Day 1 - June 16, 2005: Reykjavik (Reykjavík)
There were no direct flights from Malaysia to Iceland, so we had to come through one of the cities in Europe.
We spent a few days in Paris and arrived in Iceland this afternoon. We were pleasantly surprised at the contrast
between the two places. Almost everyone here speaks English, which is a good thing because
Icelandic is not very easy to learn. The people here are so friendly and helpful, it actually takes a bit of
getting used to. Everyone that we've spoken to so far, spoke fluent English but whenever they gave us directions,
they would write down the names of places on paper because they know we have no chance of pronouncing it right.
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We rented this little Volkswagen at the airport and drove out of Keflavík.
Reykjavík was only 48 km away, but we drove slowly because I was not very used
to driving from the left side of the car.
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Finding our way around central Reykjavík was quite easy since the only tall building around was this church called
Hallgrímskirkja (Khhaatl-creams-keer-kee-uh, if you want to try). Kirkja means church. The statue on the front is
of Leifr Eirícsson, son of Eiríc the Red. Eiríc (or Eirík or Eric, depending on language and whom you ask)
discovered Greenland while Leifr (/Leifur/Leif) discovered Vínland (Wineland) which is believed to be somewhere
on the eastern shores of North America, several hundred years before Columbus.
Icelanders are very proud of Leifr because he was born in Iceland. Eiríc was Norwegian.
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On the back, the monument reads "Leifr Eiricsson, son of Iceland, discoverer of Vinland. The United States of America
to the people of Iceland on the one thousandth anniversary of the Althing A.D. 1930."
I tried to commemorate my visit with a climb up the monument. Not very successful, as you can see.
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Inside the church, just above the main doorway, was this grand pipe organ that stretches up almost all the
way up to the high ceiling.
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We took the elevator towards the top floor of the church where the bell was. There were open windows all around,
so you can get a good view of the city below, but the bell rang each hour and it was loud!
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Another view from the top of the church.
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See Ming standing by one of the tower windows. She's hugging herself because it gets quite windy up there.
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The car rental guy at Keflavík recommended a restaurant called Rauđará in Reykjavík.
See Ming had monk fish, which tasted like lobster.
I had 'Viking beef'. It wasn't that great, but at 42 Euros, it's the most expensive
beef I'll ever eat, so I took a photo of it.
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Rauđará had a cozily decorated bar upstairs, but we were early and it was empty, so we just veged out for awhile.
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>>> Day 2: The drive to Snćfellsbćr
