Day 3: June 22 2025 Sunday
Well, the plan was an all day tour called The Golden Circle, but I didn't feel well and tried to encourage John to go on his own, but he wouldn't and it turned out that we both slept until 12:30!
But a plan came together by the end of the day!
It wasn't raining!!! And the sun (the Golden Bitch) made some brief appearances. It was a great day to wander around.
We headed to the gluten free crepe place for crepes and coffee.
It looks quiet, but it is not. It is Sunday and there are lots of tourists and families enjoying the good weather.
John thinks it looks like a KKK hood.
Visible from almost any point in the city, Hallgrimskirkja Church sits at the top of Skolavordustigur Street, the central art and design shopping street in the capital. The soaring modernist church’s design resembles the basalt lava flows found in Iceland‘s natural landscape, especially the basalt columns around Svartifoss waterfall.
Hallgrímskirkja - (Icelandic pronunciation: [ˈhatl̥ˌkrimsˌcʰɪr̥ca], Church of Hallgrímur) is a Protestant Lutheran (Church of Iceland) parish church in Reykjavík, Iceland. At 74.5 metres (244 ft) tall, it is the largest church in Iceland and among the tallest structures in the country. Known for its distinctively curved spire and side wings, it has been described as having become an important symbol for Iceland's national identity since its completion in 1986. The church is named after the Icelandic poet and cleric Hallgrímur Pétursson (1614–1674), author of the Passion Hymns.
The church features a gargantuan pipe organ, designed and constructed by the German organ builder Johannes Klais of Bonn. The organ weighs over 25 tons. It is 15 metres tall. The organ is driven by four manuals and a pedal, 102 ranks, 72 stops and 5275 pipes. The organ is quite powerful and capable of filling the huge space of the church.
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I had just said to John that we hadn't seen any cats and then we came across four, this guy was the most gorgeous.
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Leopard Cat with a tiger tail, leopard's body and a cat's head.
Artist: Arnór Kári
Address: Frakkastígur 11
We walked to the end of Laugavegur Street and then back along the harbour. They get a cruise ship every day during the summer months.
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The Sun Voyager (Icelandic: Sólfar [ˈsouːlˌfaːr̥]) is a sculpture by Jón Gunnar Árnason, located next to the Sæbraut road in Reykjavík, Iceland. Sun Voyager is described as a dreamboat, or an ode to the Sun. The artist intended it to convey the promise of undiscovered territory, a dream of hope, progress and freedom.
Harpa Concert Hall - The structure consists of a steel framework clad with geometric shaped glass panels of different colours. The building was part of a redevelopment of the Austurhöfn area dubbed World Trade Center Reykjavík, which was temporarily abandoned during the 2008–2011 Icelandic financial crisis. The development included a 400-room hotel, luxury apartments, retail units, restaurants, a car park and the new headquarters of Icelandic bank Landsbanki. We had been inside on the first day as it was the meeting place for the food walk.
From there we headed to the hot dog stand, the spot is no bigger than 5 square meters and hasn’t moved an inch since 1937. It’s been open in all weather and crazy storms every single day of the year for almost 80 years!
I hadn't tried it on the food walk as I was too full!
While most hot dogs in the world are made out of pork or beef, the hot dogs here are made from lamb meat.
You have to order “eina með öllu". One with everything. Or as John said (Quebecois) "all dressed".
That is a hot dog with homemade crispy onions and sweet mustard, along with raw onion, ketchup and remoulade.
The ketchup is actually made from apples instead of glucose, which makes it so nice and kind of sweet!
You may notice that the stand only fits two humans at the time and there is always a long queue waiting outside (Even if it’s below zero outside) but the queue still moves very fast.
That’s because the employee gets paid by the hot dog. The more hot dogs, the more cash money in the bank. That explains the super fast (but very friendly) service!
We went around the corner for a beer to wash the dogs down.
On the corner of Lækjargata and Bankastræti in the heart of Reykjavík stands the Water Carrier (Vatnsberinn) by Ásmundur Sveinsson. When the City of Reykjavík bought the statue in 1948, its place was supposed to be where it now stands. It caused quite a stir; the petty-bourgeois found the statue ugly, and it was decided to not erect it.
The Water Carrier was cast in bronze in 1967 and place by Litlahlíð in Öskjuhlíð, away from any kind of traffic, it was simply hidden.
It was not until ten years ago, in 2011, that the statue was moved to its current location, at the suggestion of the Reykjavík Art Museum. The last well of Reykjavík was at that location. The sculptor Ásmundur Sveinsson (1893-1982) was one of the pioneers of Icelandic art.
We decided to go for chips or fries, for dinner!
We have now decided on a plan. We will go to the puffin tour office in the morning and see if we can delay our Monday morning tour to Tuesday. If yes, then we will book the 12:30 Golden Circle Direct for Monday afternoon. If not, then we will do the puffin tour and then make a decision if we have enough time to make the 12:30 tour when we get back at 11.
