14.08.2019
Þingvellir National Park – 22 Hill Hotel Reykjavík 51 km
Leaving Þingvellir National Park we backtracked on road #36 towards Reykjavik and for the last time drove a few kilometers on Ring Road 1 to the capital city.
Traffic increased by the minute and as soon as we reached the outskirts of the city we were stuck in the after work rush hour traffic jam – believe it! No time to take photos there … my hands were glued to the steering wheel. After the last few days on almost empty country roads with virtually no traffic, driving through heavy city traffic was unnerving. I had to activate Google maps to get directions to our hotel, because figuring it out on the city map was too complicated. But in the end it was no problem, even though we had to turn one circle because I missed a turn off.
Reykjavík is the capital and largest city of Iceland. It is located in southwestern Iceland, on the southern shore of Faxaflói Bay and is the world’s northernmost capital of a sovereign state.
The word Reykjavík translates literally as Smoky Bay and refers to the steam that used to rise from the hot springs and geothermal vents. 64% of Icelanders reside in the larger area that is called the Capital Region of Iceland – Höfuðborgarsvæðið in Icelandic. Reykjavík charms the rest of the world with a unique approach – without skyscrapers, subways or metros, the friendly size and the amicable vibe make Reykjavík a popular destination and it is also the only Western European capital without a Starbucks or a McDonald’s. Now that … is cool!
We reached our 22 Hill Hotel around 18:00 this evening. There were free parking spots right in front of the hotel and after a quick check-in we got all our stuff from the car and settled in our nice room. It was definitely time for dinner, so we did not spend too much time in the room – just a short break to recuperate – then we walked into the center.
Our hotel was in easy walking distance to the main strip of Reykjavík. Of course, on the way we found our first Reykjavik geocache as well. We did not even have to detour. The walk to reach Laugavegur – the main shopping street in Reykjavík – took us maybe 20 min. We had set our eyes on some very special food for tonight and headed straight for Hereford Steakhouse – they had a Puffin & Whale Set Menu – most probably completely for tourists.
Puffin is indeed a national dish in Vestmannaeyjar – the Westman Islands – where the largest puffin colony in Iceland is located. And whale meat is hardly a local Icelandic dish anymore, in fact virtually very few Icelanders touch it anymore, because it is old fashioned – it reminds them of poorer times, when whale was a dietary staple because it was available in abundance. Nowadays it is clear that eating whale – and more so puffin – is for the tourists. Well, we were tourists and where else could we try it? Puffin most definitely nowhere else … Whale steak we ate last year on our Roadtrip North of the Arctic Circle in the Lofoten Islands and it was delicious.
Hereford Steakhouse – the most renowned steakhouse in Iceland – was located on the first floor of a shopping building. We got seated in the light filled main room. The main fare here was steaks, but we could have beef steak anytime anywhere at home …
However, we started out with a drink. Mom took a Raspberry Mojito and I opted for a Reyka Vodka & Tonic.
Reyka is an Icelandic vodka – the word Reyka derives by the way from the Icelandic word for smoke. The vodka is handmade and uses water drawn from a lava field, forgoing the need of treatment or demineralisation before it is blended with the vodka. It is said to be the world’s first “green” vodka – being made from glacial water and distilled using sustainable energy from geothermal heat only. The marketing for Reyka draws heavily on Iceland’s reputation for purity and uniqueness.
The Puffin & Whale Menu was ordered quickly and our starter of Smoked Puffin with fresh salad and raspberry vinegar arrived in no time. And it looked good! Salted or smoked puffin was once a dietary staple of Iceland, but is not as common nowadays anymore. However, Iceland has not only the world’s largest puffin breeding colony, but it is also home to 60% of the world’s Atlantic Puffins. The fresh heart of the seabird is eaten raw as a traditional delicacy. Lundi in Icelandic – the puffin meat is usually smoked or broiled in milk in liver-like lumps.
