Oh yes, we did!

 

As promised, we went to the Penis museum!  We went soon after it opened, and it was quite busy - clearly a big tourist attraction, which is funny, because you really don’t see it advertised much.

But more (much more) about that later. 

The day was bright - although still chilly (the locals are complaining that spring never came and that it is unusually cold). 

But it was lovely for a stroll to the botanical gardens, which are close to our hotel.  It is pretty and well maintained and free- unusual for Reykjavik where nothing (including public bathrooms) is free and everything is expensive (but it's in Krona - which may as well be monopoly money because it has too many zeros - besides, I'm on vacation!)

I came back by the water front, where clouds were providing dramatic shadows on the mountains.

And then, off to the Icelandic Phallological Museum, in the center of town..  I have to say - it was actually very interesting!  Not just the number of specimens, but the way it described every animal and their mating habits -  my favorite part was the “oddity” part of every descriptive board - and of those, my favorite one is the possum!  I have added many others at the end of the blog for your entertainment.  

There was also a section about humans, both in art and reality, including depictions from previous eras. (again, more at the end of the blog) 

I think my favorite part though was the last room, which was entirely devoted to satire and mythical or invented creatures- but did not say that- you had to figure it out by yourself!  Again, here is a favorite example, with many others included at the end.  

Seriously, I will give this 5 stars on Trip Advisor - both informative and fun - and well done!  We had had a large breakfast at the hotel, so did not get the special Oreo-Coconut Penis waffles - which is too bad because they smelled wonderful!

From there, we walked to the harbor, and to the maritime museum.  Which is 2 museums in a day - which everyone who knows me knows is some kind of record!  But Reykjavik, for such a small city, has many very interesting museums, and we were trying to stay away from activities that are included on our cruise (like whale watching, and “the golden circle”).

Anyway- the maritime museum was interesting too - in a different way from the previous one.  A favorite fact I learned is that in 1976 (that’s not that long ago!), Iceland and England broke off all diplomatic ties and almost went to war with each other over the rights to fish for cod around the coast of Iceland. Having learned about cod when we went to Newfoundland, I am amazed about how much of relatively recent history and even boundaries are a direct result of the appetite for cod! 

 Speaking of appetite - there is a lot of “fish and chips” to be had around the harbor….  But we still were not hungry after that big breakfast.

So I walked to the “pufa”, an art installation at the end of the harbor -  it’s very nice and supposed to promote meditation and self-reflection”.

I liked it a lot!  And from the top of it’s spiral trail, I got a lovely view of the harbor, of the giant ships that dock there (the ship we are boarding tomorrow carries about 1/20th the number of passengers as this one), and the pretty sail boats.

Speaking of art installations:  Reykjavik is peppered with them, making the already very walkable city even more pleasant to walk around. Here is the “sun voyageur", on the pathway along the waterfront.  

Reykjavik is a small city - population 120,000 (which is about the same size as my home town of Metz), which makes the number of museums, tourist attractions, large boats and tourists really impressive….  We are not even in full season, it’s going to get crowded!  

It is also a very walkable city - in fact its network of walking trails and sidewalks is impressive.  It explains why the electric scooter seems to be a primary mode of transportation (much more than bicycles).  More than 1/2 the cars are electric, which may be because electric power is geothermal and is very cheap.

Below are a couple more examples of art around town:

We finally stopped at the Harpa building, the big and architecturally interesting concert hall, were we had ‘brauoterta” - because it is very typically Icelandic, (our waitress said “we eat it all the time”.)  It’s described as a “bread cake” with tuna. Don’t tell the Icelandic people, because it would hurt their feelings - but it is in fact a tuna sandwich on white bread, with BBQ sauce on top…..  Not awful, not worth having more than once either…….  

Of course, we had cocktails!  And Joe even had the fish and chips for dinner.  I’m not completely sure what I had, but it had grilled cabbage, sautéed wild mushrooms, puréed black trumpets and fried Jerusalem artichokes…. It was the vegan option- which is not why I choose it- and sounded interesting.   It was VERY good!

More picture from the Penis Museum:

The air is clear in Reykjavik, but it’s cold!!!!

