Our day began simple enough with eggs, toast, coffee and skyr – at our apartment. One of the main reasons we stay in apartments is just for this reason. It can be expensive (and time consuming) to eat every meal out.
We have plans tonight (more on that later) but with the chilly temps, spitting rain and wind we decided Monday would be the perfect day to visit The Perlan. Yes, you can definitely see it’s windy outside.
It was created in the 1990s at the site of the city’s former water storage tanks. The tanks have been converted into a Museum of Icelandic Natural Wonders, sharing displays about Iceland’s unique environment-perfect for two people with a science background.
Before even heading inside, there was this cool grouping of sculptures to the left of the entrance.
The first exhibit was about the power of volcanoes.
While also talking about the tetonic plates.
No, we didn’t go see Puffins in their actual habitat (nor did Eric eat puffin) but their exhibit was interesting and accompanying information was good. This replicates a tiny portion of Europe’s largest seabird cliff.
Their ice cave is pretty cool (pun intended – sorry) and is the first of its kind in the world, being 100 metres long and made with 350 tonnes of real snow from the Blue Mountains of Iceland.
One other activity we indulged in was the Planetarium’s projection of the Northern Lights. Sorry no photos, it was prohibited. 😦 I did go out on the observation deck, but man, if you thought it was windy in front of the building, it was REALLY bad higher up. I might have spent two minutes outside, then put my head down to combat the wind and struggled to get back inside.
Before leaving we had a light lunch at the top of the dome (seen in one of the first pictures above). My meal was a fabulous grilled chicken on a bed of assorted lettuces, lightly dressed with a tasty oil & vinegar dressing. Eric got the seafood soup and he almost licked the bowl.
Even though it was raining, I couldn’t resist this photo of Reykjavik’s church.
Tonight’s plans were one of the highlights of this trip. We met an Icelandic couple during a food tour in Paris in 2017 (photo below) and after the tour, most of the group stayed together and enjoyed a meal that night before separating.
If possible, we wanted to get together during this trip and they graciously invited us to their (new) home to meet their kids and have a meal with their family. After a number of years in a 2-bedroom apartment with four children, having a house with a garden was a dream come true. It’s a great house. 🙂
We met Diana at the University of Iceland that afternoon and she gave us a driving tour as we headed towards their home.
We got a tour of their outside garden and there are numerous hidden treasures.
The meal was fabulous: leg of lamb & gravy, salad & fixings and potatoes. I was so excited to eat………. my photo only shows a portion of the food.
We both loved the two sauces, seen next to the bowl of tomatoes: red current jelly was on the left and a rhubarb syrup was on the right.
Okay, and I forgot to take a photo of dessert, aarrrgghh. It was a raspberry cheesecake and various flavored skyrs. Talking wih Sverrir and Diana (along with their kids) was just so enjoyable and relaxing that I didn’t want to spoil the atmosphere with taking photos. At least I got a few photos before Sverrir took us back to our apartment. Unfortunately I missed getting their oldest daughter before she took off after dinner, but I hope we all meet again, sometime in the future – either in Iceland or Florida!
When sharing the address off our apartment, it was discovered that Sverrir’s grandfather grew up a short distance away and the house is still standing. We had walked past it several times. He was a carpenter and behind it was the workshop. It’s over 100 years old and cannot be torn down.
We both totally loved our evening with their family and will hopefully return the honor if they get a chance to visit Florida.
More to come! We’ve only been here two days and still have four more days to go.
Ginny
Darden Travels 