Historically, hunting seabirds has been a distinctive feature of Nordic coastal culture – for the settlers, seabird hunting and egg gathering meant the difference between life and starvation. For their descendants, the tradition lives on as the heart of community identity. However, seabird populations have plunged due to climate change and other human activity. After a long run of breeding catastrophes on Vestmannaeyjar – Westman Island – for example authorities limited the local hunting season to 3 days a year – only a couple hundred puffins can now be taken there.
As someone not sensitive to the arguments of vegetarians and vegans at all – I eat meat … I love meat … and I do not see a time where I would stop - I do have to try anything out of the ordinary that comes my way. So … arguments like – Could you really eat such an adorable seabird? or You are colder than the weather in Iceland, if you can eat a puffin! – do not at all fly with me. I also do not think there is another place in the world where Puffin is on the menu – obviously we had to try it in Iceland.
I can tell you – smoked puffin is a proper delicacy! Slightly gamey, slightly fishy – it was really delicious … I really liked it … for sure it made me forget how cute they are … .. Not sure about Mom, though … but she ate it all up.
The next course on the menu was Whale Peppersteak served with fried vegetables, potato and pepper sauce. Apparently only 19% of Icelanders purchase whale meat regularly, compared to an estimated 12% of tourists in the country who admitted to trying the food. Considering Iceland has approx 10 times more tourists than locals, it is clear that tourists eat way more whale than Icelanders. The whale in the restaurants is all Minke Whale – not an endangered species.
Our Whale Steak was great – somewhere between beef and tuna maybe, a little gamey. We had Minke Whale Steak on our Road Trip above the Arctic Circle last year in the Lofoten Island and it was delicious. The Icelandic whale steak was no different.
Icelandic disinterest in whale meat may have less to do with sentiment and environmental reasons than many assume. It is an important part of their heritage. Tourists find whale meat to be exotic and almost impossible to find anywhere else in the world thanks to international bans on the hunting and consumption of whale – only 3 countries still allow whale hunt. So it is not surprising, that tourist go for it when the chance occurs.
Dessert was not less delicious – Icelandic Skyr Hereford style – Did you expect anything else?
After dinner it was still light out and on the way back to the hotel I wanted to detour a bit to see some of the city, but also find another couple of secret boxes.
Something that I was not really expecting to find in Reykjavík was amazing street art – yes, I had seen photos on instagram and even intended to look out for some of the murals, but I did not expect it to be almost everywhere! I am a sucker for street art murals and already on our first night in the city found some cool ones.
The first one we came across was depicting a Gyrfalcon, the national bird of Iceland, created by Örn Tönsberg – better known as Selur One – who is one of Reykjavík’s most prolific street artists. Gyrfalcons have the unique ability to change characteristics – they have many colours and varieties in their species. Interestingly Gyrfalcons almost invariably nest on cliff faces and often use a bare cliff ledge or lay eggs in the abandoned nest of other birds.
From urban graffiti to extravagant wall-murals – Reykjavík is dotted with supreme street art. Independent stores are commissioning murals for their walls – public art seems to be a big deal around these parts. Murals are colourful and complex – they are indeed mostly commissioned – and are generally believed to beautify the community.
In recent years, the streets of Downtown Reykjavík have filled up with ambitious murals of different styles and themes. Many have become well-known landmarks that both locals and visitors admire. These cartoony Vampires were very cool and typical of the artist D*Face, an English multimedia street artist who uses spray paint, stickers, posters and stencils. This one was said to be inspired by Laxdæla Saga, one of Icelands sagas written in the 13th century.
My favourite mural we found this evening was this blueish green one symbolizing Iceland’s dependence on the sea and fishing. Apparently it is called Adrift and was made by Raff2012.
Walking back to the hotel we passed more of the colourful city houses. Reykjavík’s colourful, quaint houses are a source of constant fascination to visitors. Most of them are clad in corrugated iron, a cheap material that may look gritty somewhere else but not here. It is the material of choice for exterior walls, because beneath the resilient metal, most of these houses are built from raw timber. While sturdy, timber would suffer under the extreme weather conditions of the Icelandic winter.
