One activity we forgot to tell you about was the visit to the Lutheran Church in downtown Reykjavik. We managed to get there right before sunset on our last day in town and went up to the top of the steeple for stunning views of the city and the Atlantic.
There is a big Leif Erikson statue in front of the church who is credited for discovering North America... which leads us to some cultural notes we had from Iceland:
-While we emphasize Christoper Columbus for discovering North America, this seems a little misleading since Leif was probably (definitely?) there first.
-Icelanders are really serious about their water quality. Our AirBnB hosts beamed about being able to drink straight tap water and the quality is as good as anything in bottles.
-The hot water out of the tap, however, is a little interesting. Since it's geothermal it has a strong sulfur smell. This results in rotten egg smell showers. The locals don't seem to mind.. and it's not really that bad... but different.
-With a small population (300K or so) they have a newspaper where all of the obituaries for the entire country are placed. It's a small world. Like small as in our host, Hulda, nonchalantly talking about how she had been to the president's house a couple times.
-The sense of humor is really evident and it's clear that people don't take themselves too seriously.
-Did I mention hotdogs?
-Books of Note (if you would like to read for fun or especially if you plan on going to Iceland): The Little Book of Icelanders, The Little Book of Icelanders in the Old Days both by Alda Sigmundsdottir, and Independent People by Halldor Laxness. The first two are easy reading histories and the latter is an Icelandic literary classic.
Here are our hosts Hulda and Gustav. We had a great first AirBnb experience and really enjoyed getting to know them! Hulda is a music teacher and has even made her own children's CD (we have a copy!). They were so friendly and gave us many tips and explanations about life in Iceland.
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