Iceland - Day 1 - Arrival and Reykjavik

As we flew over Greenland and then into Iceland we knew we were somewhere different. It never really got dark, we sort of went from sunset to sunrise immediately and the topography was so different - rocky and the vegetation was low - no trees.

Although a very smooth and uneventful flight, the first day was a killer as we arrived at 9 am but couldn't get into our room until 1. We dropped our bags and found a lovely coffee shop/tourist info centre/boutique store (Around Iceland), one of the few places open early on a Sunday, and whiled away a few hours over a leisurely breakfast with awesome coffee. We soon found out that fresh light wonderful cream is provided in copious amounts on waffles, cakes and drinks. We also found out that eating out in Iceland is not cheap. However, tipping is not the norm (there is no special minimum wage for servers).

Next we wandered down to the Harpa Concert Hall, rated one of the worls's 10 best performing arts centres. It is an awesome building, with a really intriguing crystalline glass design enveloping almost the whole building. At 3 floors, it has lots of performance spaces, shops, a restaurant and a cafe with amazing cakes.

A short walk around the harbour, then able to check into our room for a nap. We are staying right in the centre of town, in Apartment K. We have a very spacious room with a king bed in the bedroom, a pullout couch in the living room and a little dining room/kitchenette, with a supermarket nearby (we heard about the high cost of eating out in Reykjavik). Lots of space for a family of four. The teens were a little freaked out about the bathroom though, as it has a clear glass door and there was quite some time and effort spent devising a way to enhance privacy.

A fabulous hamburger at the Islenski Barinn (pub) next to our apartment on Ingolfsstruti and then off to the show "How to Be An Icelander" for an entertaining one man rendition of the 15 unique characteristics of an Icelander, some of which we had already experienced, interspersed with some jabs at every other culture in the room. The performer opened the show by asking where everyone was from, greeting them in their language and referring back to them later with his jabs - what a memory!

After coffee and cake at the Harpa cafe we took the long route back to our apartment, enjoying the brightness of the day, at 10 in the evening.

We were asleep before the sun went down.‎ We were in the centre of town and, as we heard in the show earlier this evening how Icelanders love to drink and party, the revelers seemed to be in the room with us most of the night.