The locals lovingly paint their houses with colors that lighten up any given day, making for the mixed up Lego-like array of different colours in the city. Some of the newer houses are brick or concrete constructions, but nevertheless they are painted in the colourful tradition. Once more I had to take a photo of a hotel with a special name …
When we reached the vicinity of the hotel I let Mom walk ahead back to the room. I went for another stroll around the neighbourhood to find some more geocaches. I needed some exercise. Not that I was running, but a fast and good walk would do me good in the end of the day.
Relatively close to our hotel was Höfðatorg – a quarter with some modern hotel and office buildings which were fitting into the colour scheme of the capital.
Near the shore of the bay was Höfði – a house best known as the location of the 1986 Reykjavík Summit meeting of presidents Ronald Reagan of the USA and Mikhail Gorbachev of the USSR. That effectively was a step to the end of the Cold War. The house was built in 1909 for the French consul in Iceland and was the exclusive residence of poet and businessman Einar Benediktsson for many years. Close to it was a secret box hidden, that I found easily.
In the 1940s and 1950s, the house was home to the British Embassy in Reykjavík. The city of Reykjavík purchased the house in 1958 and restored it to its former glory. From then on it has been used for formal receptions and festive occasions. In 2015 Einar Benediktsson’s statue was moved to a spot near Höfði House.
Einar Benediktsson’s poetry was a significant contribution to the nationalistic revival which led to Iceland’s independence. He was active as the editor of Iceland’s first daily newspaper – Dagskrá – from 1896 to 1898 and he advocated for Greenland to become part of an independent Iceland. Einar Benediktsson was buried at Iceland’s national shrine – Þingvellir.
A Visual Cache was located at the New Reykjavík Lighthouse on the other side of the main road along the shore. The lighthouse was built only last year and officially started operation in June 2019. The architecture of this small lighthouse is a slightly adapted design of the old lighthouses that were used in the channel of Reykjavík’s old harbor in the beginning of the 20th century.
This yellow safety installation replaced an older one in the tower of Sjómannaskólinn, because the view of the old lighthouse had been blocked in recent years by newly built tall apartment buildings in Höfðatorg. Although ships and boats are nowadays equipped with advanced navigation systems, port authorities found it necessary to install this little yellow helper.
I took my photos and went off to the next secret box. It was hidden near Háteigskirkja – a 4-towered church in central Reykjavík close to our hotel. It has stunning dark peaked towers – 2 higher clock towers. The church was built in 1957. I found the box quickly in the bushes in front of the church.
From there I also had a great view of Hallgrímskirkja – the Reykjavik Church at center point in downtown Reykjavík and without a doubt the most grandiose building in the area – in the sunset.
Back in the hotel we finished up our Vodka, photos had to be posted and the next day had to be planned … Our last day …
15.08.2019
Reykjavík
We did sleep sort of late this morning and took breakfast at 08:30. It was good – especially the buns were great and I ate too much.
Around 09:30 we went to explore. I asked at reception where to buy tickets for the public bus in the city – Mom did not want to walk so much anymore … That is apparently somewhat complicated, but the girl at reception recommended using the App to do it. So I quickly downloaded an app using the hotel WIFI and off we went.
Strætó is the public transport company which operates city buses in Reykjavík and surrounding satellite towns and suburbs. The buses are bright yellow. There was a bus stop close to the hotel, but there the bus did not pass too often. Therefore we walked a few hundred meters to Hlemmur Bus Station. It is a public city bus hub now with the terminal building housing the Hlemmur Food Hall. That was closed this early in the morning, but we were here to catch a bus across town.
The App worked perfect. I booked a senior ticket for Mom for ISK 235 and a regular one for me for ISK 470 – both valid 1.5 hrs. In the App the ticket had to be activated once getting on the bus. It counts down the remaining time. There is a live button to push and show the mobile phone to the bus driver, so he sees that it is not just a screen shot, but a live ticket. Clever App, easy to use.
We took bus # 14 to its final stop at Grandi – the Old Harbour. Here I remembered again my first visit in Reykjavík when working on my first cruise ship in 1996. I was Cabin Stewardess back then and it was the first cruise I ever did. Arriving in Reykjavík back then, the skyline was dominated by the Hallgrímskirkja – the Reykjavik Church – no other high rise buildings back then. I do not remember where we docked, but it was close to the city anyway.
