The Complimentary Cream of Celery and Truffle Soup
First Course: Fried Langoustine and Poached White Sea Pearls With Vegetables Tartan and Coriander Vinaigrette
Second Course: Plaice Pipe Under Parmesan Turf and Chanterelles on a Green Ground, With a Glass of Riesling
Third Course: Fillet of Lamb With Rusty Spring Vegetables and Summer Truffles, With a Glass of Pinot Noir
Fourth Course: Hot Chocolate Cake With Soft Chocolate Raspberries Ganache
Lunch: Kjöttsup With Brennevin.
Gullfoss Water Falls (Note the People on The Cliff on the Left)
The Geyser at Geysir, With The Stupid Tourists Who Got Soaking Wet...
The Hot Springs at Geysir
A Cloud of Ash From the Eyjafjallajökull Volcano
Hakarl (Rotten, Raw Shark)After my last post last night, I went out exploring the city a little bit. I ended up doing some shopping downtown. I got a souvenir for Mam and Dad, and a little something that Troy asked me to get him here. For myself, I got the Björk box set that contains all of her live albums. Yay!
I was exhausted and really hungry by the time I got back to the hotel, so I decided to have a late dinner at the hotel restaurant, "The Gallery". My meal started at 8:30 p.m. I decided to go all out and order a special meal, so I got the special 4-course menu they had on last night. Before the meal came to the table, I ordered a long-island ice tea as a cocktail. Because I got the special Kjarval menu, the chef came to the table to give me a complimentary appetizer, a cream of celery and truffle soup. (I had never had truffles and thought it was amazing). I ordered a glass of Riesling wine to accompany my first few courses. The first course was the fried langoustine and poached white sea pearls with vegetables tartan and coriander vinaigrette. The sea pearls were like small scallops, and I had had these once before in St. Malo, France. Absolutely delicious. I asked the waiter to give my compliments to the chef. The second course was the plaice pipe under parmesan turf and chanterelles on a green ground. Plaice is a flat fish, and this too was amazing. When the waiter asked me if everything was to my liking, I responded that the culinary orgasm was continuing. He then asked me if I wanted a glass of red wine to accompany my third course, and since I said yes, he recommended I get the pinot noir with my third course, the fillet of lamb with rusty spring vegetables and summer truffles. I had the rest of my Riesling with dessert, the hot chocolate cake with soft chocolate raspberries ganache. This has been one of the most memorable meals of my entire life, and it blew away all of my previous misconceptions about Iceland being a culinary wasteland!
I left the table at 11:30 p.m. and made my way to bed where I slept soundly until 3.00 a.m., when I noticed the sun was shining. I pulled the blinds, went back to bed and slept until 8:00 a.m. this morning. A quick breakfast buffet, checked my e-mails, got ready and left the hotel by 10:00 a.m. to walk around town. There are tons and tons and tons of possible excusions here: I could go snow-mobiling on the glaciers, I could go horseback riding to explore the Icelandic countryside, I could go for an airplane excursion to Greenland, I could go dog-sledding on the glaciers, I could go on a helicopter tour of the volcanoes... But many of these tours start at 8:30 a.m., so I was late for all of them, and I only have one more full day in Iceland. So, when I was downtown, I bought a ticket for today's afternoon tour of the Golden Circle, and I bought a ticket for tomorrow's 10-hour excursion to the Eyjafjallajökull volcano and the Vatnajökull glacier, the largest glacier in Europe.
