Monday, 16 January

Dolora and I were asleep early last night between missing some sleep and the time zone change. It was easy to sleep until nine since it was still dark. We were able to wake at nine, shower, have breakfast and then go watch the sunrise at eleven. We stopped at the Solfar, Sun Voyager Sculpture, on the waterfront. The sculpture resembles a Viking longship. From there it was over to Harpa, the concert/convention center to meet our guide for the food tour.

The tour started at 11:30. Our tour guide was Noki and there were a dozen people on the walk. Remarkably all but one couple were from the Baltimore/Washington area. We were to visit five restaurants sampling Icelandic cuisine. Noki provided backround information and history during the tour. Particularly interesting were the thirteen Santa Clauses, two of which catch and eat bad little children. They were described as sort of being trolls. I will have to Google that later to get some more details. Photos of the food samples are attached.

The Restaurants:

1. Messinn (Address: Lækjargata 6b, 101 Reykjavík Iceland) – Seafood Only Restaurant

• Icelandic Plokkfiskur (Cod) with Bearnaise Sauce
• Arctic Char
• Rye Bread & Butter

2. Bæjarins Beztu Pylsur (Address: Tryggvagata 1, 101 Reykjavík) – They sell over 2,000 hot dogs each day. Bill Clinton stopped here. Only outside seating. The Icelandic tradition is with all the toppings. Amazingly this was not messy.

• Lamb Hot Dog with
  • Raw Onions
  • French Fried Onions
  • Ketchup (Vals Tómatssósa)
  • Sweet Mustard (SS Mustard)
  • Remoulade (Mayonnaise-based Relish Sauce)

3. Íslenski Barinn (Address: Ingólfsstræti 1a, 101 Reykjavík) – Soup was okay. Beer is brewed in Iceland. Fermented shark smells like ammonia but does not have that flavor. Tourists eat most of the fermented shark, Icelanders only eat it during the mid winter festival.

• Traditional Icelandic Meat Soup (Kjötsúpa)
• Einstök White Ale
• Fermented Shark
• Bread & Butter

4. Sjávargrillið (Address: Skólavörðustígur 14, 101 Reykjavík – Excellent restaurant, non traditional Icelandic recipes but all Icelandic ingrediants.

• Lobster (Langoustine) Tacos

5. Café Loki (Address: Lokastígur 28, 101 Reykjavík) – Rye bread ice cream was not as bad as it sounds but I still prefer something with chocolate.

• Rye Bread Ice Cream
• Kleina (Icelandic doughnut)
• Coffee / Tea

All of the food was excellent and it is hard to pick a favorite. The food tour ended one block from our guesthouse. We visited a store with all Iceland made items then headed back to the room before our Northern Lights tour at eight. Several of the couples on the food tour were on Northern Lights tours last night. They had beautiful photos and said it was very active. I am hopeful for tonight.

Since this post is kind of long and I do not want to mix food and (hopefully) Northern Lights photos, I may try to separate and do a second post for today.