The following is a report on a 3-day visit to Iceland in Feb 2001.
DAY
ONE
The fligh tfrom Stansted took us to Reykjavik for 3.30am. Worn out, we
arrived at the Guesthouse ‘By the Sea’ and got to bed for 4am.
We occupied the ground floor and were perfectly at home, close to the
centre of the city and harbour, with cooking facilities that saved us
a fortune on eating. This also rescued us from accidentally ordering the
local delicacy of staring sheep’s head or rancid shark steak. It
took a while to get used to the sulphur smell from the geothermically-heated
shower, though.
When
we finally awoke, we strolled the small city centre, heading first for
Hallgrimskirkja Church, to take in the city from its tower that rises
above the city like a volcano. An Elton John lookalike was trying out
the new pipe organ adding an eerie soundtrack to the view. Across the
harbour was a range of snow-capped mountains with the largest, Esja at
its heart. The low, colourful rooftops extended to lumpy fields of yellow
damp grass, that looked as if it had rarely seen daylight, and on to lava
deserts.
We drank a little duty-free wine to prepare ourselves for the Reykjavik
nightlife. By midnight, the streets were full of happy singing drunks
swigging moonshine. Everyone was smartly dressed, while we hugged our
thermals and shivered. Prices twice as high as London prevented us staying
out long or clubbing. Jeni was bothered by a persistant lesbian. We left.
We planned to use the days more for adventures rather than boozing our
way along the Laugavegur.
LINKS