Greater Reykjavik’s region. (Roughly 235,000 reside around Reykjavik whereas the entire Island is home to about 345,000 residents.

We had settled into the same hotel we had on our first day in Iceland, The Foss Hotel Reykjavik. I’ve mentioned a couple of times (for example here, and here) how fantastic Iceland’s hotel breakfasts are. Here’s an example. When we made our morning entrance into the Foss Hotel dining room, we usually began by selecting from a variety of fresh juices and coffee choices and taking our filled cups and glasses to a table waiting with folded napkins and flatware. Having established our beachhead, we made our initial foray to the lengthy line bulging with appetizing items.

The hot portion of the line offered bacon, eggs, sausages, hash browns and other potatoes, meat balls, baked beans, miso soup, pancakes, and more. Another section featured a broad selection of cold meats, cheeses, sauces and salsas. There was a selection of flavorful breads ranging from Icelandic black breads to rye and flatbreads. Toasters stood at the ready, as did a selection of butters and a generous mix of delicious jams.

If you have a yen for cereal, hot or cold, you couldn’t find a better place. The choices covered the gamut for discerning taste buds. After that, of course, were yogurts, skyr, milks, and creams, along with a cornucopia of toppings, twenty or more as I recall, each neatly stored in shiny stainless steel containers and including all of the common nuts, not to mention other options such as chia seeds and goji berries. In short, here was a cereal lover’s nirvana.

Last, but definitely not least, were the pastries. These tasty teasers usually were too much for us to consume while on the premises, but we couldn’t pass them up. Wrapped in paper napkins, they made a fine snack with coffee later in the day.

“Flying” over Iceland

Reykjavik shines with attractions. On Friday we rambled a good distance, walking along the shore and making our way to an immensely popular feature called FlyOver Iceland. Once inside that building, we buckled ourselves into seats before beginning our breath-stopping ride, our seats responding as to gravity while we skimmed virtually over Iceland’s wonders. You can experience an exhilarating sample of our experience by clicking HERE. (Do not pass up this opportunity! You will love the dynamic views of Iceland’s stunning topography. I suggest you right click on the link and open it in a new tab, ideally on a PC.)

We naturally sampled some of Iceland’s most popular provender. After “flying” over Iceland, we stopped for lunch at Reykjavik’s oldest hot dog stand, called Bæjarins Beztu Pylsur (English translation: “The best hotdog in town”). We had walked past the stand several times, and each time there had been a long line of folks waiting patiently to order from that little stand that has been in business since 1937! Anne took her place in line shortly after 1:30 p.m. while I settled onto a nearby bench to observe her progress. Some 20 minutes later she returned with our lunch, and a smile.

We learned these hotdogs are made from lamb as well as pork and beef. Toppings include crispy onions, raw onions, ketchup, mustard, and remoulade. Anne had ordered mine with everything, and hers with all but raw onions. The hotdogs, we discovered, were surprisingly delectable.

Well fortified by our satisfying lunch, we nosed around the city center, slipping down to the harbor and marching up, down, and across much of the city center.  As the afternoon faded, we headed back to the Foss Hotel. Anne proudly noticed she had accumulated over 15,000 steps that day (as I think she had on other days as well). That meant we had put 7 miles or more on our shoe leather that day. Actually, it wasn’t unusual for us. We hiked hours every day.

We popped into the Hotel’s Beer Garden for our evening meal, sharing an order of fish and chips and splitting a burger. Although the bar serves an astronomical number of brews from around the world, we settled for local tasty brews. After dinner we began packing our suitcases for tomorrow evening’s flight home.

Saturday

After lingering over the final morning meal of our trip, Anne and I ran our eyes over the hotel’s dining room for a final time, storing memories of Iceland’s fantastic breakfasts. Next, we finished our packing, checked out, and left our luggage with the porter. We had more to see and do. Our first stop was the Hallgrimskirkja Lutheran Church, which sits atop a long, sloping hill about 3/4 a mile from the Foss Hotel. With our eager stamina, we made the climb in less than Google’s estimated 15 minutes.

The church is beautiful, as the above collage shows. Notice the openings high above. Identical sets are on all four sides of the edifice. We took an elevator up to near the top and climbed the remaining stairs to the bell tower where we admired the city in all four directions. I took the featured image of this post that looks to the northeast from the tower, toward the Foss Hotel Reykjavik. Inside, the organ pipes are big, much larger than they appear in the photo above. And finally, did you notice the shadows of Anne and me? The sun was SHINING, a rarity during our trip (but we have no complaints).

After our leisurely visit to the church and its surroundings, we ambled down the hill, zigzaging from street to street to take stock of more of the town and making our way to the harbor where, we had been told, a super gustatory experience could be had at Saegrefinn (“The Sea Baron”), Gourmets near and far claim that restaurant makes the best lobster soup ever, and it comes, along with bread and butter, at a reasonable price in expensive Iceland. We, as people usually must do, waited the better part of an hour to be seated. The verdict? The lobster soup is truly tasty, but I think I’ve had lobster bisque equally good.

After enjoying that renowned soup, we walked briskly back to the Foss Hotel to collect our luggage and wait for our driver to return us to the airport. While waiting, we watched the lobby’s TV stream a live view of the nearby volcano (just 20 miles away) as it continued its recent eruption, spurting out bursts of fiery lava that oozed bright red onto its slopes.

Our  driver, the same friendly woman who had brought us into town, came a bit early and efficiently deposited us at Keflavik International Airport. We took off on time for our evening flight to Chicago, officially ending our delightful eight days in Iceland, the island of fire and ice. We flew over Greenland and, being far north, that land mass was still bathed in sunlight as we passed overhead. I’ll end this series with a collage I put together for us to ponder. Any thoughts?

Next time, I’ll tangle with another topic. Thanks for stopping by. And stay tuned.