Day 24 (20 July): Walking and Working Day

Waking up around 8 a.m., we had breakfast together. Then, while TT went swimming, I updated the blog. It was still a long way to get it up-to-date...

Around 12.50 p.m., we left the residence for the Tourist Information Center where the free walking tour would start at 1 p.m. The weather wasn't so nice today. The weather forecast promised only clouds and rain.

The guide was a funny man who tried to do the soft-sale of his haunted walk. He said he didn't believe in viking or saga but he believed in ghosts. The tour started by walking along Fisch, a small alley from the Tourist Information Center.

Then, we turned to Mjostraeti where the old center of Reykjavik was located.

The guide said that more than 7 people could live in a small house in the former time.

The picture below shows a house having been for sale for a year. As the owner asked for a very high price (7500000 ISK), no one had been interested in it so far. The guide mentioned a little about the economy in Iceland. He believed that it would soon collapse as it had happened in other countries when people overestimated themselves and took a huge mortgage.

After this old residential area, we continued to Adalstraeti. The first house we visited was the oldest house in Reykjavik on Adalstraeti 10 built in 1762. Today, it was a shop and part of it had a small exhibition showing how old Reykjavik looked like.

Then, we stopped briefly at the Settlement Museum. The guide told the story of how the museum was established in 2001. The construction of Hotel Centrum led to the discovery of a 10th-century viking hall beneath its foundation and a wall experts claimed to date back to AD871 plus or minus 1-2 years. This explained why the logo of this museum used the number 871 +/_ 1-2. The wall was believed to be the oldest manmade structure in Iceland.

Then, we continued to Austurvöllur, the city main square. Domkirkjan known locally as the cathedral is a tiny church. It has a crown representing a Danish king.

Althingishusid (parliament house) also has a crown.

The picture below shows the statue of Icelandic hero of independency Jon Siggurdson, sculpted by Einar Jonsson in 1931, facing the parliament building. Rain started pouring.

Then, the guide brought us to the City Hall to see the giant map of Iceland and had a break in the cafe.

The walking tour ended around 3.15 p.m. We went to grab the best hot dog in Reykjavik at Baejarins Bestu, a small stand by the harbor, with a very queue (220 ISK). Even Bill Clinton has tried the hot dog from this stand.

After this, we walked back to the residence. I warmed the stew left from yesterday and we had it with pasta for dinner. After dinner, I simply continued making the roots of my tree. From around 5 p.m. to 12.40 a.m., I could finish the forth set of roots.

I still extended the night by beginning to make the fifth set of roots. I had to move the trunk a little and place another set of roots on the desk to balance the weight.

I worked until my eyes couldn't focus any longer and went to bed around 1.50 a.m...