Yum!

Last night was probably the best night of sleep so far.   All three of us are getting used to the time change, the constant light and the sleeping arrangements.

It was still raining when we woke up, but the rain slowed for us to get going.  We ran a few errands and then met Melissa, Jason, Jack, Sheryl and Brian in downtown Reykjavik for a food tour.  We were excited because it wasn’t something we would typically think of to do, but sounded really cool.

We met our guide and learned our plan to walk around downtown to five different restaurants for various Icelandic delicacies.

The first stop was Messinn for two types of fish accompanied by the traditional dark rye bread.  The first was a traditionally-made artic char.  The other was boiled cod mashed with potatoes and onions.   Both were good, but the artic char was probably our favorite of the whole tour. Sage loved it all and asked for more of the artic char.

Our next stop was at a very local looking hot dog stand for an Icelandic hot dog with all the toppings, which in Iceland is Icelandic ketchup, Icelandic mustard, remoulade sauce, deep fried onion and raw onion.  The hot dog was mostly lamb, with some beef and pork.   This hot dog stand has been in business since 1937 and apparently once served Bill Clinton.  It was actually quite yummy and the onion combination was oddly delicious.

The next stop was Islenski Barinn for a bite of fermented shark and a bowl of lamb stew. 

The fermented shark requires more explanation.  It is a local culinary tradition here, which they sell in gas stations.   Before trying it she lets us open the small jar it’s in and smell it.  It stinks.  It reminds me of when Steve puts his wet workout clothes in a bag and it marinates for a day or two before I open it.   The shark is a Greenland Shark, which is poisonous on it own, requiring it to be fermented to get rid of the poison.   It is fermented in urine and left outside to cure for a minimum of 1.5 years, up to three years.   I decide that I don’t need to experience eating the Shark, but everyone else does.  She has everyone spear a small sugar cube sized bite on a toothpick and eat it, chewing a minimum of 7 times, because it needs to really let out the flavor.  I was content with my decision.  The stew was delicious.

The next stop was at Sjavaragrill for two lobster tacos that were delicious. Sage would have eaten all of Steve’s lobster if he let her.

Finally we went to Cafe Loki for rye bread ice cream and a kleina Icelandic pastry.  The pastry was a bit like donut dough, tied in a knot.  The ice cream was really nice.  It was sweet, and the pieces of bread reminded me of oreo ice cream.   It was topped with cream.

Sage enjoyed the entire tour.  She loved eating the food, exploring the restaurants and walking along the streets in between.

We finished with a picture of the whole group in front of a large church building. In addition to the Benners and the Halliburtons there were two couples from Portland Oregon and one from Denmark.

We said our goodbyes and walked back along the streets, stopping at a few stops and finishing up our errands in Reykjavik before heading out of town to a campsite about an hour away.

Tomorrow we will take a bus to Porsmork where we will stay and hike until Tuesday. We have wanted to get to Porsmork since we first came to Iceland so we are very excited about it.