I was on the bus by 1:00 p.m. when we departed for the Golden Circle tour. This is "the" tour that all travellers to Iceland need to see, apparently. Ours was a special afternoon tour, so I could get to see the major sites in one 6-hour trip. We left Reykjavik and made our way to our first stop, Ðingvellir, the site of the first Icelandic parliament, which first met outdoors in the year 930. I couldn't believe the landscape on our way there: huge, rugged cliffs; massive volcanic masses; desolate, bleak, unpopulated magma fields... The landscape is unlike anything I have ever seen, and I am longing to come back here to have more time to explore this otherworldly scenery. When we stopped at Ðingvellir for a visit, I remembered that the fellow who sold me the tickets this moring recommend that I try the kjöttsúp (meat soup) at the restaurant here, a hearty lamb soup that I absolutely devoured. It was simply fantastic and richly flavoured! I also tried brennevín for the first time, the strong, 38% proof liquor that is called, in Icelandic, "firewater". From Ðingvellir, we continued onward to Geysir, a geothermal hotspot that has since lent its name to all other geysers in the world. We waited with bated breath until a huge plume-like jet of boiling water erupted into the air, at least 100 feet up, I would guess. I had to laugh at the stupid tourists who had crowded around for a closer look and who were soaking wet after this episode. I got a drop on my sunglasses and a drop on my head, otherwise unscathed. From Ðingvellir, we made our way to Gullfoss, a majestic waterfall. I would have stayed longer watching this amazing sight, but the bugs were really annoying so after snapping a few shots I sought refuge in the bus. On our way back into the city, we came into a thick cloud. At first, the bus driver and our guide couldn't tell if it was fog, rain or ash. Turns out that it was drifting ash from the recent eruption of the Eyjafjallajökull volcano. Although it has long since stopped erupting, the tons of ash are still drifting in the air. The guide said if it got to the point where we would not be able to see ten feet ahead of the bus, we would have to put on our gas masks, but it didn't come to that. We also drove through a huge lava field that was created during a volcanic eruption around the time Iceland became Christianized, around the year 1000. One thousand years later, there is still very little vegetation here, only moss growing on the rocks. We also saw the massive destruction from 2008's devastating 6.3 earthquake, and the huge boulders that had been hurled from the highest mountain tops into the valleys below. The guide also said that salmon and trout are very prolific in the waters here. In one lake, the largest trout caught a few years ago weighed 38 pounds, and people were sure it was a salmon, but it wasn't. Given the fantastic fishing here, fishing licenses are ridiculously expensive: 300,000 kronúr (about $3,000 Canadian dollars) a day. Because the costs are so prohibitive, only an elite of sportsmen and women come here, chief among whom are Princes Charles, William and Harry.
It was around this time, near the end of the tour, that Troy's camera jammed. I couldn't turn it off or do anything else with it. So it stayed on for another 10 minutes before the battery went. I tried removing the battery, but the shutter would still not recede back into the camera. I figured I would have a look at the instructions, recharge the battery, and see if I could get the camera working again.
When we got to the city, the chauffeur was kind enough to drive me to my hotel, so I got my stuff ready and headed out for dinner. I wanted to sample authentic Icelandic cuisine, so tonight I made my way to the Ðrir Frakkar restaurant. I did not have the guts to try the whale steak or the fried puffin, but I bit the bullet and decided to be adventurous and order the hákarl, the putrified, raw shark, as an appetizer. Luckily, it came with some brennevín to wash it down. I thought I was quite brave and can't believe that I actually sampled three pieces before giving in. There were still about a dozen pieces left in my bowl, but I couldn't finish it. The taste still haunts me. As I brought the toothpick to my mouth, I could smell the slight aroma of ammonia. The first few chews weren't so bad: it reminded me of salmon sushi. But then the taste exploded into my mouth and the aftertaste was dreadful. If ever I had wondered what Fricot and Sarriette's kitty litter box tasted like, I think this would be it!! I am happy to report that the rest of my meal was a million times better: butter-fried halibut with lobster in a lobster sauce, a glass of house white wine, and then the chocolate cake with vanilla ice cream for dessert. I got to speak some Spanish with the waitress who was from Columbia, I spoke French with the tourists from Belgium on the tour bus, I listened to the Swedish tourists on the bus speaking with each other. And of course, spoke lots of English during the day. It truly was a multicultural experience.
