Iceland: August 2021: Day 7: Akureyri to Reykjavik

Iceland

August 2021: Day 7: To Reykjavik

On the way to breakfast.

Danishes.

Food carts.

Street signs.

Art. Flip the view and the heart encircles the local church.

Hostels everywhere in Akureyri.

Akureyri botanical garden.

Summertime means flowers.

And bees.

Kebab for lunch.

Washing a week's worth of bugs off the windshield.

Bridges, new and old, crossing into Hrutey i Blondu Park.

The old, rickety bridge. Actually still feels solid, but has a 2 person max.

One of many very long tunnels in Iceland-- probably the Hvalfjordur Tunnel?

Pretty good 3 bedroom AirBnB just east of Hallgrimskirkja.

A fully enclosed shower! *gasp*

Kitchen.

Living and dining room.

Backyard.

Colorful houses in the city center proper.

Helga Raspberry Sour.

Inside the Hlemmur Matholl food court.

I had pizza last night, now it's Erik's turn.

Lamb soup. Not bad but not memorable?

And yes, more lamb. Not bad either, but not as good as Pakkhus in Hofn.

Katie had no complaints about the pho. Except how slow they were.

Rainbow leads to Hallgrimskirkja.

Session Craft Bar menu.

Cameras and beer.

More cats.

Cloudy night over Hallgrimskirkja.

Spent the morning getting pre-departure COVID-19 tests in Akureyri and exploring the town, including the botanic gardens near the local community college. Had a pretty decent kebab for lunch, although nearby food carts were also kind of tempting. As a consequence, we didn't stop much between Akureyri and Reykjavik, checking out one little island in a river, and were appropriately fascinated by the massive, 5 to 7 kilometer long (2.5 to 4.5 mile long) tunnels that we drove through while on Iceland's ring road.

Katie managed to find a very nice 3 bedroom AirBnB with parking and laundry just a few short blocks from Hallgrimskirkja. We unloaded the (by now rather smelly) car and commenced exploring central Reykjavik, complete with a stop at a local wine bar with a strong European flair. Dinner at the Hlemmur Matholl food court was just as undistinguished as it was on my last visit to Iceland, but honestly the variety was nice. The local Vietnamese community has opened quite a few new restaurants in the area, and we had a spread of pho, spring rolls, and pizza for dinner. And yes, of course, lamb soup and lamb chops, because Icelanders serve lamb everywhere...

Final stop was Session Craft Bar, where the Melins plenty spent of time bending the ears of the locals over local microbrews.