Iceland Day 1: Reykjavik

 Our flight landed in Iceland at around 5am Iceland time. We grabbed our suitcase, went through customs, picked up our rental car, and were wandering the streets of Reykjavik by 7am. We stopped at little cafe and had breakfast. I had smoked lamb on rye - I wanted to start trying local delicacies as soon as I could.

I saw a lot of things that reminded me of France - Peugeots, pretty architecture, pay toilets, flower boxes, and cobblestone streets. A lot of things looked Scandinavian to me too, but I did not spend long enough in Finland to remember much.  I loved the corrugated metal siding that many buildings and homes had. 

 My first troll sighting in Iceland.  A lot of Icelanders still believe in "huldufolk" (hidden people/elves).  During our stay we saw many "afhol" in people's yards. They are the tiny houses that people have built for the benefit of elves.

Hallgrimskirkja is the largest church in Iceland. We rode the elevator to the top so that we could take in the panoramic views of the capital city. 

 

 

In the Stars of Summer, a children's book that we read over the summer, the girl protagonist researches the best types of hot dogs available in NYC. One of the things that she talks about are famous and unique hot dogs from other countries. She mentions Iceland's "pylsur", which some describe as the best hot dog in the world. Here is a description from a foodie:
What you then get is a long white and fluffy bun and a smearing of goodness. The sausages are a combination of pork, beef and lamb (there are more sheep in Iceland than people). These days the sausages are rumoured to be braised in beer. The meat is sweet, salty and rich. Then there are the sauces. The first is a stripe of ketchup. The second is a special lightly spiced mustard the colour of tree bark. The third is remoulade. It’s a mayonnaise that’s been punched up with gherkins and capers.
But the real heroes are the onions. Their pairing of a sprinkle of some that have been crunchy fried with the prickle of others that are raw is a stroke of ingenuity. http://www.huffingtonpost.com/victoria-haschka/best-hot-dog-in-the-world-iceland_b_844305.html

Delicious!
Probably my favorite stop on our early morning visit to Reykjavik was this 871 AD Settlement Exhibition museum. It is built over a viking longhouse believed to have been built around that time.

 Before we left for Iceland I started reading up on the vikings who landed there and the cultural heritage of Iceland.  When we visited the actual site of an ancient longhouse it really resonated with me and connected with a lot of things that I had read about.

Since we were only planning to spend one day in Reykjavik I thought we should try to get our souvenirs for the kiddos while we were there. Everything was so expensive though! Little tourist trinkets like magnets and plastic snow globes were at least 15$. We looked in several shops and did not see anything that made sense to buy.  Before we went I had researched the best place to get real Icelandic woolens.  I was excited to visit the Hand-Knitters Association shop, but could not justify buying a 200$ sweater or 75$ mittens for the kids.  They have a website that you can order from directly and once I work through some of my yarn stash I am planning to order some of their beautiful yarn to make my own "authentic Icelandic wool sweater".