The Old Harbour has undergone a profound transformation in the last few years as it has transitioned from an industrial area to a melting pot of culture, food and industry. Even though most of the fishing industry has moved over to the new harbour, the smell of fishing still lingers over the area and a portion of Iceland’s fishing fleet still brings their catch to shore here.
From the final bus stop we took a walk to the outdoor art piece Þúfa – pronounce th-oo-fha. It stands on a small cape. A popular destination – Þúfa is slowly but surely becoming a Reykjavík landmark. Designed by artist Ólöf Nordal, it references simpler times. A Letterbox Cache was hidden near there.
I had to climb the top of the mount following a spiralling pathway collecting the necessary data to calculate the cache coordinates. On top of the small hill was a shed for wind-drying fish – an old way of getting by in the North-Atlantic.
According to the artist, Þúfa is a place for inner peace and meditation within the city. The spot offers great views of the city, the surrounding mountains and Faxaflói Bay.
Rejoining Mom on the shore path I quickly found the secret box hidden in the breakwater wall.
On our way back to the bus stop we discovered more cool street art murals. Street art has been a part of the city’s culture for many years. However, in 2015 & 2016 Reykjavík paired up Urban Nation – a Berlin-based urban arts organization – and the Iceland Airwaves Music Festival, bringing together visual artists with musicians to create Wall Poetry in various locations. Many of these poems still live a healthy life on the walls of Reykjavík. The artists designed and executed large-scale wall art inspired by the music. The result of Wall Poetry were murals crawling up the sides of buildings all over town.
Here in Grandi, we found a great mural by Telmo Miel who were part of the project in 2015. Telmo Miel are an artistic duo hailing from Rotterdam / Netherlands who have come together to combine their spray-painting techniques with realism, abstraction and surrealism creating hyper-realistic imagery in the form of life sized murals and facades on walls across the world. Under the theme “We paint the music, you love to hear” the song “Moth Light” by Mercury Rev was illustrated here. I do not know the song, but the mural was cool.
Since the next bus was in another 30 min or so, we walked along to the next bus stop looking at more murals. This next piece we found was by Tankpetrol, a Polish street artist based in Manchester / UK, who teamed up with Gus Gus, an electronic band from Reykjavík who’s sound encompasses house music, techno and trip hop. The mural was inspired by their song “Over”.
Reaching the next bus stop I parked Mom there and walked across the street to have a closer look at one of the newest murals in Reykjavík – “Home is where you take it” by Nomad Clan & Hera.
In June this year, Urban Nation together with the British artist duo Nomad Clan & Hera came to Iceland to create a mural as part of an international collaboration with the German Embassy in Reykjavík. What was created here is a memory of an important event in the common German-Icelandic history. In 1949, 314 German women came to Iceland on a ship called Esja. Shortly after WW II a new perspective arose for these women in a foreign country – Iceland became a new home for them. Here they found a safe home, work and some even a new love. Many of the so-called Esja women stayed in Iceland. The mural was created to mark the 70th anniversary of the arrival of these women in Iceland.
“The mural is enormous in both content and scope, symbolizes the escape from one’s own country to a foreign land, the path from the familiar into the unknown. The gaze is always turned towards the new future, only the memories look back. But even these fade with time.”
Our bus ticket was still valid some 16 minutes more and we used it to go back closer to the center. Due to some construction sites, however, the bus route had changed – unknown to google – and we got off at Harpa – Rekjavík’s premier concert hall and conference centre.
Harpa was designed and built in collaboration between Danish-Icelandic artist Ólafur Elíasson and the Danish firm Henning Larsen Architects. The structure consists of a steel framework clad with geometric shaped glass panels of different colours. Construction started in 2007, but was halted by the start of the financial crisis in 2008 with no funds to finish it. The Icelandic populace was divided between having a half-finished construction site facing their downtown or spending money no-one was sure they had. The Icelandic government then decided that it was the only building in the country that warranted being raised – in spite of the dubious future of the economy – and eventually fully financed its completion. It was opened in 2011.
