Classic touristy thing: the view from Hallgrímskirkja

One of the best things to do while in Reykjavík is to go to the top of the famous and beautiful Hallgrímskirkja. You can reach it using the stairs (bad idea) or an elevator. They will ask you to pay a small fee to go up; believe me, it's well worth it. 

The top of the church offers a 360° view of the capital. As you can see from my picture, the eye can wander to as far as the bay and the mountains. It is absolutely breath taking, and in a sunny and clear day you'll have the chance to take incredible pictures that will make your friends really jealous (warning: they may want to insult you after seeing your stunning shots!).

It's also very windy up there, which only adds to the freedom feeling. And to those who are horribly afraid of heights (like me) not to worry: the fences are tall and there are no holes through which you can fall down. 

It's a win/win situation. 

There is really no way to describe the Midnight Sun

This is Reykjavik at 2 in the morning in July..which means GLORIOUS MIDNIGHT SUN :)

The shower police

I thought I was weird because I freaked out about the shower police when I was at Blue Lagoon.

Turns out I’m not the only one and there’s even a little book that talks about the shower police!

If you’ve never been there, here’s a brief explanation of what happens at Blue Lagoon.

After wearing your bathsuit, you have to pass through a shower section before entering the pools.

There are huge signs everywhere that say it’s mandatory to shower naked before entering the pool. 

There are a lot of showers, complete with shower gel, shampoo and conditioner.

Now, of course non-icelanders don’t always feel comfortable showering naked. So I didn’t take off my bathsuit and started showering and washing my hair.

That’s when the showers police intervenes.

A young lady walks up to me and politely asks me to take off my bathsuit.

To which I react like this: O____O

So I proceed to take it off, thinking she would move. But she stays. She stays and makes sure I’m washing.

I’ve rarely been more embarassed in my life.

So, if you go to Blue Lagoon…do it. Take off your bath suit and try not to get busted by the shower police.

A little side note: reading Alda Sigmundsdóttir's Little Book Of The Icelanders, I learned that the shower police is actually a thing among tourists. I was very relieved not to be the only prudish person at Blue Lagoon - apparently many people are puzzled about this custom. 

Money and elves and stuff

That’s right - don’t throw your money in the water. Meaning: don’t throw it here, you have to throw it in the next creek. There’s a particular creek in Þingvellir that is said to be populated by elves (like 99% of Iceland, I must say). If you throw them money, they bless you with luck. Our guide wasn’t sure about why they want money though, because a) they don’t need it and b) they don’t pick it up. He guessed maybe they like the sparkles of the coins hit by sunshine. So, since the elves don’t pick up the money, Icelanders do it for them (?!), and with the money they raise they fix the path through Þingvellir. And the elves seem happy about that, so the tourists don’t go stomping on their houses. Pretty neat, uh?