Or, how I survived bashing my face in with the car door

I often find that when I travel I have these themes that start turning up. When I went to Costa Rica, Panama, and Peru for seven weeks, that theme was appeasing the travel gods by letting go of things that I didn’t need, and were overburdening me. A little of it metaphysical, the rest, the stuff in my backpack that made a taxi driver go “oof” when he picked it up. So every day I let go of something.

On my travel to Iceland, it’s been about finding sudden happiness in spontaneous smiles, and sometimes stairs and climbing, because there’s a lot of that, and my goof ups, like the face bashing, but we’ll get to that tomorrow. 

Travel to Iceland – Day 1 

The flight from Newark, NJ is a little over five hours. I love that I’ve got an exit row with plenty of space in front of me to stretch my legs. However, my video screen is an extra row away, so I focus on sleeping. A good plan anyway since I arrive in the morning for Iceland and I want to get as close to comfortable with their time as I can.

As the airplane begins to turn icy cold, a kind woman sitting in the isle seat makes sure I get a blanket, and I sleep away the long flight.

Arrival in Iceland is exciting, but first I’ve got to get through all the stops. I turn my phone on and Tmobile kindly informs me that my phone will work just fine in Iceland.

Passport check done, and then customs and I’m on my way to the next stop. I have to get a COVID test.

I walk into the testing center and I’m pointed toward a big burly man in the corner. He’s wearing a blue gown and a shield over his face. The others here are women and are chatting.

“Hello,” I say to him in a cheery voice.

“Stand here.” He says like I’m a military cadet and points at the wall. 

I stand and wonder at the power these medical professionals have to affect your mood and everything.

“Put your nose in the air.”

I do that and he shoves a projectile up my nose so far, I’m pretty sure he’s reached my brain. 

“Open your mouth.”

I do that and he takes a swab in my throat and I gag.

Meanwhile, there’s a guy in the next space arguing with a nurse that he’s fine and she doesn’t need to take samples. Good luck with that man.

My burly guy stands back and stares at me.

“Are we done?” I ask.

He nods and looks at me like I’m an idiot. 

He either loves or hates his job.

Geesh. 

I take the shuttle to the rental car location, nab my car (after some sticker shock about the amount of deposit they’re taking even though I’ve given them a credit card and not a debit card), and the agent is so nice, he pulls the car up to the door for me. So I run out the car, throw my luggage in the back because it’s raining, jump in the driver’s seat and realize I don’t know where I’m going. I try using my phone and it won’t pull up anything on my map.

I want to put that airport far behind me, so I pull out onto the road and hope that I’ll be able to find my way. The first sign pops up, Reykjavik and an arrow. 

Ok, I can do this.

Sign after sign for the next fifty minutes tells me I’m going the right way and then suddenly there are two signs for Reykjavik. Ok, deep breath. I’m going to follow the car in front of me.

It leads to the left fork and I follow until I see buildings around me, so I pull over. Now to find my hostel, Kex. My phone still refuses to work, so I reboot it. Sweet mother of Pearl, it’s working! I find my way to Kex.

It’s along the harbor. The outside of the building doesn’t look impressive and inside I’m disappointed to see stairs. I just came from Minneapolis where I carried my warm weather and hiking laden luggage up two flights of steep stairs at an Airbnb. 

Here again, an old building. Just to check in I have to climb up to the second floor. 

I smile as I see the bar, the various areas to sit and chat or write, and the check-in desk. Ok, it’s charming.

The man behind the counter smiles and says hello. 

“Is there an elevator?” I ask.

No, he indicates. 

Well crap. My room is on the fourth floor so it’s time to pull my giant suitcase up the stairs.

Four floors up, I open the door to the female dorm rom, and there’s a young woman. Short blonde hair, talking to herself and she says hello. Obviously an American.

Nicole and I quickly get into a conversation about Iceland, what there is to see, what she’s up to.

Food Tour in Iceland

Four hours later I get my notification that I’m COVID free and free to roam the city. Just in time for my food tour! 

And the meetup point just happens to be a ten minute walk from the hostel along the bay.

Outside it’s cold and windy, so I layer up and head out. In fact, it’s downright icky. As I walk along the bay I stop to take a few photos, but mostly keep walking to stay warm, and as I approach the Harpa building, a giant glass building along the bay, the wind starts pushing me backwards. I pretend I’m hiking up the side of a mountain in order to get to the front door and away from the prevailing winds. Whew!

There are two couples and a threesome of siblings. Do I mind being the only single? Nope.

And here comes what looks like our guide. Stocky, muscles outlined in his sweater, long red beard, and walking in the wind like he owns it. Also, he’s not wearing a coat like the rest of us, although he does have on one of the ubiquitous wool sweaters.

Of course, his name is Thor and he asks us to follow him. 

You bet!

Our first stop is Fjallkonan, a restaurant that was once a place that falcons were trained and was also a way stop for fisherman. We have tidbits of fish, and lamb. I’m immediately worried because within moments everyone’s plate is empty and I’m still eating. I’m the slowpoke eater, but no one seems in a hurry, so I’m able to finish.  

