48 Hours in Reykjavik, Iceland

I'm falling a bit behind here already so I will just touch on Iceland before I post about Aalborg (long story short, it is pretty awesome!)

Sunday

7 a.m.
1.) BLUE LAGOON

From the Reykjavik airport, shuttles are available to the Blue Lagoon, a geothermal spa that is one of the most visited attractions in Iceland. I was on the same flight over as a friend from the UW planning program, so together we hopped on the bus to the lagoon, enjoyed some free wireless, and then went into let it soak. We even enjoyed a beer at the swim up bar in the afternoon (or maybe it was the after11am, I don't remember...). It was very relaxing, though by the end the fact that neither of us had slept on the flight the night before started to set in. So we caught a shuttle to our hostel in Reykjavik.

5 p.m.
2.) REST FOR THE WEARY

The newly-opened KEX Hostel turned out to be a welcome surprise. The cozy interior included a bar/cafe, lounging areas, and many a traveler taking a break from the gray weather to read or do some computing. After getting into our rooms, we visited the bar for a beverage and dining recommendations, and then headed out.

6 p.m.
3) NOURISHMENT

After wandering the main street and evaluating the options, we ended up at Prikid, supposedly the oldest restaurant in Reykjavik. In the end it had many american options, but we did our best to find something Icelandic. I had breaded fish that arrived with a hearty side of garlic butter, already melting around to coat the meal. After 48 hours awake, some emotional moments, and a flight across the atlantic, I didn't feel bad.

8 p.m.
4) TIRED OF THIS FORMAT

This NYT "48 hours" format is actually pretty exhausting, so I'm just going to say we went to bed around 8 and totally crashed, the next day Anne left to head towards her semester in Groningen, in the Netherlands, and I had breakfast at the hostel, wandered around the city, and the met up (by chance!) with a spanish guy in the Real Estate program at UW, who I had met once in Seattle. We ate some dinner at the hostel (A very hearty salad with cod! Yum.) and then once again I turned in early for a 4 am wake-up to begin my travels to Aalborg. A few pictures below. I think all the pictures get bigger if you click on them.

The Greenlake of Reykjavik

$5 grocery store lunch; Iceland was generally really expensive