Arrival in Reykjavik
Dec 7: Sunrise 11:01a - Sunset 3:37p
Arrival KEF was even a bit early. We disembarked and headed to customs, which was pretty quick. It was a long way to baggage claim or it felt long to us anyway. Soooo thankful that our suitcases made it! The shuttle FlyBus that we booked was just outside the terminal door, with 4 seats left, and departed KEF in moments after we boarded. It is weird that it is pitch black dark and NO snow to be seen anywhere. The way this shuttle works is quite efficient. First they check your ticket and give you a color coded ticket for you next shuttle bus. This bus will take us to the main terminal in Reykjavik. I bought our tickets ahead of time at home, and happy I did because there was quite a line in the terminal to get a ticket. Now we are on our way to the hotel. There was one drop off outside of Reykjavik and then on to the bus terminal. Almost everyone got off but we stayed onboard with about 8 other people. We were then dropped at our hotel. Fosshotel Reykjavik Þorunnartun 1 - Hpfaatorg Reykjavik 105 Iceland. Tel:+354 531 9000.
We decided to have the breakfast buffet since we could not check into our room. It was a nice buffet, though neither of us felt that hungry. There is a great coffee machine that gives delicious coffee, espresso, cappuccino, etc. By the time we were done there, our room was ready! We unpacked most of our things but left the heavy duty clothing in the big suitcase, maybe we won't even use those items. We have the whole day to explore Reykjavik!
We privately booked: The Reykjavik Food Walk Foodie Tour for 12:30p for a 3.5 long lunch and walking tour. We really aren't certain how far the meeting place is, so we took a taxi. It was close and we should have walked be cause the views along the way were amazing along the water with impressive mountains on the other side of the water. No matter, we will take the walk another time with plenty of photos.
Our guide was on time and our group of 12 had a brisk (tiring) walk around town with six stops for tastes. We are so full we could barely enjoy the last three stops! We had a few sprinkles as we walked between one of the stops but not enough to even bother with a poncho or umbrella. The streets look damp but there is no snow or ice in sight. Believe me, walking at this brisk rate we are not cold at all! Our group consisted of 1 woman from Michigan, 2 women from Brooklyn, a family of 4 from Singapore, a couple from Britain, us, and then the guide making a total of 12.
Our first stop was Islenski Barinn with Lamb soup, they call it meat soup. There are many recipes of this and each family apparently has their own recipe. It was delicious, with lamb and vegetable. No rice or potatoes was added to this recipe. Fresh bread accompanied this soup. I passed on that knowing we will have 6 stops. We got a small glass of Einstök White Ale white ale.to try at this stop. For beer it was good, locally brewed and a favorite in Iceland.
From there we walked part way up a hill toward the area of Hallgrímskirkja to Ostabudin Delicatessen , which is the best cheese shop (deli) in Reykjavik. There we tried 3 delicious cheeses, lamb, horse, and goose meats. I passed on the horse meat... to me that is like eating a domestic animal. I just couldn't do it. I was not alone in abstaining as there were several left on the platter. We were told the horses are raised for riding and it they are difficult to break, they use them for food. Don't get me wrong, I am not condemning this practice, I just don't want to eat Black Beauty! There were tons of scrumptious items on the shelves (mustard, tapenade, spreads, olives, etc) but of course there is always the thought of packing such things, so we passed on all.
We continued up the hill past Hallgrímskirkja. A sweet treat was our next stop at Loki Icelandic Cafe. Our delight here was bread ice cream. It was actually very good. They bake a dark, sweet rye bread, then toast and brulee this bread and incorporate it into an ice cream. I'm not sure I would order it but it was tasty. A bit to sweet because they smothered it with whipped cream (which John ate off for me!). I might add, it was four flights of stairs to make it up to the tasting room for this. Now I noticed I was tired!
