Normal wakeup time again, 7am being normal for me. Between now and noon I have to cleanup my mess, pack up my things, and then head out for my new place. Dishes cleaned, folding laundry, then stuffing my bag, I finish everything up by 10:30. I discovered that the bag that I brought was actually too small to carry everything that I had. I looked into the stores that the tourist info lady suggested for me, and found a store in a mall with a very nice 75L+10L bag.
Since I didn’t have to leave until noon, and I couldn’t check-in at my new place until noon either, I decided to hit the streets. Looking on my phone in trying to find my new place. I booked it for four nights. Initial plan was three, but with all the Christmas shopping that I had to get done, plus running out to get my bag, I wouldn’t be able to get it all done before the post office closed today and they don’t reopen until Monday. The next place I want to stay at is a good distance North East from Reykjavik and the two buses leaving for there are at 9am and 4pm. So instead of rushing around, I decided to stay one more day.
So here I am, walking down what I had thought to be the right road, 40-minutes pass by then I find my place. Content with me knowing where it is, I turn a few other corners to see where they led, then BAM!! There’s my place where I’m about to leave! It’s actually only a 3-minute walk away!
I bring my things over, unlock the door, and find out once I go inside is that the place is bigger! Nearly twice as big! I drop off my bag and run back out the door because I have quite the hike to the mall that I need to tackle. Almost a hour in crazy strong winds and heavy rain. In the same, somewhat, direction is the only gaming store that I could find in Reykjavik called Nexus.
I hit the main road of Laugaveur and start walking East. Taking in the sights and an area that I have not been in before, I come across this really nice mural on the side of a building of a kraken! Eventually I get to Nexus, about 30-minutes into my long hike, I’m overwhelmed with nostalgia. It reminds me greatly of the Silver Snail in Toronto! Comics, books, movies, role-playing books, board games, and collectables. All different sorts of everything! I must have spent a good hour just roaming around and talking to the staff.
Leaving the oh-so-warm store, I bear the wet, windy, cold weather once again. A 20-minute walk South East from there. The road I was walking down felt like one of those wide, busy streets in Toronto during rush hour. In all honesty, it felt pretty good.
Reaching the mall and walking in the main entrance, I’m once again hit with nostalgia because this place resembles the Upper Canada Mall! After a while of walking around and taking in the stores (found a Dominos Pizza and a Subway in the food court), I eventually find the place I’m looking for, called Útilíf. Just like a Sportschek back home. Going in, hunting down for my bag, I quickly discover that they don’t actually have it there. I turn to an employee and inquire about the bag. She calls another location and, fortune be on my side, they do have them! The location of this mall is another 20-minute walk away but in the direction of North by North West. Well, back out I go into the rain.
Off in the distance, I see a skybridge crossing this busy highway-road.
Eventually I get there, surprisingly enough bone-dry, and I quickly find the store. Talking to a sales associate about the bag, and telling him my name, he runs off to the back and retrieves it for me. I purchase it and he shows me how to put it on and adjust it properly because this one has many more buckles than my old one.
With my new bag on, I trek back to my place. Along the way, I find a doughnut truck! Getting hungry and thirsty, I stop there and order a six-pack of doughnuts (with caramel and cinnamon sugar on top) and a cup of coffee. Chatting with the lady, she tells me of some stories of around Reykjavik, and some sights I just have to see. I then tell her about Canada, where I’m from, and how BRUTAL of winters we get and how long they last. She was quite astonished about that, her saying that she has never been in a winter as bad as some that I described. By the time we say our goodbyes and I saw my thank-you’s, my doughnuts are cold. Oh well! Still tasty though! Totally worth it too.
Got back to my place, started watching the second Thor movie, letting my legs rest for a bit. Halfway thought it, I pause the movie and went to the grocery store (about a 45-second walk away) because my stomach was getting pretty angry with me. Picked up some tortellini, chicken, mushrooms, and tomato sauce. Dropped those items off and went out again to the liquor store to grab some beer. Picked myself up two six-packs of Einstök. A very tasty IPA (Icelandic Pale Ale).
Walking in the front door to my place, kicking off my boots, I start cooking my dinner while having a beer. Had two bottles while making the food.
After dinner, and Thor 2, 11pm rolls around and I was getting pretty tired. Went and got ready for bed, crawled under the sheets, and tried to go to sleep. The reason why I couldn’t sleep was that there was a party going on above me, and the ceiling here was rather thin. Sure, I would have gladly went up there with my beer and would have had a great time, but I didn’t want to be a write-off for tomorrow. Eventually, I fell asleep at 3am.