Iceland August 2024
We had a fun, but too-short trip to Iceland. We had to contend with rain and jetlag, and before we knew it, we were getting up early for the continuation of our flight to Stockholm. Iceland Air encourages a long layover in Reykjavik
We left from Detroit and flew 6 hours overnight to Reykjavik. It’s essential to learn how to spell Reykjavik before you go. Lots of roadsigns direct you to places that look like the name Reykjavik but are not. Driving in Iceland is easy, but reading Icelandic is not. Everyone speaks English. Almost everything is written both in Icelandic and English.
Upon arrival, we rented our car and drove to our delightful hotel Center Hotel Klopp, which was indeed in the center of downtown, just one street away from their famous pedestrian street, bursting with restaurants, bars, souvenir shops, and stores that sold very fuzzy wool sweaters, mittens, hats, shawls, blankets, and scarves made of what might have been spun gold, based on the prices.
Our hotel was able to let us into our room early so we took a jetlag nap. It was a holiday in Iceland called “Commerce Day” so many shops and museums were closed. It was raining but we set off for the highlights of the Golden Circle. We saw the geyser and the Gullfoss Falls. We drove back to Reykjavik the long way and we were exceptionally tired. We had a little Trader Joe’s snack dinner from my stash and went to bed.
On our one full day, instead of driving six hours to see the natural sites near Vik, we drove to a point of land with a lighthouse, visited the outstanding Perlan science museum, walked on the streets of Reykjavik, The sound was astonishing. We had a drink at a Sky Bar overlooking the impressive concert hall and the harbor then watched a storm roll in from the sea.
We waited out the storm in our room then toured the Hallsgrimskirkja, the main Lutheran church of Iceland. The organist and a clarinetist were rehearsing for an upcoming concert on the largest organ in the country.We went to the top of the church tower and watched colorful Reykjavik come back alive after the big rainstorm.
We returned to our lunch spot for dinner. It was an Asian fusion restaurant called Bao Bites.
The following morning we drove back to the airport, returned our rental car, and flew to Stockholm.