Its structure is beautiful and unique – it has a facade of 714 glass panels, all of which are a different shape and built with an LED light that allows for shows whenever the sky is dark. The building reflects the basalt landscapes of Iceland and the dark-coloured glass creates beautiful effects with the natural light. Considering the midnight sun and Aurora Borealis, this can be quite spectacular.
Near there at the shore of the ocean we found another hidden box. I followed the hinting name – “In a crevice among some large rocks by the Atlantic Ocean in Reykjavík” and was climbing over the rocks of the breakwater while Mom stayed on the path. She looked at me, pointed in front of her and just said – Maybe it is here?
Yes, it was! What a cool geocache – hidden in plain sight. For uninitiated it looks just like some sort of monument or memorial. But the seasoned geocacher immediately sees the hiding spot. It contained a waterproof box with a beautiful logbook, which I signed quickly.
From the promenade we had another great view of the Þúfa in Grandi Old Harbour across the harbour bay.
The view and the promenade reminded me again of my first visit in 1996 when it all looked somewhat different.
In search of more geocaches we walked from the shore promenade to the Old Town Reykjavik. According to a legend, Ingólfur Arnarson – Iceland’s first settler – threw his high seat pillars into the sea upon first arriving at the island’s shores in 870 and promised the gods to settle where they eventually drifted ashore. It took Ingólfur and his men 4 years to locate the pillars and the following summer, they built their farmstead in the place he named Reykjavík – the Bay of Smoke.
We walked to Austurvöllur Park which is considered the midmost point of downtown Reykjavík. It has also played an important role in Iceland’s history. Located by the square is Alþingi, Iceland’s parliament. In the center of the square a statue of Jón Sigurðsson can be found. He is Iceland’s National Hero – the leader of the 19th century Icelandic independence movement.
Every year on 17th June, which happens to be his birthday, Icelanders pay their respect to him. We just had to collect some data and take a photo with the statue to claim a Visual Cache as found.
A short walk south and we reached the Reykjavik City Pond – Reykjavíkurtjörn – locally known as Tjörnin. Birdwatching is a favourite pastime here – one of Reykjavík’s simplest and most satisfying pleasures – because the pond is teeming with over 40 different bird species. Feeding the birds at Tjörnin is a popular thing for families – so popular that the pond is often referred to as “The Biggest Bread Soup in the World”. We did not feed the birds, but got up close and personal with a big Herring Gull.
The Herring Gull is a very common sea bird in both Europe and North America, however on Iceland it is a relatively new species, where it appeared first only in the 1920s. The large gulls with hefty bills and robust bodies tend to rally around fishing boats or refuse dumps and are loud and competitive scavengers. Despite their name they have however no preference for herrings. Here they were not at all shy and let me get right close – probably hoping to be fed.
On the other side of the pond we could see Fríkirkjan – The Free Church – a very photogenic and often photographed white and green church that was inaugurated in 1902.
Near the shore of the pond we found another cool statue – a Visual Cache marker lead us there. It was the Monument to the Unknown Bureaucrat. The phrase faceless bureaucrat is generally not meant as a compliment, but here these seemingly anonymous workers are immortalized in art. There stands a statue of a man wielding a briefcase, walking toward the city hall – a common everyday sight. However, this official is a bit different from its living inspirations as it is literally faceless. A large slab of Icelandic volcanic basalt sits where torso and head would be.
The unique statue was sculpted by Magnús Tómasson in 1994 – whether it was meant as a serious tribute or a humorous, satirical piece is unknown. We took our photo and then continued our stroll around the city.
The weather was beautiful – sunny and warm today. So we walked along in search of the Hard Rock Café, which was somewhere there as well. When I was working on that first cruise ship in 1996 and we had off in port, we would always go to any Hard Rock Café we came across. In those few months I probably visited the most of them and also bought the most pins. It was mid-morning and only the Rock Shop was open and I bought a pin, of course.
We reached Laugavegur again, one of the oldest streets in Reykjavík. Its name roughly translates to The Water Road as it was up and down this area where women used to bring their laundry to be washed in the hot pools. The street was properly constructed in 1885. Most part of the street is a popular shopping stretch and partly pedestrian – at least driving there is banned in summer.
