Day 1 – Arrival in Reykjavík
The “overnight” flight from Boston was an uneventful and short flight, about 4.5 hrs going east. The short flight coupled with the time change (Iceland’s on GMT, not DST) meant little time for rest on the plane, hence overnight in quotes. Warren and I left Boston at 7:30pm and arrived 04h30 local time, around midnight according to my body clock. Steve, David, and Danny arrived a bit later coming from Indianapolis by way of Newark. The baggage claim was fast – clearly Keflavík is used to shuttling people through quickly. It’s wonderful, clean and efficient, doubly so compared to US airports.
Duty Free is a must in Iceland – stock-up on your sins, especially alcohol. And at their prices get your full six unit allotment. A bottle of reasonable bourbon at the duty free is comparable to US domestic prices. However, that same bottle will be $80 at the state-run liquor stores (vínbúðin), when they’re open. Beer is priced per can, not the pack, so note that when buying. Don’t worry about other items, many are cheaper outside the airport, and you’ll get another chance on departure anyway. But it would be a good time to gear-up on tax-free weather-appropriate items, because…
Stepping out to get the bus into town, the weather was cold, high 40s, rainy, and windy. Quite a big change from the high 80s and humidity we left behind. Uh-oh. We notice that everyone else is in winter gear – hats, gloves, scarves, puffy jackets. That’ll come up again later.
A 45min bus ride later, Warren and I were amongst the early morning tourists wandering downtown Reykjavík’s abandoned streets. Tip – buy the bus ticket through your airline and you’ll get a better price. It was a little surreal walking around what seemed an empty city with other bleary tourists, trundling their wheelie luggage. We found out that parties and bars had stopped only mere hours before. Fortunately most hotels were prepared and offer very early check-in. Apparently, hotels are used to such early arrivals and the front desk was quite accommodating, readying our room by 09h00 once housekeeping arrived. They also stowed our bags until the room was ready, allowing us to roam in the meantime. But we had to wait for breakfast places to open, the earliest being at 7h30.
We found a little place along the working waterfront, Café Haiti (http://www.cafehaiti.is/), and enjoyed a fantastic breakfast of eggs, warm porridge, fruit, coffee, and juice.
This was a planned rest day, meant for meeting up with the others in our party, recuperating, and exploring the town. A fishing trawler in dry dock gave indication of the Greenland Sea and North Atlantic weather. After napping a bit in the room we had our first Icelandic hot dog for lunch, the famed pylsa. The reports are true – they’re incredible. Natural casing around the lamb, served with a pylsa-specific sauce that combines a less than sweet ketchup with mustard, raw white onions, dried fried onions for crunch, and a remoulade (basically mayo with relish), all on a soft bun.
The vendor made welcoming chit-chat about our first time in Iceland but when discovering we were riding motorcycles and camping around the island there was a short silence followed by genuine concern, “But aren’t you worried about the weather?” We looked at each other, a bit confused about the concern after so much careful planning on our part, and replied, “Um, no… should we be?” “Well, it’s getting close to winter…” he trailed off, as if to unseen volunteer rescue services. Our confidence a bit shaken, we were off to The Drunk Rabbit for a Guinness and to question our judgment, even if solely and in silence.
Restaurant Reykjavík (https://www.restaurantreykjavik.is) puts on a huge and delicious dinner buffet for a reasonable (by Icelandic standards) price – all manner and preparation of lamb, fish, that delicious soft & slightly sweet rye bread that became a favourite of mine. David, Warren, and Danny even tried the hákarl, the infamous fermented shark. Some several times. The finishing shot of Brennivin (literally, “burnt wine,” aka the Black Death) was necessary so I’m told. Neither Steve nor I tried the shark.
For most of us, it was back to the hotel after dinner to rest-up and reset our body clocks for the big day tomorrow. David and Danny wandered later having napped longer that afternoon. I loved the saying on the hotel’s elevator door, it was an appropriate mood-setter for the journey ahead:
The newcomer
needs fire
his knees are numb.
A man who has made
his way over mountains
needs food and fresh linen.
-The Hávamál