Our first stop was at Reykjavik Roasters and my daughter had a delicious coffee drink while I had an Americano.
We also decided to stop in the The Icelandic Phallogical museum. My daughter thought this was more of an 'art' museum, but instead it promoted 'science'. Honestly, I felt this museum was a bit overrated and probably could have skipped it. Most of the specimens were from whales, seals, and walruses.
Another stop we made on Laugevegur was The Handknitting Association of Iceland. This was mostly a shop with handmade sweaters and other touristy trinkets. I already knit my own Icelandic sweaters, so no need to spend $200 on one!
We also stopped at the Harpa to admire the gorgeous glass structure.
On our way to our next big stop, we walked through some beautiful side streets where we admired how some of the older homes were built. Wood is scarce here, so they use a lot of corrugated metal for siding and rock. I love the Scandinavian style they use that is balanced with the white lace curtains in their windows. Another interesting thing we saw a lot of is cactus plants in their windows.
Last year, I painted a very colorful spot in Reykjavik from a photo I found online. I was pleasantly suprised to find that spot for myself on our walking tour.
And street art is everywhere.
Hallgrimskirkja is the very large church in Reykjavik that can be seen towering above most of the buildings. High rise condos are starting to fill their skyline, and I hope that they don't overtake the view of this church. It is free to go inside, but there is a charge to go up the elevator, which we sure did do. The last photo is one that is taken of Reykjavik frequently, and is one I wanted to see for myself.
Our day did not end here. Initially we planned to do the Golden Circle on a different day, but with the afternoon still open, we headed to some other amazing sites of nature. On the way to the sites of the Golden Circle, we stopped at the Alafoss store in Mosfellsbær so I could load up on yarn. I already have more yarn then I know what to do with, but the opportunity to shop here is once in a lifetime for this American.
We drove past Þingvellir because there was not enough time to see this historical area. The drive was amazing however, and we kept going on. There was one more waterfall I just had to experience for myself before the sun set on us. Gulfoss is absolutely huge and powerful.
After this brief stop at Gulfoss (it was VERY cold and wet even so far back), we headed home but stopped at Strokkur, a geysir close by. It was fun to see this erupt every 5 minutes.
We got back in late today, and my daughter was craving pizza. I would never have thought pizza in Reykjavik would be good, but I was so wrong! If you have the chance, eat pizza at Devitos!
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