Around lunch time we stopped at a scenic turnoff where you can walk a short ways down to a beach area with some cliffs and rock formations. There were beautiful black stones on the beach which had been polished by the water and sand. I decided to jump into the (freezing) water with Mike and Will and we swam out to a tall rock formation. We had to take a break on some rocks part way there to warm our bodies back up, and looking into the water we saw a couple of tube-shaped jellyfish float by. They didn’t have any tentacles so hopefully they weren’t stingers.
Swimming back to shore we dried off and skipped some rocks for a while. Julia found a dried up starfish which she gave to Caitlin since it’s her birthday today. About an hour had passed since we stopped, so we all loaded up the bus to continue towards Reykjavik.
We arrived in Reykjavik around 6 pm and I have to admit it was slightly overwhelming. Coming from the Westfjords where there were only a few tiny towns surrounded by mountains to the middle of Iceland’s biggest city was quite a change. People were walking around everywhere, there are shops and restaurants lining almost every street, and there were more than a couple of cars in sight.
Our hostel is called Reykjavik Backpackers and is on Laugavegur street, the main street with all of the cafes and boutiques. We’re pretty much right in the middle of everything. Upon unloading our luggage in our rooms, we met Caitlin in a small park near our hostel for a pizza dinner, and we presented her with a cake we had bought earlier at a bakery (I bought her a couple of scratch-offs at a gas station, but she didn’t win anything). After chilling in the park, we walked around town exploring and then hung out in our hostel until late in the evening.
The National Gallery of Iceland
Church and Leif Ericsson statue
Viking boat sculpture
Colorful city streets
The building where Gorbachev and Reagan ended the Cold War.
Our room at the hostel
A little before midnight, we all met up in the hostel lobby and headed downtown to an English pub. Thordur met us there and brought some of his friends to hang out with us. We stayed at the bar for about an hour and then decided to go barhopping. Basically, our night was crazy. We kind of got split up after we left the pub, but I was with a group of about six others for most of the night. I went to Oliver, a young club where there was good dancing, Dillon, a chill bar where we looked for Caitlin (with no success), met up with Caitlin at Club 11, a rock and roll bar, and then ended up at some kaffi bar. The nightlife in Reykjavik is crazy, having been to Bourbon Street in New Orleans about a year ago it’s like that, but on crack. People smash beer cups and glass bottles on the ground when they’re done, there are confrontations in the street, and the “skinkas” are out in full force. Skinkas are Icelandic sluts who wear ripped, studded, or glittery tights (or all of the above), tight short skirts, outrageous high heels, and usually have bleached hair. At around 3:30 am I had to call it a night since I was rather tired, so Janice and I walked home and went to bed. Overall tonight was really fun. It was Caitlin’s birthday so it was cool that she came out with us, we got to meet Thordur’s friends, and we experienced the over the top nightlife in Reykjavik. It’s a good thing we made the most of our only Saturday night here!
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