Reykjavik

First impressions upon arriving at the airport: Iceland is pretty barren. There are no trees at all, and not a lot in the way of shrubbery.

Reykjavik, however, is quite colorful and charming. It's not big, however. Though it’s the population center of Iceland, there are only 120,000 people or so (the nation as a whole only has 320,000.)

I opted to take three tours during my three days on the island, so I didn’t have much time to explore the capital. No chance to visit the interesting-looking history museum or the art galleries or...

In other words, this is going to be a short post.

I did stroll around the downtown area while killing time waiting for my Volcano tour. The downtown area is quite nice, with apartments, restaurants, and shops. I walked up the hill, away from the bay, and visited Hallgrímskirkja—a stark, imposing structure that's also one of the highest points in the city

Given its height, the tower of the church provides a perfect scenic overview of the city.

I also passed several “puffin and whale meat” restaurants.

No, I didn’t try them.

I also didn't eat at this place:

I also passed this very cool concert hall located right on the water's edge:

Other random observations and thoughts:

-It was early June, but it was still quite chilly, particularly down by the bay.

-My hostel felt a bit industrial—which makes sense, since it’s actually a renovated old cookie factory. It was a pretty decent place overall, though.

The view from my hostel:

-It’s weird to think of living out your life on this isolated, cold little volcanic island in the middle of the Atlantic. But quality-of-life seems quite high, and they have all the comforts of Western Europe. (Though the warm water in the showers does smell like sulfur.)

And to finish off my post, here's some random trivia about Iceland (as told by the display on my Icelandair flights):

-1 out of every 10 Icelanders publishes a book—often about their own life, no matter how seemingly unspectacular. It’s such a small culture I guess they feel like they need more reading material. They also write lots of crime novels (even though it's actually one of the safest countries on earth.)

-Since almost everyone has the same few last names, phone books go by first name and occupation.

-Skyr is the Icelandic version of yogurt. In fact, it pretty much is yogurt, with - perhaps - a slightly creamier texture. They claim all sorts of amazing health benefits from eating it, but...

The baked apple flavor is quite tasty though.

The more you know...

Copenhagen

Denmark is not my favorite place.

Don’t get me wrong, there’s a lot of cool stuff going on in Copenhagen (even if I didn’t see most of it.) Heck, there’s even a statue of the Little Mermaid.

But it’s just so d*mn expensive. Along with Dubrovnik, it’s the most expensive place I stayed on my trip. It even manages to beat out other expensive places like the UK and Iceland.

A basic meal would set me back $20—and the food wasn’t even particularly good.

But enough with the kvetching. I got to go to Denmark. I saw some cool stuff. And this visit was just a way to pass the time before Iceland anyways.

Here are the places I visited during my stay in Denmark’s capital.

Denmark Museum

A free museum that offers a comprehensive journey through Denmark’s history - you get to see everything from ancient rowships to 20th century furnishings and clothing.

Inexplicably, a group of people came in after me dressed in period attire—but they didn’t actually do anything while I was there, other than hang out and talk to each other in the lobby.

This is not, in fact, how most Danes dress in the 21st century

Church of Our Saviour

This was the coolest place I visited in the city. You travel up the church's bell tower - then you eventually find yourself outside and circling around the spire.

The further you go, the narrower the path gets—until it ends like this:

It was all somewhat vertigo inducing, but the view was something else.

“Hey Mom—I can see Sweden from here!”

A tad bit vertiginous

(X) Tower whose name I have forgotten

A palace and another opportunity for another scenic view.

In the background you can see the Øresund Bridge, which connects Denmark with Sweden

...But I was actually most intrigued by the apparently discarded sculptures stored in the room where you wait for the elevator to go up the tower.

Nyhavn

This is probably Copenhagen's most iconic site - and it's really just a canal lined with colorful buildings. Fun to walk along nonetheless - and a great photo opportunity.

And that was about it for Copenhagen and I. I walked everywhere rather than taking the metro, so my feet were pretty tired at this point - so I decided to chill at my hostel before my early morning flight to Reykjavik.

In other words:

After nearly 2 1/2 months, it's now time to bid farewell to continental Europe...

A strange little drawing on view outside an art gallery... That I found inexplicably hilarious

...and hello lonely volcanic island in the Atlantic.