Day 5 Reykjavik

 Woke early (it was quite light at 3 am!). A dull but dry morning with a harbour view from our room.

Down for breakfast and, just for interest a very good selection to choose from, pretty much what you might find at any reasonable hotel in the world. Perhaps the one thing different was herring ceviche in a light mustardy sauce. It was actually surprisingly good.

After breakfast we went on a free city walking tour. We started outside Parliament House. There are 13 parties and 63 representatives for a total population of 390,000 people. They have no military, very few police and very little crime.

Next stop was the lake in the centre of town. Lots of ducks geese and swans. In winter they pipe hot water into one corner of the lake to keep it ice free for the birds. Interesting bronze statue of a man with a briefcase and lump of rock for his upper torso and head. Title - unknown public servant. 

Next a hand made topographical map of Iceland. Very few settlements, just at the seaside. 11 percent of the island is glaciers and no-one lives away from the shore. Iceland is also home to the worlds newest island after an undersea eruption just off the south coast in the 60’s. 

Next was a stroll through a residential area. All heating and electricity are geothermally generated and there are hot water pipes under the roads to keep them snow free in winter.

Into the main commercial area

Some interesting street art

Note the ad for the world’s only penis museum

Up a small hill to a statue of the first settler - from Norway - obvious Viking heritage. Interestingly the first settlers were Norse men with British women. No prize for guessing how that came to be!

Nice city views also

For lunch we did what all the other tourists were doing. Lining up at “the” hot dog stand.

After lunch we decide to visit the National History museum

Ancient artifacts

Inside a typical old hut

19th century women’s dress

Lutheran iconography

During the afternoon the weather cleared to a bright sunny day and the view was transformed

While some of us went to pick up our rental car, a 9 seater 4WD van ….

…others found an alternate distraction!

Dinner was at a recommended seafood restaurant Messiin

The gang

The cod

After a couple of bottles of wine - note the stuffed gannet diving for a feed also!

An Icelandic ice cream too tempting after dinner

Street scenes on the walk home - virtually broad daylight at 8:30 pm