Iceland isn't a culinary paradise. Food isn't bad but the scope is limited. And it is terribly expensive even by European standards. A meal of hamburgers and such for four at a ordinary place (with two children's menu items) costs about $50. Food at grocery stores is expensive too. Not much is produced in Iceland and the economy tanked during the financial crisis.
But then you get a gem like this every now and then. Octopus sausage in the kid's menu. At a gas station restaurant. Jo and I ate fresh Arctic char. They had a little write-up how everything was organic and locally sourced and we could see the cook cook it.. And it was probably our cheapest meal too.
Icelanders generally don't make eye contact and say hello like Americans do. But they aren't unfriendly. When Jo couldn't get her credit card to work at a parking meter in Reykjavik, a woman who had seen Jo from her car stopped and gave Jo enough coins to feed the meter. We gratefully parked using the stranger's money and went to a nice place for brunch. Here's a photo of Evan sitting outside under the mural of a rooster.
Then we went for a walk around the harbor area. Evan took a ride on Vivian's shoulders.
That evening we did something very Icelandic. Evan, Vivian and I went to swim at the local pools. This one had seven pools - three indoor (including a full olympic sized one) and four outdoor (another olympic size and three large hot tubs, one with slides and chutes). Vivian needed a female staff member to escort her through the women's side because she was too old to go to the men's (cut-off is six). Which is probably good because there were a lot of naked men and boys in the showers and changing area.
After swimming we got Jo and went out for dinner at about 9p. Our sleep cycles are completely screwed up and Evan fell asleep on me (I think his body thought it was his nap time). When the food arrived and the waiter put Evan's plate down in front of me I looked suspiciously at Evan and woke him up to ask him if he had pooped in his pants. Turned out to be the cheese in the food. Vivian wouldn't touch it.
Evan slept through the meal. All scrunched up on a not-very-large seat with his butt up in the air. I tried to make him comfortable with a couple of chairs but he would have none of it.
Later when we were driving back home he woke up grumpy. From what he muttered we gathered that he must have had a dream that we didn't take him to the swimming pool and he was pissed off about it. If you think Evan can be irrational you should try to talk him out of a dream. Absolutely charming. He finally calmed down and asked "why didn't we spend any time at the restaurant that we just went to".
Then we went for a walk around the harbor area. Evan took a ride on Vivian's shoulders.
That evening we did something very Icelandic. Evan, Vivian and I went to swim at the local pools. This one had seven pools - three indoor (including a full olympic sized one) and four outdoor (another olympic size and three large hot tubs, one with slides and chutes). Vivian needed a female staff member to escort her through the women's side because she was too old to go to the men's (cut-off is six). Which is probably good because there were a lot of naked men and boys in the showers and changing area.
After swimming we got Jo and went out for dinner at about 9p. Our sleep cycles are completely screwed up and Evan fell asleep on me (I think his body thought it was his nap time). When the food arrived and the waiter put Evan's plate down in front of me I looked suspiciously at Evan and woke him up to ask him if he had pooped in his pants. Turned out to be the cheese in the food. Vivian wouldn't touch it.
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