Day 17 -- Iceland

Could not come to Iceland and not sample the thermal baths.  Last night, the girls recommended Vesturbæjarlaug pool, which they and their families use. They said it was a nice neighborhood facility for local and not tourists. We walked to the bus terminal and took bus #15.  At the pool, there were separate changing rooms for men and women. Bo learned the ropes from an elderly Icelandic woman in the locker room. First, you had to take a shower naked and wash yourself with provided soap; then you put on your swim suit, left the towel in the shower room and went outside to the pools. The facility has a big swimming pool, a children’s pool, five hot tubs of varying temperatures, a seam bath, sauna and a gym. We initially ended up in small round pool.  After a bit we migrated to the next pool which was 104 degrees.  It was amazing.   Bo did 2 laps in a bigger pool. After 45 minutes of soaking we left.  It was a small trial to find the bus back.  There was no busstop across the street from where we got off.  We got on the bus at the same place that we got off, since the route is circular. The amazing thing was that for the rest of the day we felt really warm in spite of the weather. Geothermal pools are Icelanders’ secret to surviving this wretched climate. After lunch we walked to the penis museum.  They have a collection of 1800.  We decided not to pay the exorbitant entrance fee and left. We then took a walk along the water and ended in the Reykjavik’s concert hall called Harpa (Harp). It’s an amazing building of stunning architecture. It won the European Union architecture prize in 2013. The entire building is made of glass windows, most of which are clear, but some random ones are colored. The interior walls are dark grey, but there are many yellow accents – doors, furniture. Overall, it is a beautiful piece of modern architecture that incorporates the surrounding landscape.

Day 16 -- Iceland

Spent the morning walking around, shopping and comparing prices. We could not help comparing Reykjavik with Lviv. Lviv is so much more interesting, has so much more to offer, not to mention the very tourist-friendly prices (Lvov .1L vodka 65cents – Iceland $8.  Lvov dinner for 3 with drinks  $20, Iceland hamburger and fries $20), and yet it is virtually unknown to international tourists. We took a city tour which cost 10 times as much as Lvov city tour and less than half as good. Reykjavik has almost nothing to see. The city tour consisted of the church (which we had already seen on our own), the Pearl  (an out of town facility that stores geothermic water for the city) and driving around pointing to pools, camping sites, a couple of churches, business district, and a little house where Reagan met with Gorbachev. When we got off the bus at the Pearl, it was snowing! The guide said that tourism is #1 source of income for Iceland. It surpassed fishing a few years ago. Bo is convinced that this is the result of a brilliant marketing campaign rather than the virtues of the country. Ukraine should hire this marketing firm to increase their tourism. We decided to have a nice dinner and picked out a highly rated restaurant in the city center where entres started at $50. After we walked there in pouring rain and freezing wind, we were told that they are fully booked by a group of 250 people. They recommended their sister restaurant a bit further downtown. When we got there, we were told again that there were no tables until 9 pm. We walked back and tried a couple more places, which were also full. Finally, we found a table at a little French restaurant almost next door to our hotel. The food was OK. After dinner, we went to our now favorite bar called “Ten Drops”. Al went to get our beers and picked up a cute young Icelandic girl who joined us at our table. A few minutes later her friend joined us too. They told us a lot about life in Iceland and recommended a thermal pool that we’ll try tomorrow. A bit later, their friend from Chicago also joined us. She’s been living in Iceland off and on for about a year making a documentary film about Icelandic creativity together with her mother who is a professor at a university in Kansas. It turned out be be quite an interesting evening, which we concluded by watching the US-Belgium soccer game.

Day 15 -- Iceland

We left our hotel (Bel Air) for an easy drive to the airport and car return. Barcelona airport is nice.  The SAS flight to Copenhagen was not great, but their plane had the best bathroom we’ve seen on any plane so far. It was spacious and had 2 windows.  IcelandicAir loaded their plane from back to front with no preboarding for anybody. Bo bitched to no avail. We arrived at Iceland to dismal weather - cold and rainy.  The airport is far from the city so like everybody else, we took a 45 minute airport shuttle bus from airport to town. Then it was just a 3 min taxi ride to our hotel.  Hotel/apt (Room with a View) is nice and in a perfect location on Reykjavik’s main shopping street. In the summer, they put bicycles painted in various bright colors to close the a few main streets in the center (including ours) so they become pedestrian streets only. The center consists of small, 2-3 storey houses painted in all kinds of colors. In the middle is a very tall, modern church, the tallest structure in Reykjavik. We walked our neighborhood (in drizzle). Bo was looking to buy a rain jacket. She checked out about 10 shops. All of them had fantastic outdoor gear, beautifully made and very high quality, bu a rain jacket cost about $400. She finally asked a saleswoman why they were so expensive.  She replied “because this is Iceland”.  Bo told her that she can buy it for much less in US (around $60).  She replied that is the reason Icelanders go to America to shop. Generally prices in Reykjavik are very high, maybe with the exception of the local beer. We have a kitchenette in our hotel so we went to a grocery store to buy some goodies for breakfast. Stores close early here – most at 6 pm. To our surprise, you cannot buy any alcohol in a grocery store. We were told (by a woman in a Polish store!) that there is only one store that sells wine and beer in Reykjavik center and it closes at 7 pm.  We walked some more, visited the church and then decided to have a drink. We walked into a few bars, but they were all totally full. Finally, we found a table at one quirky bar and had some local beer (very good). It was about 9 pm and the sun just came out! It does not get dark here in the summer at all…..