Reykjavik, Iceland

Hello from Reykjavik!

Not much of a view from the ship

It's windy but foggy out there today

Almost looks like a chalk outline of a dead body, doesn't it?

Nope, just follow the walking man to the city

I had definite plans today and they included taking the free shuttle bus into the city. It's the same bus I took back on Jun 5 when we were here last. The blog post about that visit is here.  But when I looked out to see how long the shuttle line was I decided to wait for a while.

You'd think it was a ship tour with how many people were waiting

When we were delivered to the Harpa Concert Hall I knew I wanted to go behind the building to get a picture with boats in the foreground and the building in the back.

Exactly the picture I was looking for!

And then I again wandered for a while, winding up in some of the same places as last month. It's now the busy summer tourist season and the city was much more packed with crowds than six weeks ago. While I had no plans to have a Pylsur hot dog the line this time was just a little bit different than last.

June 5

Today, July 21

When I was here in June it was the first day I was out and about after having Covid. I was feeling weak and unsure of myself and remember trying really hard to make sure I wasn't too rough on the scooter. I took some pictures today of some of the same pavements we scootered on then and realized Reykjavik walkways were pretty easy in comparison to what I've seen since. Boy, how far Scooter and I have come!

Okay, maybe this one wasn't so easy. But the rest were.

Can't forget the sign

The plans I had for the day requiring the shuttle bus ride involved fish and chips. Here on the ship I'm doing a terrible job of eating my meals. For breakfast I have the same scrambled eggs stuffed with veggies and crispy bacon on the side. No toast, no bread, no muffins, and no potatoes. 

And since everything still tastes like toilet water (including those morning eggs) I usually skip lunch and wait for dinner. This is where I wind up having the same thing most every day. Fish and chips. It's not because I like fish and chips but because I like the texture combination the fish and chips provides with the crunchy batter, tender fish, and salty fries. (Here's a weird one - I usually don't eat the fries but lick the salt off of them because I can occasionally taste salty things.) But I'm tired of fish and chips. Sometimes the batter is soggy and sometimes the fish is tough. Plus the grease? Bleh. So I wanted my long standing fish and chips streak to come to an end in a big way. On land, though.

My first restaurant choice was one Ed and I had been to years ago but it's out of business. My second restaurant choice had three big steps to get into it so it was out. Third restaurant choice? Two steps. Maybe I should try this one with their tasting menu instead?

I could eat puffins, whales, and horse all in the same meal?
Yeah, probably not.

I felt like I was going around in circles trying to find a place serving fish and chips where I didn't have to carry the scooter into it or wasn't so busy I couldn't even get through the no-step door. I almost thought I was going to have to settle on something else. 

Swiss chard or?

On a whim (always, right?) I headed down to the hotel where Ed and I stayed years ago. 

Looks like a new company owns the hotel now

I knew there were some restaurants in the area and I came across one serving fish and chips. After a quick Google search I saw it had great reviews, but...UGH. I was going to have to carry Scooter up two steps then over another big threshold to get inside. At this point I was already on the umpteenth choice of restaurants so I had to go for it. While it was difficult to get into, out of, and navigate inside of, Kopar did the trick.

Delicious sourdough bread with a flavored butter I couldn't taste. But the bread was chewy and the green butter looked pretty. And they served the butter with salt on top of it - on top of a rock. Interesting.

That's a rock under the green butter

Then there was the fish. Huge pieces of cod with a super crispy batter. Oh, my. 

The inside was light and flaky and oh-so-tender.

The combination of the batter and fish and fries and bread and butter was the best texture combination a girl could ask for as her last fish and chips of the summer. I couldn't even eat half of my meal so the rest is sitting in my refrigerator waiting for dinnertime. (Or the trash. Cold fish and chips? I'm not sure on that one.) It's probably stinking up the refrigerator anyway. I can't smell so I wouldn't know it but it probably stunk up the shuttle bus on the ride back, too.

Speaking of the shuttle bus...the driver told us the fog is actually volcano fog. The Fagradalsfjall volcano is erupting about 20 miles away from here. No one seems too worried about it, but if you're interested you can watch a live view of it erupting from the Icelandic National Broadcasting Service at https://www.ruv.is/english/2023-07-11-live-streaming-from-eruption-387597. It's quite fascinating to watch. I know if it was 20 miles from my house I'd be a bit concerned. Oh, wait, it is.

We have a couple sea days ahead of us and then on Monday the itinerary tells us we'll be in Glasgow (Greenock), Scotland. I'm guessing it means we'll be docking in Greenock and Glasgow will be a long bus ride away. I'll see you then and will let you know!