Reykjavik: Day 2

The second day we had the day to explore more of Reykjavik. My mom, sister and I ate lunch at the Caruso Restaurant (which our hotel recommended.) It was pretty good although the non-seafood choices were slim. I had spaghetti carbanara (which reminded me of our trip last December to Dubrovnik.) We did some souvenir shopping (they have lots of shirts, books, etc about that one volcano that disrupted flights in Europe last year.)After lunch my dad joined us and we went around the city more. One of the main attractions we went to was the Hallgrimskirkja Church. We even went up in its tower. It was really nice although not very old (built last century.) We also went into several grocery stores where I was looking for Haribo and Kinder chocolate. I didn’t find any Kinder chocolate and the only Haribo candy was black licorice which I do not like. We also saw many odd sites like an English Pub that only has Icelandic beer or a Mexican Restaurant that also serves traditional Icelandic food.

At 6 pm we got picked up by a shuttle bus and went on a brewery tour called “Taste of the Sagas.” It was a small tour group which included my family, a couple from Massachusetts that obviously had just left their trailer park and a group of businessmen from New York City (we would see the NYC guys later.)Our guide’s name was Olaf – even though she was female. She spoke excellent English and really tailored her presentation to her audience. We got to taste a bunch of different Icelandic beer and soda. We also learned that beer was illegal in Iceland from the 1930s until 1989 (although hard liquor was legal.) During the walking part of the tour we had to put on protective hats and looked very funny. We liked the guide and the tour a lot and so gave her a tip. I should mention that people in Iceland do not expect tips and so they are genuinely surprised and pleased when you give them one.

After the brewery tour we had dinner at the Mexican Restaurant I mentioned above. It was called “Tabasco’s” and was pretty funny. It was a Mexican Restaurant that also served traditional Icelandic food made by a Chinese chef. It was warm and cozy and the food was good. It turned out to be pretty pricey though. Afterwards we took a taxi back to the hotel.