Saturday, November 28, 2009

Day 13: Last hours in Reykjavik (and on our trip)

Due to another 10 a.m. check-out time at our hostel, A and I got up around 8. I hopped in the shower, and then we began packing up the last of our belongings. We parked our bags by the front desk, and then set out on foot. We mainly wanted to do some shopping.. We saw and fell in love with some jackets at 66 North, and Icelandic outerwear company, but everything was super expensive (the thin down jacket I liked was $383), so I only left with a kids' hat (and A with nothing). We found a random store a block away called The Viking, where we each picked up a much cheaper jacket (though wind/water proof, not down). A also picked up a cute wool hat at another store. On our way back to the hostel, we stopped at a famous hot-dog stand where Bill Clinton once ate. I got a hot dog with gremolata (? it's a variation of mayonnaise) and fried onions. SO GOOD! We were tipped off to the place by Johanna, of course.



Here's a shot of downtown Reykjavik, which is, conveniently, about three blocks from our hostel:


And finally, we made one last stop, to the harbor, and took some shots of and in front of the beautiful scenery we saw for the first time (all our other outings in Reykjavik were in the dark).


Thank you, Island, it's been great, and we hope to experience more of you sometime in the future!

With that I'm officially wrapping up the extended blog coverage from our trip ... see you in Seattle!

5 comments:

Jóhanna said...

Ah, beautiful Mt. Esja!! How I miss that view. And those hot dogs (mostly made of lamb, which is what makes them sooo good). 66 North is insanely expensive, but very high quality (as good as or better than REI)--I only buy their stuff on clearance, though. Was your jacket made by Cintamani or another company? (Jade and I have matching Cintamani jackets, hehe.) So glad you had fun!!

Jóhanna said...

Oh, and it's remoulade! :) Welcome home!

pooja said...

Oh man, why'd you tell me they were made of lamb?! Now I'm a bit disconcerted, haha. But ... I'll likely still have another one if ever I'm in Reykjavik again ;o)

Yeah, I could tell 66 North was good quality, but I just like the peace of mind I have when spending that much money at a local store like REI. A and I did end up buying something by 66 N., though -- they had a store with a sale section at the airport, so we each picked up a thin, zip-up fleece jacket (same color, even). Still a wee bit pricey, but a cool souvenir!

Oh, and the jacket I got at the Viking was by Icewear: http://www.icewear.is/. They had a lot of cool-looking gear.

Remoulade, that's right! Thanks! And thanks for the welcome home! Got back to my place (after having a belated Thanksgiving meal at the parents') around 9, and then fell into bed around 10:30, after having been up some 20+ hours. Got up at 9 this morning, and have been doing well so far. We'll see how I handle my first day back at work tomorrow, though..

Jóhanna said...

Hahaha... well, I didn't tell you that lamb was one of the ingredients before you ate it, because I knew you wouldn't dare try it, then. ;) And you haven't seen Reykjavík until you've had one of those hot dogs. (See, aren't you glad you gave them a try? Best and healthiest hot dogs--precisely because of the lamb!--that I've ever tasted, seriously.)

Icewear makes good stuff, too. They are all pretty good companies there, really. Nice work on the sale counter! I actually love shopping at the KEF airport... since it's tiny, there's not much else to do with all that extra time before the flight.

Good luck getting over the jetlag! (I think it's way easier going west rather than east, but that's just my experience...)

pooja said...

Haha, yes, you're probably right! Though, I'm sure I'd likely cease eating all hot dogs, full stop, if I found out what when into *them* ;o) It was super delicious, though!

Good to know Icewear gets a thumbs up, though yeah, I'm sure any outerwear there has to be of good quality to get folks through any season over there!

I'm crossing my fingers my jet lag won't be too bad.. Certainly, I've felt fine all day today. But maybe some of that's still post-travel adrenaline or something!