This is the end of our journey. We had circled the island of Iceland and spent a day in Reykjavik, followed by a morning of touring around near our Happy Camper drop off location. We woke on day 9 to a beautiful bright and sunny day, perfect weather for walking the city of Reykjavik and seeing the sights. I had done some research about some popular places to visit and we had a plan for the day. As everything seemed to have a cost, we were lucky to find out that there are places in the city that offer free parking. That was a price we were both happy with and we agreed that walking a few extra steps would not be an issue.
Please check out the other posts to get caught up on our journey so far! Golden Circle (day 1), the South Coast (Day 2&3), the East Coast (Day4) , the North Coast (Day 5) , Westfjords (Day 6&7), and the Westlands (Day 8) by clicking on the words to follow the link.
As it tuned out, the free parking was only a few blocks away from downtown and one of the more popular tourist destination in the city. Our first stop was at Hallgrímskirkja Church where we took an elevator to the top and had a panoramic view of the city. Plus we checked out the cool architecture within the church as well.
At the front of the church there is a statue of Leif Erikson, a famous viking explorer from Iceland who was said to have discovered Vinland (or L’ans Aux Meadows, in Newfoundland). This is very cool as we are both from Newfoundland and I have grown an appreciation of Newfoundland history.
Our next stop was at a place called Bread and Company that we had heard had the best cinnamon buns in Reykjavik. Along the road we saw naturally covered roofs, pieces of art work, and very colourful buildings.
We didn’t realize that this colourful building was actually our cinnamon bun stop! Inside we were welcomed with the warm smell of baking bread. I was in heaven. Here we were able to watch the workers make cinnamon buns and roll out pretzels. It was easy to tell that they make hundreds of these in a day by their technique.
We ordered two types of cinnamon buns, one original and one caramel, to take across the road where there were benches and seats. Clearly a spot where tourists and locals alike go to enjoy these yummy creations.
After only a few short minutes (which is what it took to devour the cinnamon buns) we headed back towards the church where we walked the streets of the Neighbourhood of the Gods, an area that featured many street signs that were named after the Gods in mythology. Not only did we find Thor, Odin, Loki and Freya, we found lots of art in small parks among these streets.
Near city hall was another local site of the city lake Tjornin (seen behind this statue of a block head).
Our next major walking stops were up and down the main shopping district in Reykjavik. As we wandered the streets we stopped at the statue of a Viking ship in the harbour, checked out the huge concert hall, Harpa, bought some viking souvenirs at a Thor shop, ate some local chocolate and waffles, and took in the sites. I’ll let the pictures do the talking for me as we really just spent many hours walking and enjoying the culture Reykjavik had to offer.
Since this was out last night in Iceland, we decided to finish it with a bang! At first we were not going to visit the Blue Lagoon as it’s very expensive, but for whatever reason we changed out minds and booked a spot. We were not able to get access to the lagoon until 9 pm at night, but it allowed us to stay until the sun was setting giving us really the best last night we could ask for.
We had been baked in the hot spring waters for long enough and left to find out last camping spot for the night. Once settled in for the night we watched the skies for a bit to fully see the sun go down. It is amazing how light it was after midnight.
Our morning started early and we left the campground and found a parking spot to eat breakfast and plan our morning before heading back to the Happy Campers depot. There was a small section in the South East side of the island, south of the Blue Lagoon that we had not yet driven, so off we went and found some hot pots that were actually busy with tourists. They were pretty stinky so we grabbed some pictures and headed on our way.
There was one spot in Reykjavik that we didn’t see the day before and since we had a little more time we drove to the local beach. Here there was a hot pot right next to the ocean that you could bathe in, then hop in the colder ocean to cool off and back in the hot pot. Wish we had time to do this today, but maybe next time? LOL.
Before we knew it we had to drop off the camper and head to the airport. This is where our journey slows down. We treated ourselves to some Joe & The Juice, some lunch, and waited for our flight to be called for boarding. This might have also included looking at yet another souvenir shop.
It was time to go, we had to say good bye to Iceland. This is a trip that we will never forget and who knows, maybe we will get the chance to return… maybe…
As we headed home and watched the flight screen we both got excited to see that we would fly over Greenland. It was amazing to watch see the glaciers, lakes and mountains of Greenland from above. A perfect ending to an awesome trip.
Thank you for reading about this trip. It was quite the adventure and I had a great time sharing and reminiscing about each day as I wrote these blog posts.