Now we are going back downhill, on our way to a fish restaurant, Messinn Seafood Restaurant next. We had Creamy Fish Stew, which was a texture similar to a crab cake made with cod (or fish similar to cod), it was good. There was also some Arctic Char, which John really liked because it was crispy on top. Here we had both sour dough bread and the sweet dark rye bread that was incorporated into that ice cream we had earlier.
I wish our 5th stop was switched up with the last. The famous Hot Dog stand Bæjarins Beztu Pylsur that has been serving hotdogs in this location since since 1937. We got our hotdog with "everything" and it was delicious. Their hotdogs are made mainly with lamb but they just taste a lot like any other hotdog. Let's see if I can recall what was on it - raw onions, deep fried onion, catsup (theirs has applesauce in it), mustard .... and maybe something else I can't recall. I will say the onions added a great crunch - they were UNDER the hotdog where the other condiments were on top.
The Sæta Svínið Gastropub "Sweet Pig" was our final stop. Here we were served coffee (quite good) and twisted doughnuts. They tasted fine but I just tried one because I was beyond full. You know John, he ate all of his! What I liked was the lime zest grated over the top. I would not have thought of putting that on donuts!
After this we were exhausted physically and not too sharp mentally because of lack of sleep. We got a taxi back to our hotel, it was also starting to get dark. AND we had no idea which direction to go back to our hotel! Agnes, our guide, offered to take anyone back to the Harpa Concert Hall, which was our meeting place, but the taxi seemed better to us.
I must mention Licorice is popular here in Iceland. Our guide gave us a chocolate bar at the end of the tour. She said licorice is added to a lot of foods here. The chocolate bar had a thin strip of licorice over the top of the chocolate. John said it was good, just different. I like licorice or anise flavor so I am sure I would like it!
BTW, it seems Gay Pride is big here in Reykjavik. Our guide mentioned this more than once. She said they dress the statue of Leif Eriksson in front of the Hallgrímskirkja church in a dress for a week and rally around him. Not judging, just a fact I am sharing. I came for the scenery, climate, and natural wonders.
Arrival KEF was even a bit early. We disembarked and headed to customs, which was pretty quick. It was a long way to baggage claim or it felt long to us anyway. Soooo thankful that our suitcases made it! The shuttle FlyBus that we booked was just outside the terminal door, with 4 seats left, and departed KEF in moments after we boarded. It is weird that it is pitch black dark and NO snow to be seen anywhere. The way this shuttle works is quite efficient. First they check your ticket and give you a color coded ticket for you next shuttle bus. This bus will take us to the main terminal in Reykjavik. I bought our tickets ahead of time at home, and happy I did because there was quite a line in the terminal to get a ticket. Now we are on our way to the hotel. There was one drop off outside of Reykjavik and then on to the bus terminal. Almost everyone got off but we stayed onboard with about 8 other people. We were then dropped at our hotel. Fosshotel Reykjavik Þorunnartun 1 - Hpfaatorg Reykjavik 105 Iceland. Tel:+354 531 9000.
We decided to have the breakfast buffet since we could not check into our room. It was a nice buffet, though neither of us felt that hungry. There is a great coffee machine that gives delicious coffee, espresso, cappuccino, etc. By the time we were done there, our room was ready! We unpacked most of our things but left the heavy duty clothing in the big suitcase, maybe we won't even use those items. We have the whole day to explore Reykjavik!
We privately booked: The Reykjavik Food Walk Foodie Tour for 12:30p for a 3.5 long lunch and walking tour. We really aren't certain how far the meeting place is, so we took a taxi. It was close and we should have walked be cause the views along the way were amazing along the water with impressive mountains on the other side of the water. No matter, we will take the walk another time with plenty of photos.
Our guide was on time and our group of 12 had a brisk (tiring) walk around town with six stops for tastes. We are so full we could barely enjoy the last three stops! We had a few sprinkles as we walked between one of the stops but not enough to even bother with a poncho or umbrella. The streets look damp but there is no snow or ice in sight. Believe me, walking at this brisk rate we are not cold at all! Our group consisted of 1 woman from Michigan, 2 women from Brooklyn, a family of 4 from Singapore, a couple from Britain, us, and then the guide making a total of 12.
