I’ve been exploring Reykjavik for a couple of days, and I’m enjoying the colder weather. It’s not hard to spot the locals from the tourists. This has inspired me to compose another one of my really bad haikus:
Dress Code = Completely Inconsistent
Ball caps, tees, and shorts
Snow pants, parkas, furry hats
Winter boots, flip-flops
Im fortunate that Hallgrímskirkja, the largest church in Iceland, is one block from me so I get to enjoy the sound of beautiful church bells throughout the day, just like Amsterdam.
Today’s highlight was visiting Perlan, a natural history museum housed in a distinct steel building with a glass dome perched atop a hill.
The exhibits at Perlan cover everything from the environment and geology to wildlife and Iceland’s extraordinary natural phenomena.
My favourite was the immersive volcano experience that took me 2,000 meters beneath the earth’s surface using a simulator, glass floor, and 3D sound. It was remarkably convincing.
I also walked through a 100-meter ice cave made from real snow collected from Iceland’s mountains (woot woot). Don’t get me wrong—it was very cool, but given where I’m from, it wasn’t exactly extraordinary. While other tourists arrived dressed as though they were heading into the Yukon, I wandered around with my rain jacket wide open.
There was even an ice chair, where I watched people ham it up for photos with flexed arms and various tough-guy poses. When someone offered to take my picture, I happily obliged—and naturally went with my signature “meh, whatever” pose.
Here are a few other highlights of Reykjavik so far:
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