Iceland, last day: No waterfalls? Are we still in Iceland?

Today isn't technically our last day, we will be in Iceland until 8:30 tomorrow morning.  But is was our last day to day something other than sit in the airport.  We spent the day in Reykjavik before going to a guesthouse in Keflavik, a few minutes from the airport.  I think is it called a "guesthouse" because there are shared bathroom facilities and an available kitchen.  I doubt anyone stays here more than one night.  It is right near the airport, so I think it is more of a first night after arriving or last night before departing kind of place.  Nothing wrong with it, in fact, I am sitting in the sun-filled lounge next to our room writing this on a comfortable couch.  It is very quiet other than the cars speeding by outside to and from the airport.

Breakfast was included in our hostel stay (as well as sheets!).  So we arrived about 10 minutes before it ended and ate.  Randy and Joshua wanted to see the cathedral, Hallgrimskirkja, so we drove there and parked.  It was all white inside--very pristine looking.  When we arrived, the organist was playing the organ very loudly with inspiring chords and it fit the soaring ceilings and whiteness.  Randy pointed out that the outside columns are hexagons and represent the basalt that is all over Iceland from the volcanoes.

from the neighborhood

They have a special donation fund for cleaning the
5,275 organ pipes!

A statue of Leif Eiricsson (who discovered North
America--or Canada, at least).

Then we walked around the area by the harbour.  It is a very cute area with many little shops and houses.  In one area, we noticed a lot of painting of the buildings, in a (mostly) tasteful way.

the neighborhood

Shelby attacking Joshua with an ax

Joshua

The edges of the parking ramp are painted

This is a store--I've said that several times while we've been here,
with a "sorry, but ..." first.

interesting building

Icelandic Culture House

A statue of Ingólfur Arnarson, the first Icelandic settler.
There are a lot of the saga references in the statue, but I won't get
into that here.

Weird, but true.

Pretty store!

The doorway on the corner is framed by two brightly painted dragons.

A house

The house's courtyard

The side of a building (it says Mind Games--in English)

sod roof

We found a geocache box in this.  It's still there,
waiting for some lucky geocacher.

A sculpture

Next we walked to the Harpa, which is a very new building that seems to be like a convention center.  It has meeting rooms, banquet halls, a theater, and a restaurant.  It is very modern, but also quite pretty.  Joshua enjoyed taking the elevator up and down the five floors to look at it.

Then we walked back to the car, had a snack, and drove.  We happened upon a small church, Neskirkja and went in.  It was very quiet with a few people sitting quietly in pews, so I felt conspicuous taking photos.  I took a few and we left.  Next to the church was a school--perhaps a church-affiliated school.  The buildings were adorable!

Joshua having fun with his snack

The floor of the church

The original gate post

The school next to the church

We tried to go to the botanical gardens.  We followed the map, but when we got there, they weren't there.  A local said that they were there but couldn't tell us how to get there!  So we had Joshua and Shelby decide what we were going to do.  They decided on the National Museum of Iceland.  We were there last time we were in Iceland, but we didn't really remember much of it.  The museum is well done with a lot of displays and a LOT of information, but it doesn't really lead you through it in a logical way.  The audio guide might have helped with that, though.  So we saw parts of it, and the touch room was what the children enjoyed the most.  In there, they could put on old-time clothes.  There were wooden toys as well, related to things in the museum.

Shelby

Shelby and Joshua

A model of an old settler's home

the inside

An actual boat

Then we headed to our guesthouse.  After we put our bags away, we went to dinner at a place listed in a guide book that Randy found at one of the hostels.  Olsen Olsen serves burgers and fries with names from the American 1950s music.  They had four menus in English so we shared them with another table.  After we had all ordered (with special add-ons and subtractions like no tomatoes, add fried onions, etc.), the cashier pointed to a sign and told us that the four burgers, two orders of fries (very large), and a 2-liter bottle of pop cost only 45,000 kroner total.   Better than the other places we had checked out.  So we ate, then returned to relax and take showers.  We need to leave around 6:45 tomorrow morning.  Luckily, breakfast is included and that is available starting at 4:00 am!  Plus they have a 24-hour desk clerk.  They are definitely set up for airport arrivals and departures!  They will even drive you to the airport or pick you up.  It is definitely going to be hard to fall asleep early tonight and wake up early in the morning.