Next up, the busiest restaurant in town, which is a little hot dog stand. Bejurins Beztu was established in 1937 and runs every day, even in the winter. When we arrive there is no line, but within minutes there are packs of people waiting in the queue to get a hotdog. 

I’m not sure about this, standing in the cold to eat a hot dog, but I’m willing to try. The Iceland lamb hot dog has sweet mustard and these fried onion straws that add a hint of crispy. Yum. Worth braving the cold.

Is it the best hotdog ever? That’s hard. My favorite is the Dog House in Albuquerque. The red Chile unlike any you’ll find, burns your taste buds just a little. But I’d say it’s a tight race to the best. 

Next up was Messinn Seafood Restaurant. It’s set up to look like you’re on a ship  and serves food in a hot pan. One dish is cod mixed with mashed potatoes and cheese. So good! We have our fill at this place. 

I turn to Thor, “You have the best job.” 

He nods and smiles. Such a difference between this man and the man at the airport.

Then it’s on to Islenski Barinn. Here we have the opportunity to try fermented shark. The story is that some Islandic fisherman were starving and only had a shark to eat. The men that ate it died quickly of food poisoning – the shark’s fat was holding a lot of toxins. A month later the fishermen that were left had nothing to eat and remembered that shark. They decided they’d rather die of poisoning than starvation, so they ate it. It wasn’t tasty, but it also didn’t kill them. 

Not a description that makes me want to eat something, so yes, I skip it. The description I’ve heard is it has an ammonia aftertaste. Life is too short for me to torture my tastebuds.

Then there is lamb stew and beer. So good! And we’re getting full and we have one more stop!

The walk up the hill towards the cafe is a good hike to work off some of that seafood. We get to Cafe Loki and John, the man in the older couple, asks Thor about a huge mural that covers a wall. 

Thor lights up. “This mural depicts the most important stories of Loki.” He goes into the stories of the god of mischief. 

After seeing Loki as a character on the big screen mixed in with the Hulk, I had forgotten that he’s actually a member of mythology, revered and even worshipped by some. And now, hearing the stories come from a local and how important they are to him brings the god to life. 

The dessert plates come out and I’m confused. They are tiny pieces of bread. One with a slice of meat and another with fish and cream cheese. There’s also a dish of rye ice cream which doesn’t sound right.

Thor talks about how this rye bread  and the ice cream are a special recipe from the owner. I taste it and it’s less like bread and more like cake. Slightly sweet and unlike any rye bread I’ve ever tried. I bite into the ice cream. The flavor of rye explodes in my mouth with the sweet ice cream. So good! 

What a great tour. I ask Thor if he has a PayPal or someway I can get him a tip (one instance where cash would have been useful). He shakes his head. “But you could leave a review on TripAdvisor. The ones on there are from pre covid.”

You bet I’ll be leaving a glowing review!

Wandering Reykjavik

We all say our goodbyes and I’m not sure what to do next, so I slowly wander to my hostel. I do find a little grocery store for breakfast items (eggs, bread, butter, and some snacks items), although I’m desperately looking for some potato chips from Norway that I fell in love with when I was on a an exchange to that country. I once had a friend who took a Norwegian cruise buy me a few bags. Certainly they would sell them here? Instead I see Lay’s chips from the US. They even have Old El Paso gluten free tortillas. Oh well, no Norwegian junk food for me. 

Then I get back to my hostel. 

It’s been a long day and I almost take off my shoes. Then my friend Katy tags me on Facebook that she has another friend in Iceland and we should connect. I message Anita and find out she’s having dinner in Reykjavik and I should come join her. 

My shoes are still on, it’s light outside because it’s the never ending sun here, and I’m in Iceland. So I get out of my cozy room and go find her at Solon Bistro and Bar. I’m still too full from my food tour, but I always have room for desert, so I order the creme brûlée and coffee.

Anita is a kindred soul. Fan of Sci-fi, especially Dr. Who, and we both obviously love traveling. We lament over the fact that her luggage hasn’t arrived and she desperately needs her hiking gear and warm clothes for the fjord where she’ll be staying the next day. (See “Bring a second carry on” in my practical guide.)

My creme brûlée arrives and it’s beautiful and so good! Another food win.

Anita mentions she has another friend in town. He’s a jet setting entrepreneur who sold a company for a ridiculous amount of money and now travels all the time. That’s someone I’d like to meet – then she mentions he basically bounces from place to place to party hard and drink. Ok, less impressed.

He doesn’t show, which I think is fine, because Anita and I had a great conversation. 

We finally nab our waiter (they don’t bring you your check unless you ask for it), and get our checks, then decide to wander the streets for a bit. Then we split and I wander the bay a bit then back to my warm bed in the hostel. 

I talk with my roomies (Nicole is American and Jeane is French) about the volcano and they suggest I see the Blue Lagoon while I’m out there, since these two things are so close. I prepurchase my Blue Lagoon ticket online and I’m so excited to see that volcano!

I slip into my bed and my roomies are kind enough to stop the chatter. 

Do you want more information about travel to Iceland? You can sign up here to get The Single Woman’s Guide to Iceland – Post Covid Almost.

Or maybe you just need an adventurous novel for that long flight. You can nab the highly rated thriller/adventure, Toy of the Gods today!

Or check out day two of my trip when I went to the volcano. 🙂