 

Our flight to Iceland was exactly the way we like it: uneventful.  Left on time, arrived on time, baggage showed up right away.   The only problem with this flight is that it’s too short…..  which is an unusual complaint -  but you basically have no time to sleep at all:  Take off at 11:15pm, land in Iceland barely 5 hours later….  Which is 9am Iceland time.

Then, it’s an oddly long drive from the airport to Reykjavik-  considering that there is nothing but lava rocks between the two, one had to wonder why….  Well, there is an answer:  the Americans built the airport as a military base during WWII - and when they left, the very practical Icelandic people decided to just make that their main airport, rather then digging though more lava rocks - so it’s 50km for Reykjavik- but it’s not like the roads are busy……

 

So after a late-ish breakfast at the hotel, we still had most of the day in front of us.  I had slept a couple of hours on the plane, so I decided to go for a nice walk, while Joe (who had not slept) took a nap.  While the weather was drizzly when we landed, it had cleared up nicely by then, and my walk along the water's edge was lovely:  I chose to walk away from town (since we were going to go there later), which means that I got some good views of the skyline from across the bay.  I stumbled upon this funky sculpture garden,

 

including this house entirely made of recycled stuff. Someone does live in it- they do have a nice view!

I like the fact that the “weeds” along the road and in yards are lupines……

It is a pretty trail that also gives a nice view of the surrounding mountains, and is a protected area for many sea birds.

 There were several Eider Duck couples who were clearly “courting”:  The males coo sweetly at the females.  It’s a lovely sound.

 There were many other birds, including these, which I did not recognize.

 

 

 

 

 

When I got back, Joe had emerged from his slumber and we took a cab to the center of town to do some sightseeing.  We walked the cobblestones streets, lined with pretty colored houses,

and interspersed with churches and statues.

We then stopped by a museum that happens to be on top of a viking era excavation, that related the history of Reykjavik. It was very interesting.

 Then we continued on to the Hallgrimskirkja cathedral, famous for its unique architecture and its huge pipe organ. 

I went to the top to take in the 360 views, and see the bells. There is a warning at the top that the bells ring every 15mins. It was 5 minutes till 4pm - so I had to wait till they rang! (I would not have have waited without the warning - they should know better than to tempt tourists like that!!!).  Well— they were LOUD!  A few hours have passed and my ears are still ringing a bit……

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

We had not had lunch because we had  a late breakfast, so we decided to stop in one of the many nice looking restaurants that line downtown for a glass of wine and a nosh…We were also glad to be inside for a bit because the wind is fierce and it was cold!!! But, it was nice not to have to deal with smoke in the air anymore. The charcuterie plate was very good and generous which means that now that it’s dinner time, we are just not hungry….. we’ll never get over the jet lag at this rate…..

Well, we have one more day in Reykjavik to get used to it before we embark “Le Bellot”

 

We are off to Iceland!

 I used to travel a lot on business before I retired, so I was really laid back about it.  Airports, TSA, lines, delays….  Nothing stressed me out.  But between retirement and then COVID, these travel muscles have atrophied and I find the whole process very anxiety producing.  Which is why it’s nice that the Saga Lounge serves very good cosmo’s!  (And that the news on TV is very good indeed!).

I generally take a nice picture of the NYC skyline from the Whitestone bridge on the way to JFK, but today, this is the best I could do.  Although the air quality has improved a lot since yesterday, it’s still really hazy out there….. we are not unhappy about leaving that behind…..

Our flight is late (11:15pm) and we are very early (what a shock!), so will chill here for a bit….   And of course, since we were early, there was barely any traffic and no lines at all for checking or TSA…… 

The good thing about a late flight is that I may be able to sleep for a few hours and that we arrive in Reykjavik at a decent time.  We have 2 nights there before our cruise starts. (More about that later) Our only plan so far is to visit the Phallological museum!  I am not making this up! Here is the link - it’s a real thing!  https://www.phallus.is/

 And if we don't go, Hallie will be mad at us!  So I’ll report on it either tomorrow or the day after.

For now, going back to my cosmo…..