When I booked a trip to Barcelona late last year, I was excited. Not only because I would be going to Spain for the first time in my life, but also because I would have a 12-hour layover in Iceland. I went to Iceland in September 2016 and immediately fell in love with the country. I couldn’t wait to go back and explore some of the things I had missed the first time around like the Harbour, Harpa, the hot dog stand Bæjarins Beztu Pylsur, the Höfði house, and the Icelandic Phallological Museum. Things didn’t exactly go to plan.
The plane landed at 4:10 AM, 20 minutes ahead of schedule. Immigration was a breeze and so I found myself boarding the Flybus around 5 AM. We arrived at the bus terminal in Reykjavík at 5:45 AM. I put my camera gear in my daypack and rented a locker for my backpack because I wasn’t going to spend the day lugging a 22lbs backpack around the city. Lockers can be rented for 24 hours and cost 1290 ISK (around $15 CAD).
Since it was only 6 AM, I knew nothing would be opened yet so I went for a walk around the city. First stop was Hallgrímskirkja for some night shots. I wasn’t the only one with the same idea as a few people stopped by to take pictures.
I then went down to Sólfarið, the Sun Voyager sculpture. While taking pictures of the Sun Voyager, I noticed that the Harpa building’s lights were running so I made my way over there. The building looked like a spaceship with its weird shape and strobing lights.
Although the weather was at an acceptable 5 degrees, I was getting cold. My hands were freezing despite my wearing gloves. And it was only 7 AM. At this hour, no restaurant was open yet and it was still pitch black so I made my way back to the bus terminal to warm up.
I set out again at 8:15 AM. I went straight to Prikið for breakfast. Prikið is the oldest coffee house in Iceland and is located right at the start of Laugavegur street, the main shopping street of the city. The second floor was closed so I settled for a booth seat by the window. If you ever decide to go, try to grab a seat by the window on the second floor to see the street come to life below you. I was served a beautiful glass of hot chocolate that I immediately downed. For my meal, I ordered American Pancakes, a plate that comes with 3 of the fluffiest pancakes you’ll ever see, 3 strips of bacon, syrup, and butter. The pancakes were so filling that I couldn’t finish them. The meal plus the hot chocolate cost 1580 ISK (around $19 CAD).
The plan was to go out and visit the remaining items on my list before returning to the airport but I was full, cold, and the jetlag was starting to catch up with me so I went back to the bus terminal and returned to the airport.
In the end, although it was nice to return to Iceland, I was disappointed that I didn’t do much during the layover. It was cold and the sun didn’t show until close to 9 AM which was very depressing. I hope that my stay in Barcelona will be more pleasant.
Total Spent: 6870 ISK (around $85 CAD)
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