We arrived in Iceland only about 15 minutes late, but the wait for passport control was quite long. Fortunately our taxi waited, and we arrived at the Hotel Borg after a nice drive. It is raining here, which we expected. We were able to check in early, and then went to The Laundromat Cafe (suggested by Madeleine) for a nice breakfast/lunch. Our hotel is across from the historic Parliament building from 1881, facing a lovely park that has become an historic gathering place for people here.
Then, off to the. National Museum, where we enjoyed the exhibits spanning the history of Iceland from the earliest arrivals in 793 - Vikings from Norway, as the island was uninhabited until then, the collection of artifacts was really interesting, from Iron Age tools and silver hoards, to wooden carvings and vestments from the many churches once the island converted to Christianity around 1,000 CE,, through the introduction of the Lutheran faith. There was a 22’ long fishing boat with oars and sail from the 19th century which showed how exposed they were at sea, a tiny wooden house that was lived in until 1950, steel and ceramics artifacts and the first printed books here. The island was ruled by Norway for centuries, harassed by England and Germany for the rich fishing grounds, and then Denmark until independence in 1944.
Barney’s boots were not comfortable, so we stopped at the hotel to get some moleskin. Then off to meet John and Reuben and meet John’s sister Alice, who will be on this trip. It was so nice to see them again. We had drinks at the rooftop bar of their hotel overlooking the harbor, then a nice dinner at a small restaurant also on the water. A large ship left as we watched, and an enormous coast Buard ship took up much of the harbor along with fishing boats.
We had managed to stay up until 9;00pm, and so despite what sounded like a noisy yet fairly lame comedy show going on in the bar next door, we got to sleep and had a good night’s rest.
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