Apr 15th: Reykjavik

This series of posts will chronicle, as faithfully as possible, our recent trip to Iceland and Andalusia. Comments and thoughts are most welcome! Photos from Iceland are courtesy Gireesh, Anchal and Janani and the ones from Andalusia courtesy Gireesh. :)


We had a full day in Reykjavik today -- with no agenda and no list of things to see, the plan was to roam around and just dissolve ourselves back into civillisation. The weather was pretty much the same as it had been throughout the trip, but it was a lot easier to negotiate with umpteen cafes and shops to duck into when we needed to warm ourselves. :) The first thing that stood out for us today was that Reykjavik is not an early riser -- and not an early sleeper either, considering how the buzz outside our hotel on Laugavegur grew louder as the night grew deeper later on. Most places for breakfast were not even open when we strolled out at 10 am, so I guess brunch is the more acceptable time to grab a bit. I am not complaining though, because we stumbled on to a really cozy little cafe when we finally got down to eating. Cafe Babalu felt exactly like the kind of place Gireesh and I would have owned were we in the cafe business -- comfortable squishy couches and chairs thrown together, knick knacks, postcards and even currency (we did our bit with some HKD!) from around the world adorning walls and ledges, board games, wholesome food, friendly staff, a balcony looking out onto the streets outside,  a brick wall to scribble on (see if you can spot our little brick in the cafe if you head out there!) -- it was almost like you are sitting in someone's living room, a very Bohemian someone at that.

Wall at Cafe Babalu

After a very satisfying meal, we headed out to the old harbor to check on whale watching tours -- the waters off Reykjavik are a hot spot for catching these cetaceans in action. But weather gods had some other plans for us. It was too windy and choppy for the boats to sail, so we were constrained to the land for the rest of the day. But, each time you see a dark cloud, a silver lining is never too far behind. While meandering around the city center, Gireesh and I were peering at a map to figure out where to head to next, when a girl stopped by and asked us if we were lost. We said we were just looking for things to do and on an impulse, I just asked her whether there was anything she would recommend we must do, something that she as a local would love to do. She thought for a moment and then led us on to this little square where a big costume party was in progress -- Moominpapa seemed to be a favorite, as were some cartoon penguins and bears we couldn't recognize. There was even a group dressed up as tampons.. eek! Our guide told us this was the end of high school party -- this adrenaline and beer charged group would be turning up for their exams in a few weeks' time and would then head out on the road dealing with mundane worries like finding a job, getting an MBA, buying a house etc. This was their last day of freedom and they were celebrating it as hard as they could! "Don't worry", she said as she headed off, " they may seem rowdy but they are quite nice. They might even come and try to hug you once they see you" ... err, ok! And true to form, as soon as they spotted us, a bunch of moominpapas disentangled themselves from the group and bounded over to give Gireesh a nice, tight hug. Soon we were surrounded by a huge group -- it was a very chatty bunch, speaking about everything from football ('Why does a country like India with more than 1 billion people can't produce a decent football team? Its not that difficult to kick right?" ... hmmm, no answer to that one!)  to youtube to travelling -- almost all of them said they would be saving up over the summers to head out to Asia by the end of the year. One cute little 'tampon' put it the right way -- "Ohh I love Iceland. But I want to travel all over the world, specially Asia because its so different and far away. And then I can come back here and say, I loooooooooooooooove Iceland!"  It was impossible not to get infected by the joie de vivre of this happy bunch of teens.. they would make any cynic doubt himself!

Our dressed up friends!

After this happy little distraction, we took a circuitous route back to the Hallgrímskirkja -- Reykjavik's hip and modern church and it's biggest symbol. The church was quite pretty inside, with a rather new age organ, and there was a viewing deck upstairs looking out into the city -- red, blue, pink and yellow roofs combining together to make a colorful little jigsaw all the way to the sea. 

Reykjavik

Gireesh and I just walked around the city after that, stopping here and there for an interesting gallery or a photo-op. Reykjavik is a very pretty city to just amble around and its compact enough to not tire you out completely. Interestingly, whenever we stopped for a drink or a meal or got chatty with one of the Icelanders, a common conversation pattern was:


Q: 'Where are you guys from?'
A: 'India, but living in SE Asia'
Q: 'Ohh wow, that's a long long way to come.'
A: 'Yeah, but worth it!'
Q: 'But why Iceland?'
A: 'Why not?!!' 


And you can be sure we were rewarded with some warm smiles after that one. :) We could see people would turn around and notice us when we walked by. But unlike a few other countries we've been to, they would actually stop and speak to us, very curious about seeing us there at that time of the year! We were mini-celebrities on those streets of Reykjavik. :) 


All in all, a fine day in a fine city and a perfect end to our little tryst with Iceland. During dinner that night, our last meal in Iceland, Gireesh and I were wondering if we would actually be able to do justice to Andalusia (the next half of our two-weeker), so hungover we were going to be with Iceland! I don't want to reveal the answer to that one yet, but now, more than a month after coming back from Iceland, I still feel the wind in my hair sometimes, still see the waterfalls gushing down the ridges and still practice saying Eyjafjallajökull.. so the Iceland hangover is still on. What had started off as a hesitant little flirtation has turned into a full blown love affair.. and trust me, we are heading back to Iceland soon! :)