Reykjavik - Iceland Day One

Reykjavik, Iceland is a fascinating city. It is the northern most capital city in the world. Interestingly, because the Gulf Stream heads up that way and circles Iceland, it does not get frigid cold. The Gulf Stream is actually the reason people can live in Iceland. The entire city is heavily influenced by the Scandinavian cultures, so it feels very European.  The people speak Icelandic, and all the signs and menus are in Icelandic. I love the sound of the language when locals speak. It has Germanic roots, and sounds quick fluid, with long words interweaving with one another. I had fun trying to say the words correctly.

After an overnight flight, Mum and I landed in Iceland at 6 AM, and the first stop after all the transport and hotel to-do's, was coffee. I knew that Reykjavik Roasters was a 6 minute walk from the hotel. This coffee shop quickly became my favourite. Clean, modern, and cosy. They serve a delicious cappuccino. I also had porridge with jam (it was so warm and comforting). I could have sat there all day, but there was a whole city to explore.

So out we went. It was drizzly and cold, but stayed about 40 degrees. It cleared up as time went on. We found the bakery that I heard about, Brauð & Co. and had a cinnamon roll fresh out of the oven (still warm) that was the best cinnamon roll I think I've had.

We ate the cinnamon roll (split it because they are as big as ones face) outside in the shadow of the tallest structure in Iceland, the Hallsgrimskirkja. The church dominates the city skyline, and is a great reference point from most places in the city. The architecture is designed to mimic the landscape, and when you see all the basalt columns around the island (from all the volcanic activity), you can see how it very much resembles that. Inside, there are no decorations or adornments. The space is calming and spacious, reaching skyward, bringing your eyes upwards with it. Perhaps that was the purpose of the design. The queue for elevator to the top was very long, so we came back later in the day to do that, when it wasn't as busy. The tower is also a clock, which chimes every 15 minutes and the hour, of course. It chimed when we were at the top, and it was quite loud. The views at the tops were incredible! The mountains, the water, the city. 

We also walked down to the water for the views and to check out the Harpa, a concert hall made of glass. Inside, the variations of glass is astonishing. The sunlight comes through at different angles. It all seems to reflect the water of Iceland, whether iceberg or sea water.

Other highlights include a bookstore that was fun to browse, but since most of the books were in Icelandic (they did have an English section), I could not buy anything, which was probably good since prices in Iceland are really high. I actually did end up buying two books a few days later, in a different bookstore. Food was expensive, but we ended up eating very well at a place called Sandholt for lunch (a bakery/cafe and probably one of my favourite meals), and Vinyl for dinner (this was an all vegan cafe which was absolutely delicious, that played all kinds of records). While the food in Iceland is about double what we are used to paying, it is excellent quality. So fresh.

To sum up, it was a very full day, and we were going off of no sleep, but we couldn't help but smile at how amazing Reykjavik was. Our hotel was very nice, with a stunning view of the city and the water - Foss Hotel Reykjavik. We fell asleep very quickly.