Saturday

We put two empty days in our travel plan for Iceland. This would allow us to rest and also add tours, as well as simply walking in Old Town Reykjavik, where our hotel, Hotel Reykjavik Centrum, was located (and ‘Old Town’ in this case referred to the period of 781 +/- 2 AD). We rose with the sun, bright in our room in the morning. We had tickets to an afternoon of Organ music at the Lutheran church that towers over Old Town, Hallgrímskirkja. There is a vast pipe organ there, and we wanted to hear it.

First, we dressed and all that and headed for breakfast at the hotel. It is a treat each morning with a mix of hot food, cold meats, locally made yogurt, cereal, and various baked goods. With the high cost of restaurant food and the time investment to get it, having breakfast included was an excellent choice.

We were dressed in layers as we had also signed up for a puffin cruise out to the island full of the cute little birds. But it was sunny and, for Reykjavik, warm. We were soon peeling off the layers and trying to walk the hill to the church on the shady side of the street!

We had to wait for the tourists to leave the church and for the ticket collectors to be ready. We sat directly behind the organist, but a few rows back. The row in front of us was then filled, but we could still see. Soon the church filled with concert goers.

I was disappointed, as my hearing loss prevented me from making out some of the subtle sounds, but the sound still filled the room. The organist was immensely talented and knew the machinery well, and was all but dancing with his hands and feet. The stops would also shoot out here and there as he reset things. The organ was set to a more musical level of volume, but I often like them to vibrate the floor.

The organist played a set of Bach pieces, which I suspect I had heard before but did not recognize. They were full of clashing pipe sounds as you, dear reader, would expect. The final pieces were from the 1800s and included the final piece that Deborah thought would make a score for a horror movie (It roughly translated as “Thank God for All Things”).

We skipped, again, the tour of the tower’s long line and headed out. We found a crepe shop nearby and tried that for breakfast. It was not as good as we hoped. It was stuffed full of bright toys and other knick-knack items. We spotted the famous Loki food joint, renowned for fermented shark and other bizarre food options. Just a photo for us!

We had plenty of time, and it was a relaxed day for us. Deborah and I wandered the Rainbow Road area, visiting various bookshops and the usual tourist shops. We decided that BakaBaka was worthy of a stop, got a table, and there were lovely baked goods and more coffee. It takes a lot of coffee for us to keep up this pace! We saved part of the excellent items for later.

We walked the rest of the way down the hill to get to the harbor. Along the way, we encountered a troll with whom we took a picture. We enjoyed the walk down the mountain. We soon were at the tour place. The staff there asked us about the organ concert, as we were concerned it would be longer and make us rush. It was good, but an hour of organ music is a lot. We had joked with the staff the day before when we bought the tickets that we might have to walk out after the intermission, which was four hours long (it was more like forty minutes).

We waited about 30 minutes for the tour, and I nodded off a few times while we waited. The sun, food, and music had me feeling quite peaceful. We soon boarded a small boat with only a partial cover in the front. It became clear (we ran aground once) that a small, shallow, and strong boat was the best choice for getting close to the island filled with puffins.

The puffins are small (there are stuffed animal versions in all sizes all over Reykjavik, and we learned that the Star Wars Porg was actually a bit of movie magic as puffins were everywhere in the shot, and it was easier (and cheaper) to create a porg creature to place over the puffins. Funny!

Puffins are cute and, though not related to penguins, do swim better than they fly. Seeing them beat their wings so fast and all together in a colony just overwhelms you with cuteness. I can see why there was a tour.

We spent about forty minutes taking photos and being bounced around by waves and hitting rocks. It was a lovely time, and I recommend incorporating this into a short tour on an easy day in Reykjavik, like we did. This, along with a visit to Sky Lagoon, would make for a nice mix.

We headed to the famous hot dog stand, but alas, a bus or some other tour group had flooded the place with a line over the road! We popped over to the 24-hour store and got some cheap-ish (there is no cheap in Iceland) sandwiches, chips, and drinks. Deborah also found a recommended book, Miss Iceland. We ate our dinner on the bench and soon headed (again!) up the hill towards the church. We found the Bookstore again and this time took a comfortable table in the front, purchased some beverages, and were ready for the band.

We danced and sang along, shouting Queen and Abba songs until 11ish. It was a fun time with Deborah, who remembered her Tina Turner moves at one point. The crowd, always friendly, soon blocked our view, and we joined them for dancing and singing.

We managed to find our way back without incident. The crowd seemed friendly, but we did have to walk back up the hill (again!) when we discovered Deborah had left her newly purchased book at our table. She was able to recover it (though a sleeping gentleman was using our table). We soon returned to our hotel and went to sleep. It was late.

I think I will do one day at a time. Thanks for reading!