Thursday, September 9, 2010

Day One - Reykjavik

We are here! Iceland is all we had hoped for and more. It is magical and beautiful and exciting. Reykjavik is so fun and unique. We've never been anywhere like it and it's nothing like other world capitals. The city is small and vibrant and artsy -- perfect for us!

Our flight arrived at 6am at the tiny Keflavik airport and we then took the Flybuss into Reykjavik. The drive into the city was incredible -- this country is so sparsely populated with so much empty space. It was so refreshing to just drive through this landscape with nothing in sight. It is beautiful and looks so rugged and ancient. I could totally imagine that it looked just the same when Vikings first came ashore here. This is the first place I've ever been where I could so vividly picture the history of some place.

After checking into our hotel we walked down the street to find some breakfast. We stopped at a cafe called Prikið where we ate omelets while people watching from the second floor.

The rest of the day was spent just exploring and picture taking and eating hot dogs. We did stop back at the hotel for a short nap to help us get through the day (none of us got much sleep on the flight over) and then we had dinner at Austur Indíafélagið, an Indian restaurant (the guidebook says it's the Northernmost in the world). Dinner was insanely good, the restaurant is lovely, and we made friends with the Indian guys that worked there. We were very happy.

Our hotel, CenterHotel Klopp, is directly across the street from a bar/club, so it's a pretty bumping place once the sun goes down. Loud music and loud people mean we have to wear earplugs to bed, but it's worth it to be right in the center of the city where we can walk to everything.

Here are a few photos from our first day!


On the bus into Reykjavik.



Amazing countryside. It's like another world!

 In love already.





Walking around the city after checking in to our hotel. Reykjavik is covered in pretty art.

Breakfast at Prikið.








Domkirkja.

Baejarins Beztu hot dogs.

Hallgrímskirkja. Totally stunning.





No comments: