Had I known in October when I booked this trip what a snowy and icy winter we were going to have in the Pacific Northwest, I might have opted for a much warmer climate to go to in February! As it turned out, another snowstorm came through on the night before I was supposed to fly out. Although Portland did not end up with any accumulation, Seattle did which caused all sorts of flight delays. Unfortunately my flight from Portland to Seattle was cancelled. After a couple of hours of phone calls and emails with Iceland (where it was the middle of the night), I was able to get rescheduled to the next day. After more flight delays and a sprint through SeaTac with some lovely Lutheran Ladies from Portland, I finally made it onto the Iceland Air plane. My trip was already a short one, and losing a full day really abbreviated things! I landed in Reykjavik about 7:00am local time in the middle of what felt like a winter hurricane. Wind gusts were about 70mph and rain was coming down in sideways sheets, not to mention pitch black since sunrise wasn’t until 9:45am. Perfect weather to check into my hotel and take a jetlag nap. When I woke up four hours later, the rain had pretty much cleared up and it was time for me to explore the city. Staying down by the marina, I was quite close to the older part of the city. It was very easy to walk around the town and there are some really cute town squares. After grabbing a delicious cappuccino at Reykjavik Roasters, I headed up to the Hallgrimskirkja Church, a Lutheran Church that towers over the city. It was completed in 1986 and has a very modern, clean aesthetic. After waiting in line and then riding up in a very tiny (4 person) elevator to the tower, I found a beautiful view of the city and lots of wind! In front of the Church is a statue of Leif Erikson, the Icelandic explorer who “discovered” America…most specifically Newfoundland in Canada. He was surrounded by tons of people taking selfies. After conferring with my Lonely Planet book, the next stop was on their top 10 list and probably the most controversial! The Icelandic Phallological Museum was a highlight, mostly because of the humorous aspects and the huge variety of specimen. Leaving all the penises behind, I decided to head over to the large lake area in the middle of the city. It had a lovely path around the water with lots of birds! By that time, I was ready for a dink and quite a few people had recommended the Microbar. I ordered a flight of beers and the bartender had never heard it called a “flight” before, love teaching someone something new! Lucky for me I had sat down next to a very friendly British couple. We hit it off with our mutual dislike of Trump and the Brexit. The next couple of hours passed by quickly as we shared stories and I’m hoping that Clara and Mark do decide to come visit me in Portland one day! On Friday, I had a few hours to kill before heading to the airport. Since the weather did not cooperate for the Northern Lights to show, I walked over to the Northern Lights museum to see what I missed. It was pretty interesting with the scientific phenomenon behind the lights. There were also some spectacular slide shows of the variation of Northern Lights viewing. My last stop was the Vikin Maritime Museum. Being the descendent of a whaling family myself, its always fascinating for me to see how other seafaring people lived around the world. They had a cool exhibit focused on Icelandic Seawomen. Overall Reykjavik is a quaint little city, that is super easy to get around. Everyone speaks English and there is a lot to keep you interested!
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