Day 11: Reykjavik

Today was a much better day, attitude wise! I was up early and ready to start my day, even if I didn’t have a plan. I started off by retaking some pictures of sites I saw yesterday in an attempt to avoid the crowds. I was successful as no one gets up early around here! I then sat with my coffee, reading my book next to the Sun Voyager while I waited for places to open. Here are a few of my pictures:

After wandering for a bit, on a whim I decided to jump on board a whale watching trip! We went on a small RIB (rigid inflatable boat) boat, and there were only 3 of us, plus the guides! And, we even got to wear completely stylish, warm suits! The trip was largely successful in that we got to see puffins, harbor porpoises, white-beaked dolphins, and even minke whales! The unsuccessful part, I totally forgot to take Magnus with me. Oops! Here are a few pictures from the trip!

After whale watching, I decided to make the long walk to the Perlan Museum. I found out after the fact that there’s a nice, free shuttle that runs from city center as well. Ha! At least I got to take it one way! Anyways, the Perlan Museum is all about the wonders of Iceland: geysers, glaciers and volcanoes. It was really a neat place! We even got to go inside a glacier. It was just as cold as you’d imagine!

Once we finished at the Perlan, it was time for dinner, and I was feeling adventurous! I ordered an Icelandic Platter and Icelandic Meat Soup. The platter had smoked salmon, wind dried fish, smoked lamb crisp, seaweed crisp, and fermented shark. If I had to rate them, oddly enough I’d have to say the salmon was the worst, and the smoked lamb crisp was the best! The shark, which I was nervous about, fell towards the bottom, but wasn’t as bad as the salmon. Yes, call me weird. As for the meat soup, it was made with lamb, and it was excellent!

It was a day full of adventure, and tomorrow will be filled with even more! I’m going snorkeling in the Silfra Fissure tomorrow. No guarantee of pictures right away as I was warned camera batteries typically die within a few minutes being in the cold water, but I’ll see what I can get! If I can’t get any, we’ll all have to wait until I get the photo package after the trip! Stay tuned, and think warm thoughts for me!