Iceland: Day 3

On our last full day in Iceland, we decided to try out Hlemmur Mathöll for breakfast. We bought delicious bagel sandwiches at Micro Roast Te & Kaffi, which were probably too much. We could have happily split them. Oh well.

First, we stopped at the Hafnarhús location of the Reykjavik Art Museum (there are three locations, each specializing in a different medium). It was real weird. I have to say, even with the impressive collection of Erró works, I don't think the museum alone would have been worth the entry price without the other two museums (one of which we did later visit).

From there, we walked west to the old harbor area. We had reservations for lunch, so while we were waiting, we got a flight of beer samples at Bryggjan Brugghús, which was pretty decent! By this point in the trip, we were realizing that Icelandic breweries really love pilsners and Christmas beers, and they usually have a few favorite American styles, too.

Lunch was at Matur og Drykkur, a traditional Icelandic restaurant embedded with the Saga Museum (basically the history of vikings). Dave got a fish soup and I got a lighter roasted vegetable item. The restaurant is apparently a local favorite and is harder to get into at dinner than it is at lunch.

On our way back to town, we stopped at the local library branch, which is a mouthful: Borgarbókasafnið | Menningarhús Grófinni (the first word means "library" and the last two are the branch title).

The library had this book about two guys knitting things, which would be up my alley if I read Icelandic.

Interestingly, a lot of the books at the library were in English! You definitely get the impression that although Icelanders are proud of English, they do their best to have excellent English skills, too, for the tourist trade and business.

After the library, we went down to the National Museum of Iceland, where we learned about the history of human settlements on the island. Apparently due to its remoteness and climate, Iceland didn't receive its first settlers until the 1000s. Then the rule became more solid and the country became Christian later on. 

National Museum of Iceland

They also had a history with Denmark that reminded me of Great Britain and the United States, except Iceland didn't become fully independent until much later. Their last tie was severed when Denmark was occupied by the Nazis in WWII! Also, apparently Iceland was occupied by Britain and the United States in WWII to protect it as a staging ground for United States shipping and troop movements.

Scene in Reykjavik near the National Museum

We decided to try to fit in another Reykjavik Art Museum location before it closed for the day, so we walked over to Kjarvalsstaðir, which has a lot of works by the artist Kjarval, an Icelandic fisherman who was sent to art school and came back to paint many Icelandic people and scenes.

One of my favorite aspects of the museum was this tiny exhibit of gingerbread houses that were cut to look like famous buildings in Iceland!

They smelled delicious.

On our way home, we stopped for a flight at RVK Brewing, whose standouts were a couple of very tasty stouts. We asked the owner for a recommendation for dinner, and he recommended SKÁL! at Hlemmur Mathöll! We laughed, and then immediately went there anyway. That night, Dave got a smoked fish sandwich from some other vendor, and I got an arctic char meal from SKÁL! If it ain't broke...

Early to bed after a crazy late night, and then one more morning in Iceland!