Our first stop was Islenski Barinn with Lamb soup, they call it meat soup. There are many recipes of this and each family apparently has their own recipe. It was delicious, with lamb and vegetable. No rice or potatoes was added to this recipe. Fresh bread accompanied this soup. I passed on that knowing we will have 6 stops. We got a small glass of Einstök White Ale white ale.to try at this stop. For beer it was good, locally brewed and a favorite in Iceland.
From there we walked part way up a hill toward the area of Hallgrímskirkja to Ostabudin Delicatessen , which is the best cheese shop (deli) in Reykjavik. There we tried 3 delicious cheeses, lamb, horse, and goose meats. I passed on the horse meat... to me that is like eating a domestic animal. I just couldn't do it. I was not alone in abstaining as there were several left on the platter. We were told the horses are raised for riding and it they are difficult to break, they use them for food. Don't get me wrong, I am not condemning this practice, I just don't want to eat Black Beauty! There were tons of scrumptious items on the shelves (mustard, tapenade, spreads, olives, etc) but of course there is always the thought of packing such things, so we passed on all.
We continued up the hill past Hallgrímskirkja. A sweet treat was our next stop at Loki Icelandic Cafe. Our delight here was bread ice cream. It was actually very good. They bake a dark, sweet rye bread, then toast and brulee this bread and incorporate it into an ice cream. I'm not sure I would order it but it was tasty. A bit to sweet because they smothered it with whipped cream (which John ate off for me!). I might add, it was four flights of stairs to make it up to the tasting room for this. Now I noticed I was tired!
Now we are going back downhill, on our way to a fish restaurant, Messinn Seafood Restaurant next. We had Creamy Fish Stew, which was a texture similar to a crab cake made with cod (or fish similar to cod), it was good. There was also some Arctic Char, which John really liked because it was crispy on top. Here we had both sour dough bread and the sweet dark rye bread that was incorporated into that ice cream we had earlier.
Arctic Char
I wish our 5th stop was switched up with the last. The famous Hot Dog stand Bæjarins Beztu Pylsur that has been serving hotdogs in this location since since 1937. We got our hotdog with "everything" and it was delicious. Their hotdogs are made mainly with lamb but they just taste a lot like any other hotdog. Let's see if I can recall what was on it - raw onions, deep fried onion, catsup (theirs has applesauce in it), mustard .... and maybe something else I can't recall. I will say the onions added a great crunch - they were UNDER the hotdog where the other condiments were on top.
The Sæta Svínið Gastropub "Sweet Pig" was our final stop. Here we were served coffee (quite good) and twisted doughnuts. They tasted fine but I just tried one because I was beyond full. You know John, he ate all of his! What I liked was the lime zest grated over the top. I would not have thought of putting that on donuts!
After this we were exhausted physically and not too sharp mentally because of lack of sleep. We got a taxi back to our hotel, it was also starting to get dark. AND we had no idea which direction to go back to our hotel! Agnes, our guide, offered to take anyone back to the Harpa Concert Hall, which was our meeting place, but the taxi seemed better to us.
I must mention Licorice is popular here in Iceland. Our guide gave us a chocolate bar at the end of the tour. She said licorice is added to a lot of foods here. The chocolate bar had a thin strip of licorice over the top of the chocolate. John said it was good, just different. I like licorice or anise flavor so I am sure I would like it!
BTW, it seems Gay Pride is big here in Reykjavik. Our guide mentioned this more than once. She said they dress the statue of Leif Eriksson in front of the Hallgrímskirkja church in a dress for a week and rally around him. Not judging, just a fact I am sharing. I came for the scenery, climate, and natural wonders.
I’ve never been a bread pudding fan. But bread ice cream sounds yummy. Thanks for sharing! I can’t wait to go along and share all your adventures.
ReplyDeleteIt really was quite good after John ate the whipped cream off! Just a unique texture, but delicious.
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