So today started not so much with breaking into, but rather out of, our host family's house. Oops! They were leaving this morning at 7:30am, and despite our seemingly endless day of travel yesterday, we made a decent effort and were ready to go at 7:35. Unfortunately, there was a bus to be caught, and we were left rather abruptly and not knowing quite what to do. Not wanting to stay there the whole day, but also not wanting to leave the apartment unlocked, we surveyed our options and sent Cecilia through the bathroom window which gets left open for the cat. It was slightly more ridiculous due to the fact that the only way we could get her out was by physically unscrewing the window latch, opening the hinges all away, screwing it back together, and moving on our way. Handy no one called the police on us!Once finally free, we wandered back down to our favorite hostel, where we got yummy freshly-baked croissants, did some work, read books, watched friends, talked to T, and generally relaxed for a couple of hours until the rest of Reykjavik woke up. Then it was time to head down along the harbour for a walk, and all around town, poking around lots of cute little shops.
We found this cool Viking ship/whale statue, and did some vaulting on it, of course, and also found the coolest outdoor clothing store. Not so much for the products, which seemed nice enough, but for the inside of the store itself, which featured a slide, tire swing, small bouldering wall, and chalk wall where you could write messages. Someone had written a note in Japanese that said something along the lines of 'My name is Eva, it's nice to meet you. I want to go to Japan, but I don't have any money, so I can't.' It was somewhat random!

After we poked around the shops, we went to lunch at a little burger place, and watched as a woman who looked completely cracked out and her friend made friends with man who was replacing the advertising signs in big billboards around town. The woman's friend helped the town guy put up the posters, and they were very entertaining as they made friends with everyone they could, especially the woman, who was definitely inhabiting her very own special world.

After lunch it was time for more poking around, and long walk down the harbour in the other direction. We found a rather odd backyard full of rusted, metal structures, right on the water. It was intriguing, but we just examined it from a distance. We also went to the cathedral, which for a long time was the tallest building in Reykjyavik. It was really interesting as despite the fact it had the big, vaulted ceilings you would expect, it was all made from formed concrete and stucco, and didn't have stained glass, so it was really quite austere.

We came briefly back to our hosts' house, mostly to change bags and make a new plan and check in, then went to a tack store we'd heard about near their house. They had some really nice stuff, and some funny things too, like full farrier sets and teeth floats. It was a combo dance/horse/soccer store, which meant it was pretty well perfect!

We got dinner at a grocery store in the mall, and then walked up to Perlan, which is a big domed building overlooking the city, it was gorgeous and we got some great shots of the city in late afternoon sun (despite it being 8pm--it stays light until 11 here), including one of a plane landing in the regional airport, which was just below us.

On the hike back down the hill, we found the very odd remnants of a potentially former military site--a bunch of round, crumbling, stone-re-enforced areas linked together by concrete and stone staircases going over 5 foot high walls. There were a few people climbing on the sides of the rock walls.

We then headed back to town to print off our car reservation form at our trusty hostel, and finished up the evening with a quick snack at a very very cute and funk cafe that's tucked away in an attic. C said it was like a 'tree fort all grown up.' During the day they have a nice-looking balcony overlooking one of the busier shopping streets, but we chose to sit at a cute little table under little peaked roofs.

Back home around 10:30, it was basically time for bed, prerparing for the drive to Akyureri today.

xx D