Day 4 – Arrival in Iceland

Cold. Rainy. Windy. Tired. Several words to describe our arrival in Iceland. Despite the conditions, and the fact we skipped numerous items on the itinerary, we ate the best hot dogs we’ve ever tasted, had a simple but thoroughly enjoyable picnic-type dinner, got settled in our Eyrarbakki apartment, and managed to get a most relaxing night of sleep in preparation for busy days ahead.

Baejarins Beztu Pylsur, home of the world’s best hot dog.

I started today’s blog while still in line in to get our rental car:

It’s only 8:00 a.m. as I begin writing today’s blog. I’m waiting in a seemingly endless queue to pickup our rental car – apparently everyone decided to travel to Reykjavik this weekend and Sixt decided three employees were enough to handle the unbelievable crowd. All this is happening while Amanda is trying to corral Noah, Emmie, and our six bags a kilometer away in a crowded airport rental waiting area.

So far this morning, the Iceland experience has seen some ups and downs. We waited in line for nearly an hour to get boarding passes at the Toronto Airport. As we boarded the plane, however, IcelandAir stepped up its game, distributing cute travel packs to both Noah and Emmie. Once we were in the air, they both received junior meals with a chicken spaghetti dish, raisins, and a large box of apple juice.

The complimentary headphones helped Emmie maximize her entertainment from the iPad.

Despite being a budget airline, drinks were distributed to the cabin and water was offered multiple times during the flight. The kids fortunately fell to sleep relatively quickly, but the cramped space of modern airplanes made it difficult for Amanda or me to get much sleep.

Noah says cheese with his complimentary Little Explorer pack.

Noah colored this fish photo on his personal video screen on the plane.

Arrival in the Kevlakik International Airport in Iceland was confusing – we deplaned via steps in a windy mist before being shuttled to an arrival security check. (Fortunately, the kids helped us be shuttled to the front of this line.) After a walking past a seemingly endless set of gates and going through customs, we tracked down the rental car shuttle. Which takes us to the present, nearly 2 hours after wheels hit the ground.

On the plus side, the rain is clearing, at least for now. Here’s to a better rest of the day in Iceland.

I spoke too soon on the rain, as it persisted for most of our drive into downtown Reykjavik and the first part of our day. Once we found a parking spot, we were onto the Hallgrímskirkja Church for the start of the I Heart Reykjavik walking tour. Being on a hill, apparently the church marked one of the windiest spots in town. The strong wind and misty rain made for a tough start to the tour. We ended our participation after an hour, learning a few fun tidbits about Reykjavik while mostly trying to figure out who was going to carry Emmie. Noah spent most of his time sleeping in the Tula.

Emmie was happy after petting an Iceland kitty.

Noah slept for much of our walking tour.

Emmie stands in front of Reykjavik’s most famous landmark, the Hallgrímskirkja Church.

The weather led us to end the tour at its halfway point, deciding the kids would benefit from a break from the cold. We retreated to our Nissan Pathfinder and worked our way to the Reykjavik branch of Sixt Car Rental, who had given us a lousy car seat on top of the crazy-long wait. Fortunately, the replacement process was quick and effective, as we ended up with a much nicer, newer carseat.

We also visited a large Krónan grocery store in Iceland across the street from the car rental office. In addition to needed diapers, we purchased a variety of snacks including bacon and paprika varieties of our much-liked Tuc crackers, chocolate-covered black licorice (a popular candy here), apple juice, grapes, cheese and more. I love a good grocery store, and this was a good one.

Amanda did not like the Icelandic variety of Mountain Dew.

Foreign money, like the Icelandic Króna, always intrigues me.

After getting some cash from an adjacent ATM, we made our way back to downtown Reykjavik in search for the hot dog stand called Baejarins Beztu Pylsur, perhaps the most famous place to eat in all of Iceland. A parking place proved to be quite a challenge, and once we found one, we had even more trouble finding the hot dog stand itself. Ultimately, we asked the clerk at the tourist information office and, on our second attempt, got the directions right.

The stand was crowded but the line moved briskly, and best of all, the hot dogs were incredible. Topped with a delicious sweet brown mustard, ketchup, and remoulade, plus raw and fried onions, the hot dogs were so good we navigated Reykjavik’s confusing downtown street system to buy a second round of hot dogs for Amanda and me. We had all of the toppings on both orders; Emmie and Noah enjoyed their hot dogs plain.

Noah and Amanda immediately after getting their hot dogs.

Noah gave his hot dog the rare two-thumbs-up.

Following the hot dogs, we stopped at a gas station for drinks on the way out of Reykjavik and began the 45-minute drive to Eyrarbakki, a small coastal Iceland community home to the apartment where we will be spending the next three nights. The recently refurbished apartment features three beds, a kitchen area, dining table, a bathroom, and a much-appreciated washing machine and clothes hanger for laundry.

As mentioned in the introduction, we had a fine picnic-type lunch for dinner. The kids’ plates each included regular and paprika-flavored Tuc crackers; salami and sliced cheese; grapes; along with chocolate milk purchased from the convenience store next door to our apartment. Amanda and I enjoyed the same fare for dinner; not long after we wound down with pajamas and fell asleep for the night.

Amanda was a fan of this feta-olive combo on top of the Tuc crackers.