A lot has changed here since my first visit – not that I remember much … But then again – the photos of this area look similar to what we saw today.
This week was also the Reykjavík Pride Festival taking place. Rainbow colours where everywhere. One of the streets was entirely painted with a rainbow.
At the end of that street that rainbow seemed to end in a huge mural on the side of a house – a rainbow house.
The street was touristy with many souvenir shops amongst others. We looked around a bit and bought some small souvenirs to bring home. I also found a secret box in the busy street. And again there was a lot of very cool street art.
One of the coolest and perhaps the most noticeable one on Laugavegur was the result of the 2015 collaboration between Belgian illustrator Caratoes and Icelandic folk pop band Ylja which engulfs a whole corner building in a hallucinatory haze.
Inspired by the song “Óður til Móður” – Ode to Mother – the mural has everything from a hyper-realistic hand to scaley animalistic figures, all depicted in black and white with yellow accents. It was hard to miss.
There was also another one of Örn Tönsberg – Selur One – one of Reykjavík’s most prolific street artists. Over the years, his work has appeared and disappeared all over the city. At the Woolcano Gift Shop we could stare at a sheep adorning the side of the building.
But also urban graffiti we found in side alleys and car parks. Beauty is in the eye of the beholder.
We decided to skip lunch and walk back to the Hard Rock Café for a cocktail instead – I was not going to have American Food in Iceland … No Way! We had a big breakfast anyway. 12:00 the bar opened and we arrived only a few minutes past. Through the Rock Shop we climbed the stair and had a seat at the bar.
I stuck to my regular Hard Rock Cocktail – the Electric Iced Tea. Here it did not come in the logo glass and was smaller than the last few times I had it in the HRCs in India … but more expensive.
Mom opted for a Strawberry Mojito which looked good and we did have a good time. Somehow it is a must to have a cocktail if there is a Hard Rock Café … And here I had been already in 1996 … Back then we could not afford fancy cocktail … we stuck to beer …
Wandering around some more afterwards we passed again the Dómkirkjan – or Reykjavík Cathedral which is nothing like other cathedrals big cities around the world. It is much smaller and definitely not as extravagant, but it is the most sacred church in Iceland. It was built in the 18th century and the architectural style is neoclassic.
At Ingólfur Square – named after Iceland’s first settler Ingólfur Arnarson – there was much going on in preparation for the upcoming Pride Parade next weekend.
We also passed Reykjavík’s most famous hot dog stand – Bæjarins Beztu Pylsur – The City’s Best Hotdog. The tiny red hot dog stand had a very long queue of people waiting. It reached global fame when former US President Bill Clinton visited Iceland in 2004.
“The most amazing thing about Iceland is not Vatnajökull, the largest glacier in Europe or that Iceland uses 99% renewable energy.
It is the fact that the most popular restaurant in Iceland is a hot dog stand.”
Historyfangirl
Well, had I been contemplating having a quick hotdog for lunch … I discarded the idea when we saw the long queue … No, thank you! And I did not even take a photo of it …
Looking for a suitable bus stop to get back to the hotel we also walked past the Prime Minister’s Office. The most important person in Iceland’s office is a nondescript 2 story building. The only reason I took a photo were actually the colourful flowers making a nice contrast to the white building and the statue … The bronze statue with light green patina is of Hannes Hafstein – Iceland’s first Minister of State.
Close to there I noticed one more very cool mural – maybe one of the most stunning pieces of Reykjavík street art – Aaron Li Hill – a Canadian visual artist currently based out of Brooklyn who employs painting, illustration, stenciling and sculptural elements within his works – created this mural with inspiration from American singer-songwriter John Grant’s song “Pale Green Ghosts”.
I was immediately drawn to it, because I had obviously seen an impressive mural of the same artist before … In Lodhi Art District in New Delhi earlier this year! It had been my favourite one amonst all the others I had seen there.
We took the yellow public bus back to the hotel. Mom did not want to walk the last few hundred meters, so we waited at Hlemmur Station for our connection when it started drizzling.
