Operation "Bamboozle" Part 2

Higher than God - Cold as an icy stream, lighter than everything, i thought that we were higher than God.

I hadn't slept that good in my room, it was tiny & there was no room to walk about, the bed wasn't even a full sized single, this meant that every time i turned over i either banged my elbow on the wall or on a desk on the opposite side of the bed. This also meant that my neighbours in the next room were doing the same & that i could hear banging through the wall from them. When i eventually surfaced i had a shower in a tiny cubicle which i defy even an emaciated "Mr Muscle" to comfortably use. I managed it however, met TK & we went for a Sunday afternoon stroll. I was looking forward to this as we had not had any time to find our bearings last night as Oddny was driving us around & most of this was done in the suburbs of Rejkyavik.

After a quick Subway we undertook the 25 minute walk into Rejkyavik town. As it was Sunday the shops were shut & there weren't that many people around which meant we could have a good trawl through the streets & take some photos. There were a few good statues & street art/sculptures but what really took my eye was the architecture. Each building looked unique, almost as though it had been designed by a different person. We saw in the distance a large church & it looked magnificent, i had seen it in an AA (Automobile Association) guide & remembered you could go to the top of it. After having the church obscured from our view for some time as well as being distracted by other things (or getting lost) we made it to Hallgrimskirkja.

Hallgrimskirkja was built in 1974 & is a magnificent spectacle, as we approached it started to snow again & this made it all the more beautiful. I took loads of photos of it & no matter from which angle or how near or far i was from it it was truly a great sight. I was gutted when my camera ran out of juice so rectified that by going to a nearby convenience store & in my best Icelandic (whilst showing the girl behind the counter my camera) said "Batteries please." Luckily it seemed this girl had dealt with ignorant tourists such as myself on many an occasion & instantly recognised my request.

Now that i was "batteried up" we made our way back to Hallgrimskirkja & went inside. Now, as i've said before on my blogs i am in no way religious but inside this church was a sight to see. The interior was quite plain but serene & quiet, it was almost as though if you added a few elves & men with shields that this could be a set from the Lord of the rings, such was its elegance. I half expected Aragorn to enter at any time & tell me off for taking photos of this magnificent hall. There was an old guy playing the organ & as we ventured inside i turned & saw the pipes, all 5,275 of them. My fantastic organ i thought. Anyway, you could travel to the top of the church tower for 400IKR so we did, we got in the lift & went to floor 8.

We got out of the lift and entered into a viewing area which, in the centre of it had a flight of stairs which would take us even higher. I took a look out of the window and saw the tops of the buildings of Rejkyavik town and all of a sudden i had a bit of turn for the worst. I should point out i am not the best at handling heights, im ok on a plane and usually ok in enclosed high places but for some reason when i looked out of window i thought the whole building was going to crumble into pieces & i would be a bloody mosaic on the streets of Rejkyavik, silly really. I said to TK i couldn't make the stairs to the top & was rooted to the spot. Anyway i had a word with myself & managed the stairs to the top & when up there i was ok. The view was impressive & we were about 73 metres high. After a minute or two the church bell struck 3 & i nearly jumped out of my skin, good job it didn't strike when i was halfway up the stairs i would have turned back there & then. It was time to descend after this high anxiety so we did & then went to find a bar in the town.

We settled on a sportsbar called Bjarni Fel which would become our "base camp" for the rest of the trip. We had a few beers/pitchers sat at the bar & as the day went on got increasingly drunk. It was here where we met Tim & Sean from San Diego who would become our drinking buddies from now on. These lads were good company & had been skiing in Switzerland before spending a night in London then flying to Iceland. It wasn't long before we were lining up the shots, all manner of drinks were consumed, Stroh, Jagermeister & something called Seamans shot! The drinks flowed then Oddny & Kristin arrived as we had a table booked at a tapas bar, another quick drink & we said goodbye to Tim & Sean & were on our way.

The tapas bar was nice inside & we all had "Lobster fiesta" & drank 3 bottles of red wine, by this time i was getting rather drunk. Kristin & Oddny then treated me, TK & the whole restaurant to the sounds of their opera singing, opera is not my thing but they have tremendous voices & the other patrons were impressed. We were the last to leave the restaurant & then went to bar "Zimsen" for a couple of late drinks before taking our leave back to the "Cabin". After a couple of beers in the hotel bar it was bed time, so at 3am i went to sleep. We needed to be up at 8am to go on the "Golden Circle" tour which i hoped to be a highlight of our trip. It did not disappoint but ill tell you about it in part 3.

Things i learned today:

1 - The icelandic for batteries is batteries.
2 - Drinking pitchers of lager, followed by cocktails, shorts, red wine then more lager gets you very drunk indeed.