Rey(kjavik) to Go - Iceland, Day 2

Here's the gist of this blog entry: I went to a lot of museums and here's what I saw.

The day after the wind storm, the weather was great.  Little did I know that this was the most walkable day of my time in Iceland.



When I'm asked what I like to do when traveling, I'm not always sure what to answer, since I'm not a beach person, I'm also not very outdoorsy, and I like cheap food with cheese but am not a foodie.  I realized that I love weird things - that's my favorite.  So I was really excited when I heard that Reykjavik has a penis museum, because that's definitely weird.



To be honest, it's probably the thing I was most excited about seeing in Iceland.  I was warned that it was small, to which my hostelmate quipped, "And no one likes a small.. museum."  It wasn't particularly thrilling - it was various animal parts and memorabilia, like artwork and novelties.

I think this is from a whale.

This shot is blurry because someone was coming behind me and I was embarrassed.

There was also a section of fictional penises.  This is a merman's penis.  The display with an elf penis was empty.

After that was Culture House.  It was standard museum fare, but two pieces stuck out to me for their absurdity.

Sometimes I feel like this.

And this.

After this was the Reykjavik Art Museum, which was much more interesting, since it was modern art.  Some of the stuff was pretty weird but I love that.

I need something like this in my room.  Except that pie needs to be mac 'n cheese.

Or this.  Glorious cheese and food everywhere!











This one was super strange.  A video of women getting covered in frosting and the end result.





It wasn't clear what this was.



After this was the Settlement Museum, which was pretty neat.  In 2001, there were archaeological remains found, so the museum was built around the ruins, which was dedicated to explaining what the original settlement would have looked like.

I didn't get pictures of the main museum, so here's a couple I pulled online.





Since I mostly like fun things, I did take pictures of the kids corner.  I may or may not have put on the helmet and started flinging around the weapon.



After this, I went to the National Museum, but they don't let you take pictures anywhere in there.  It was interesting because it talked about the role of religion and vikings and how it influenced Iceland.  On the way back, I passed by the lake.





Made my way back to the hostel as another storm was starting to head in.



I woke up in the middle of the night during the storm.  The sky was so pretty, it was so orange and I had to take pictures.  You can't really see the sky in these pictures, though.  But as someone who doesn't see snow that often, it felt magical to see a ton of snowball in the middle of the night when everyone else was sleeping.

Londonderry Is Falling Down (Part 7 of 7)

Londonderry was the last stop on my trip.  I wasn't expecting a lot, since some of the other towns were disappointing, but I ended up liking it more than expected.  I'm jumping ahead, though.  I first left Belfast and passed by Giant's Causeway before going to Londonderry.







Giant's Causeway was pretty impressive - it was a bunch of hexagon-shaped formations from the ground.  Don't ask me about the hows and whys.. all I know is that it was amazing to see.  I spent a bit of time here walking around and taking it all in.

Sheep in Ireland - tough to resist getting a shot.

I was even just impressed by this scenery before Giant's Causeway.  It's so pretty.

It was about a 5-10 minute walk from the visitor's center to the Causeway.  Not bad, but there was a shuttle you could take for an extra fee.

When I was finally able to peel myself away from Giant's Causeway, I made the 2-3 hour drive to Londonderry, which is alternatively referred to as Derry, depending on if you're in Northern Ireland or the Republic.  After having circling around numerous times looking for parking, I can confidently say that the city is picturesque and there's a lot to see in in the city.  Similar to Belfast, Derry is a very political city, most notably known for the Bloody Sunday incident in 1972, when several people died after British police shot at peaceful protesters, which is immortalized in U2's Sunday Bloody Sunday.  Another interesting thing about the city is that it has existing city walls, so you can walk on top of them and see the walled city vs. the modern city now.

The Peace Bridge.  I went on it but didn't explore the other side because I didn't really feel like it.

One of the entrance of the city walls.

This was funny at the time I took the picture (in September) but I've taken so long with updating this blog that the election has already passed and this is just sad now.

The Bloody Sunday memorial

A look at the city from outside the city walls.

A view of the city walls from outside

Standing on top of the city walls.

The Peace Flame

In vs. out the city walls

The Peace Bridge

These were the bunk beds at my hostel in Londonderry.  Good thing it was pretty empty and I had my own bed to myself.  I picked the top bunk because anything else would make me feel claustrophobic, especially the middle one.  This is the bed of the two French women who biked from another city.

Last picture - a foggy look at the Peace Bridge super early in the morning.  (FYI It's December right now and it took me forever to finish this up.  I guess I'm better at this when I update on vacation but there's not always time.)  I woke up pretty early to leave Londonderry and drive back to Dublin, which was about a three to four hour drive, where I was able to say that I officially survived driving in Ireland.  I may have covered it already in the Dublin post, but when I headed back, I did a bit more shopping and randomly ran into my Belfast hostel friend when I was eating (delicious) fries on the steps in Temple Bar.  After a couple drinks in multiple bars, I semi-drunkenly stumbled to the Gaol, then packed and turned in early to get ready for my flight the next day.  It was hard to leave Ireland, as I did so much and had a ton of fun.  But there's still more places to visit in the world (like Spain/Portugal in May) and it's always nice to be home. Finally done!