We got some delicious pastries from Brau∂ in the morning and ate them in the Freyja kitchen.
We drove to take the COVID test for our re-entry to the U.S. We’d scheduled an appt at the testing center in Reykavik which was located somewhere east of us. When we got there, we were shocked at the long line (reminded Pam of long lines at American voting places). Surprisingly, It went relatively quickly. We spent 40 minutes getting our test. David had a particularly aggressive Q-tip wielding tester. Our results came back quickly by email, soon after we got back to our Freyja lodging.
We started wandering around the town at 12:30, taking photos of the Harpa Concert Hall building and the various painted streets.
After a couple of hours of walking around, we decided to head back to café Loki for lunch: meat soup, herring and plokkfiskur on rye bread, and a small bowl of rye bread ice cream with rhubarb sauce. Pam ordered that particularly to try the ice cream, which was like a delicious frozen bread pudding. Rhubarb was usually on the dessert menu in the few restaurants we visited. It was probably the season for fresh rhubarb, but maybe it’s also one of the few dessert items they can grow and preserve for use all year.
After lunch we walked around “our” block and discovered the sculpture garden behind the Einar Jónsson Museum a few doors down from the Freyja. The statues were fascinating – mythological and spiritual.
We took a look at the volcano news and found out that there’d been a big increase in activity starting a day or two before. We thought hard about whether to hike back up the Langihryggur trail again but in the end decided against it. David was pretty tired from all the driving. Besides, volcanic activity at any particular time is so unpredictable. We decided to enjoy a relaxing evening instead.