Second full day, and we decided to wind down a bit. But we did go to the pub, got drunk on ‘cheap’ cider, and booked a big trip for tomorrow.
The day started fairly cloudy and two coats colder than the last two days. Tomorrow (Wednesday) looks better weather-wise so we booked ourselves a Golden Shower trip, then went to the pub.
As we head towards the pub we spot a mural that features a polar bear fighting a puffin, which is a good point to reflect on yesterday’s walk.
Our tour guide had stopped at the mural and pointed out that there are no polar bears in Iceland and they are much bigger than puffins, unlike on the mural.
Now I hate to mock, but the next conversation had us all in stitches.
Girl: “What’s the difference between a polar bear and a puffin?”
Andy: “One’s a bear, the other one is a bird”
Girl: “Well what is it, a bird or a bear?”
Andy: “Is what a what? You’ve lost me”
Girl: “What’s the big white thing, is it a bear or a bird?”
Andy: “Well it’s a bear”.
Girl: “Then why are you talking about puffins?”
Andy: “Because the thing next to the polar bear is a puffin”
Girl: “No its not, that’s a penguin”.
Andy: “There aren’t any penguins in Iceland, that’s a puffin.”
At this point the conversation went down hill with this girl Googling pictures of penguins, adamant that it’s what was on the mural, therefore the polar bear must be a puffin, and Andy Googling puffins.
Now I’ve typed it out, I think it might have been a ‘you had to be there’ moment, but it made our day.
Anyway, opposite the mural there are two restaurants regarded as two of the best restaurants in the city. They serve local delicacies, which are mostly of the meat persuasion. There are several vegetarian and vegan restaurants in the city, but they are all ‘foreign’ food, as in Asian or European. Icelandic traditional food doesn’t include many non-meat dishes.
One of the local delicacies is fermented shark. Apparently the shark meat is poisonous, but they bury the carcass and let it marinade in its own piss, which breaks down the poison in the meat. You then eat the shark and wash it down with a local variation of schnapps, which on its own is dreadful, but is a vast improvement on rotten shark marinated in piss, so it actually tastes nice then.
In recent years they have started pickling the fish in ammonia in factories, rather than bury them in piss. I’m glad I’m vegetarian.
Other local dishes include whale (although this is obviously controversial), horse, reindeer, puffin, sheep’s heads and ram’s bollocks. And, of course, fish.
Some of these are the sort of delicacy that only a tourist would eat, and tourism is by far and away the biggest industry in the country. They have over two million tourists visit every year. It’s a mixed blessing though, because people buy up properties for AirBnB, taking accommodation out of the housing market, causing problems for locals looking to buy a home. (Oops)
The whole country is a tourist’s paradise but the authorities want to keep the wilderness that attracts tourists unspoilt, so development outside of Reykjavik is very strictly controlled.
Anyway, next to the polar bear and puffin is a bar called Pablo Discobar. We’ve not been in, but we have to take our hat off to whoever thought up the name.
Just around the corner is The Dubliner. Now I’m not one for going abroad then drinking in Irish pubs, but happy hour is from noon till 9pm and it’s only £6 for a pint of cider. (Proper imperial pint, not your metric nonsense). I’ve not counted them all, but there seems to be more Irish pubs in Reykjavik than in Dublin. The Dubliner claims to be the oldest, although given beer was prohibited til 1989, that doesn’t mean much. Our tour guide yesterday seems to think it is the cheapest pub in town. Our tour guide suggested it is a bit rough and several comments on TrippyAdvisor follow the same theme. Speaking as a boy from the valleys that used to be on the committee in The Dagger, I think it’s quite posh.
We only called in for research purposes. But we soon find ourselves chatting to a couple from Abertillery. Then we note that it’s raining, so do some more research.
The influx of foreigners is a good thing because, until tourism, just about everyone was related to each other. Apparently there is a public database comparing DNA and family trees, so very often a first date involves comparing family trees to ensure you’re not sleeping with your cousin. Apparently fourth cousin is the government recommended minimum separation. You can read more about it here… https://grapevine.is/mag/articles/2013/05/10/its-not-just-an-anti-incest-app/
After doing research in The Dubliner, we go back to the Vegan Happy Place to eat food that doesn’t involve piss, ammonia or reproductive organs and then head off for an early night. We have to be up early to go and see some geezer about a volcano.