There are over 120,000 people who live in the city.  It is a relatively small town, but it’s a very cute city.  The homes are colorful, there are plenty of restaurants.

TJÖRNIN POND

City View at Night

Solfar Sun Voyager

Since Iceland was a whaling town and home of the vikings, this statue symbolizes their past.

Perlan- Built on top of hot water tanks

This building was built on top of the city’s hot water storage.  Now on the top floor, you can go outside to enjoy the view of the city and also enjoy a fine dining experience.

For the menu, click here.

Old Harbor

This is where they do whale tours. There is also free parking on the side where they are working on the ships.

Höfði- Meeting place

This meeting place marked the end of the Cold War.

To learn more, click here.

Hallgrímskirkja Church

Very beautiful church. It’s a must to see in the daytime and at night.

Daytime view-

 

Nightime view-

Also, the architecture was inspired by the Black Waterfalls.

 

To learn more, click here.

Here is inside the church-

Parliament

Salurinn Kopavogur Concert Hall

Click here to learn more.

Hafnarfjörður- Elf City

In the past, Icelanders believed that elves or “hidden people” existed.  You can see reminders in all the gift shops, but the elves look more like gnomes than what we think of, which are happy little worker elves that help Santa Claus.

There is even an elf school where you can take classes. Click here to find more information.

Hellisgerði Park-Elf Garden

Unfortunately, the tradition of the “hidden people” is not as predominant today.  The only real representation is the Elf Garden that symbolizes the town.  I was expecting to see statues of elves everywhere, but there wasn’t.  It was just a pretty park.

To visit the park, click here.

Whale and Puffin Boat Tour

We were the most excited for this tour, but it was the most disappointing part of our trip, minus the fact that we got charged $67 for luggage.  First off, our tour started at 9 AM, we got there at 9:10 AM and they already left, but they were nice enough to put us on the next tour, which worked out fine.

We booked ours through Special Tours. The booking process was super smooth, but it was the actual tour that was disappointing.

The puffin tour was on a small boat and we weren’t able to get very close to it.  We actually got much closer in Vik where they where staying in the cliffs.  This wasn’t their fault at all, so we weren’t upset over this.

There was only one guy that got a good picture because he had a really good SLR camera.  All of us took a picture of a picture.  Here is Lisa asking and the photo.  I guess it worked?!?

The whale tour was the most disappointing.  We even took the express tour.  We weren’t told to go down to the dock at the ticket desk, so they almost left us.  Once we got in, the ocean was very rocky.  The weather was cold and extremely windy.  We never got any type of update throughout the ride about the chances of seeing the whales.  Once we were close to the end of the tour, the captain started turning around and that’s when they said we were heading in.  After all that time, no whales.  They never really said sorry or that they understand how disappointed we were.

They never even explained their 100% guarantee policy, which is that if you don’t see a whale on your tour, you get a complimentary one free.  I had to email them for the terms and conditions, so by then it was too late and we were back in the US.  They told me that they don’t know where I saw the 100% guarantee, but that I can get a free tour the next time.  Honestly, I don’t think I’m going back to Iceland, so there that $117 goes down the drain.

The only positive light was that we got a picture in these sexy outfits.  Also, during the boat ride, we were at the front of the ship and my alarm went off by accident, which happens to be the theme song to Titanic.  Everyone there was laughing and saying how appropriate that was.

Holding the skin and vertebrae of a whale.