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Reykjavik, Iceland - January 24, 2016
We did the Hop On and Hop Off Red Bus tour around the city today. In our experience the Red Bus is often the best way to become familiar with top attractions of a new city. For a single price you can hop on and off the bus as many times as you like for a 24-hour period. So when we see something we like, we hop off, make a visit, and then hop back on the next bus that comes along when we are ready to leave.
We started our day at Harpa once again. We strolled around this very attractive building and grounds, got a glimpse of the boat we intend to take tonight to see the Northern Lights, and took in a brief but fascinating video called Iceland Expedition. The video was projected in a panoramic fashion on four walls and the ceiling and captured a view of all of Iceland as if riding in an airplane or helicopter. Very well done!
Then we caught the Red Bus. First we rode the whole loop around the city then hopped off and walked from Harpa (again) along Skolavoroustigur, a charming street featuring high-end retail boutiques and restaurants. Since it was Sunday, it was fun to take our time, window-shop and peruse menus. Hallgrimskirkja (Church on the Hill), our destination, is Iceland's largest church and Reykjavik's most iconic building; it is at the highest point in the city and is visible from almost everywhere. We took an elevator to the top of the bell tower and got great 360 degree photos of the city. The church's beautiful but simple sanctuary features a soaring ceiling and a 5415-pipe organ - each pipe paid-for through individual contribution. Can you imagine the music?? Hallelujah! The church is Lutheran, of course; 80% of Iceland's population is Lutheran. Three percent is Catholic and the rest can be virtually anything since freedom of religion exists here.
We never noticed before since we usually travel in warm weather times and climates, but hopping on and off the Red Bus is not quite as simple here as it otherwise. Buses pass by the stops every 30 minutes, but when a bus has just gone by (apparently), the convenience of hopping on can mean thirty minutes of standing at a bus stop in the cold, really cold, sharp wind.
When the bus finally arrived, our next stop was Perlan. This is a glass dome structure built on a tall hill above five huge hot water storage tanks. The geothermal water stored here is piped underground to provide heat to 80% of the homes and buildings in the city. The remaining 15% of the city is heated with electricity or oil. We found this amazing! One of the tanks in this beautiful building now serves as a gallery. We strolled through a walk-through exhibition called, Gazing at Jesus, the outcome of "Seek and ye shall find." This work is a local artist's tribute to her father's passing. We met the artist, Hulda Halidore, who tended her exhibit sitting quietly by the door. We said hello and let her know how much we enjoyed her work. She appreciated our interest and gladly explained some of the more imaginative elements to us, particularly the ones that included words in Icelandic language. One element featured a cross with words written on the cross pieces in Icelandic. The horizontal branch read "father-son" and intercecting perfectly, on the vertical branch was written "holy ghost."
By this time the sun was going down. We grabbed the Red Bus and headed toward our hotel. Before going in though, we went into a service station to try one of Reykjavik's hot dogs that everyone says is a must do. Yes, it was mighty tasty, especially Stan's. His dog was wrapped with bacon and topped with the crispy fried onions - the way the locals dress theirs. The best part of the visit was chatting with the gas pump attendant who waited inside until a car reached the pumps. His English was fair - much better than our Icelandic, of course, but he was a wealth of information and fun conversation. We compared the price of gasoline, found out that if you want to hunt, you must go to Greenland but if it's fishing you like, the fishing is great here! I happened to see some packaged dried fish on peg on the wall. He said we must try it. It has 83 gr of protein per 100 gr and is also loaded with Omega 3. He recommended putting it on bread with butter. I bought some!
When we arrived back at our hotel it was beginning to rain a bit. We soon learned that all Northern Lights excursions had been cancelled for the night due to weather. Oh dear. We rescheduled for Wednesday night but even then, who knows . . . it could be that the Northern Lights are not in the cards for this trip, oh well, we love the place anyway. Looks like it will be an evening of TV, diner, wine. and the blob, of course! Nite-nite!
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