We made it to Reykjavík early this morning, after a surprisingly short 4h 40m flight from Boston. Eloïse shocked us by sleeping all the way there; then by not grumbling when she had to walk off the plane, through passport control and down to baggage reclamation; then once again when we boarded a coach from Keflavík to Reykjavík and she simply sat on Sarah’s lap and mumbled not a word; then one final time when we had to change to a small minibus at the BSI bus terminal. All the way to the hotel, there wasn’t a peep out of her. Amazing. That girl travels so well.
Happily, our room was already available, even though it was only 08:00, so we checked in, drew the curtains, stripped off and crashed.
Unfortunately, we slept exactly as if we were on EST, so we didn’t awake again until 14:00 (the bells chiming 2 o’clock on Austurvöllur woke me up). A rapid shower ensued, clothing was tugged on and we dashed outside, eager to enjoy the dying embers of Iceland’s short daylight.
Ninety minutes later, it was all over, and we were plunged once again into darkness.
Reykjavík has even more charm in the winter than in the summer, if that’s possible. Every café and restaurant positively beckons to you, with its soft lighting, condensation-drenched windows and relaxed clientele, to come in from the cold and enjoy a sandwich and a cup of some of the finest coffee I’ve sampled anywhere in the world. So, that’s exactly what we did.
An amble around a couple of shops, especially 66° North, was about the only other thing we felt like doing today. Eloïse wouldn’t have had much patience for more activity than that, so we took it really easy. She’d had a long day and had been on her best behaviour, after all.
Dinner was at the wonderfully cosy Galileo, an Italian restaurant we’d eaten at on a previous trip.
The meal was fabulous, but prices around here continue to reflect the amazingly high standard of living to which Icelanders are accustomed. I think tonight’s meal is the most expensive we’ve ever eaten, and you have to believe me when I say that this was a great restaurant, but definitely not an extraordinarily expensive establishment.
No matter. As I said, the food was outstanding, so we were more than happy to pay a just reward for it.
Outside, it was now raining, cold and pitch black. Somehow, it only adds to this city’s irresistible charm. We stopped to buy skyr on the way back to the hotel.
Time for me to go back upstairs, before Sarah gets the hump with me for being gone for too long.