Reykjavík

Let me just say that the cost of things here still has my head reeling. Cody and Dan got three scones (biscuits here) and two coffees for breakfast at the cost of $40. FORTY DOLLARS!!! Do you know how many biscuits I could make for $40?

Jesus. 

We spent the day in Reykjavík, starting with The Þjóðminjasafn Íslands, The National Museum of Iceland. It was fascinating. After going through the exhibit, I told the young man at the ticket desk that we aren't really taught anything about Iceland in history classes, and he said that it makes sense because they failed at every invasion that they attempted and so didn't really disrupt anyone enough to make the history books. I just never thought of history that way. 

The first thing that we saw was an exhibit of the Yule Lads.

Iceland doesn't have the kind of BC story that so many other places that we have visited had. Their recorded history starts in the 800s AD. Iceland was ruled by clan chiefs, much like the Scots, and then they had some time under the Episcopal and then Lutheran Churches, and some time under the Danes, and they didn't become an independent republic until 1944. 

This little guy is the most treasured possession of the museum:

The people of Iceland suffered volcano eruptions, earthquakes, the Black Plague, epidemics, Christians... and here they still are. Interesting stuff. 

At lunch, Cody decided to try the hákarl, Iceland's traditional national dish of fermented shark. AI says that it's "typically Greenland or sleeper shark, cured through a unique process of burying and fermenting the meat for months to neutralize its natural toxins (urea/ammonia) and transform it into a potent delicacy, often described as having a strong ammonia or cheese-like flavor, served in small cubes as a bite of history and survival food." He followed it with a shot of something that he said he didn't take the time to taste. 

Then it was off to the Hið íslenzka reðasafn or The Icelandic Phallological Museum, also known as The Penis Museum. 

Yep. There's is a museum devoted to penises.

I thought - silly me - that it might be a museum of penis-inspired art, like this:

I mean, that's kinda funny and museum-worthy. 

Or maybe this, which I think must be a MAGA rally:

But NOOOOOOOO. It's a museum of penises. 

Here is the "history" of it:

And so with that intro, I will just share some photos. 

Dried bull penises (pizzles) used by people to drive cattle and other livestock

Their tongues aren't their longest organ. 

A scrotum lamp, sadly not for sale

Above and below: A cast of Jimmy Hendrix's penis. It was impressive. 

Everyone should have a light switch cover like this one. 

But wait until you see the next one!

I asked Dan to stand next to this one for comparison (not of penises, obviously). 

Alas - Another piece not for sale

Later in the afternoon, we saw this statue:

Doesn't that look like someone riding a penis? It's not someone riding a penis. Maybe it looked like that just because we saw this after spending quite a bit of time looking at penises. Anyway, I think that it's the statue of the first guy who settled Iceland - and he was some nimwit who thought that it would be a good idea to drag his family to an island where NO ONE LIVED to settle there. Brilliant. 

After spending some time with penises, we went to see the Viking Cow. Never heard of it? Well, apparently, and according to many reviews, if you "boop" the nose of the cow, you will have some life-changing, miraculous experience. (I did boop the nose but there is no photo because I did not want to have any proof that I did it.) (And I did not reach nirvana or whatever the hell was supposed to happen.)

I don't know if simultaneous booping is gonna result in the promised effect...

And I also wonder if riding the Viking Cow is going to bring bad juju...

We had dinner at a restaurant that cost a lot of money for not a lot of food. So after dinner, Cody went across the street to a hotdog stand and got a dressed dog. The Icelandic hotdogs are supposed to be awesome. Maybe that's becuase they cost only $8 and not $40. And we thought that he should pose for a photo, and he did. 

The $200 not-a-lot-of-food-dinner, which was followed by a hot dog, was followed by ice cream. Thank you, baby jesus, for Icelanders loving their ice cream. Dan had salted licorice ice cream, which would have made me gag except that I was busy eating my pistachio ice cream. Cody had salted caramel peanut. Their food may be meh and expensive, but the ice cream is worth the visit. 

Weather report: Cloudy and still no northern lights. Maybe tomorrow night, but the skies may be lit up with fireworks. We hear that the Icelanders go crazy with those. 

Dan's turn:

 

We all enjoyed the museum a lot. And we learned a few things. This blurb mentions conflict in their distant past, but please note the last line. I think that was probably a law put in place by the males who wanted to make sure they were not killed by spouses who were pissed about being on a volcanic rock in the ocean.

 

 

In modern times, as Vicki noted above, Icelanders were not known for their violence or tendency to fight with other countries. However, when they were becoming independent and insisting on their rights to protect fishing in their waters, they did develop one weapon, this trawl line cutter. 

 

 

I think that it is wonderful that this is probably a line in the national defense budget.

 

Moving on to the other museum we visited. 

This creation is at the door of The Icelandic Phallological Museum.

 

I've got nothing else to add on the museum. I think it has been well documented.

 

This is the Rainbow Road in Reykjavík.  

 

In the background of that shot is Hallgrímskirkja, the largest church in Iceland. It is an impressive modern building and quite striking at night.

 

 

 

 That leaves dinner. The best thing about dinner was the holiday decor of the restaurant. This is the ceiling.

You've gotta love hanging a hundred nutcrackers upside down from the ceiling.