So here I am now at the hotel, putting the finishing touches on this post. I just mailed a bunch of post cards, and I am thinking of retiring soon because the tour bus is picking me up at 7:30 a.m. tomorrow morning for our tour of the southern coast of Iceland. Luckily, when I went up to my room immediately after dinner, I was glad to see that I could finally turn off the camera by placing the recharged battery inside, so all should be good for tomorrow. I am a little concerned that I might be nearing the upper limit of photographs I can take on this memory card, but we shall live dangerously.
Bless ("Bye bye" in Icelandic)...
M.
I was exhausted and really hungry by the time I got back to the hotel, so I decided to have a late dinner at the hotel restaurant, "The Gallery". My meal started at 8:30 p.m. I decided to go all out and order a special meal, so I got the special 4-course menu they had on last night. Before the meal came to the table, I ordered a long-island ice tea as a cocktail. Because I got the special Kjarval menu, the chef came to the table to give me a complimentary appetizer, a cream of celery and truffle soup. (I had never had truffles and thought it was amazing). I ordered a glass of Riesling wine to accompany my first few courses. The first course was the fried langoustine and poached white sea pearls with vegetables tartan and coriander vinaigrette. The sea pearls were like small scallops, and I had had these once before in St. Malo, France. Absolutely delicious. I asked the waiter to give my compliments to the chef. The second course was the plaice pipe under parmesan turf and chanterelles on a green ground. Plaice is a flat fish, and this too was amazing. When the waiter asked me if everything was to my liking, I responded that the culinary orgasm was continuing. He then asked me if I wanted a glass of red wine to accompany my third course, and since I said yes, he recommended I get the pinot noir with my third course, the fillet of lamb with rusty spring vegetables and summer truffles. I had the rest of my Riesling with dessert, the hot chocolate cake with soft chocolate raspberries ganache. This has been one of the most memorable meals of my entire life, and it blew away all of my previous misconceptions about Iceland being a culinary wasteland!
I left the table at 11:30 p.m. and made my way to bed where I slept soundly until 3.00 a.m., when I noticed the sun was shining. I pulled the blinds, went back to bed and slept until 8:00 a.m. this morning. A quick breakfast buffet, checked my e-mails, got ready and left the hotel by 10:00 a.m. to walk around town. There are tons and tons and tons of possible excusions here: I could go snow-mobiling on the glaciers, I could go horseback riding to explore the Icelandic countryside, I could go for an airplane excursion to Greenland, I could go dog-sledding on the glaciers, I could go on a helicopter tour of the volcanoes... But many of these tours start at 8:30 a.m., so I was late for all of them, and I only have one more full day in Iceland. So, when I was downtown, I bought a ticket for today's afternoon tour of the Golden Circle, and I bought a ticket for tomorrow's 10-hour excursion to the Eyjafjallajökull volcano and the Vatnajökull glacier, the largest glacier in Europe.
I was on the bus by 1:00 p.m. when we departed for the Golden Circle tour. This is "the" tour that all travellers to Iceland need to see, apparently. Ours was a special afternoon tour, so I could get to see the major sites in one 6-hour trip. We left Reykjavik and made our way to our first stop, Ðingvellir, the site of the first Icelandic parliament, which first met outdoors in the year 930. I couldn't believe the landscape on our way there: huge, rugged cliffs; massive volcanic masses; desolate, bleak, unpopulated magma fields... The landscape is unlike anything I have ever seen, and I am longing to come back here to have more time to explore this otherworldly scenery. When we stopped at Ðingvellir for a visit, I remembered that the fellow who sold me the tickets this moring recommend that I try the kjöttsúp (meat soup) at the restaurant here, a hearty lamb soup that I absolutely devoured. It was simply fantastic and richly flavoured! I also tried brennevín for the first time, the strong, 38% proof liquor that is called, in Icelandic, "firewater". From Ðingvellir, we continued onward to Geysir, a geothermal hotspot that has since lent its name to all other geysers in the world. We waited with bated breath until a huge plume-like jet of boiling water erupted into the air, at least 100 feet up, I would guess. I had to laugh at the stupid tourists who had crowded around for a closer look and who were soaking wet after this episode. I got a drop on my sunglasses and a drop on my head, otherwise unscathed. From Ðingvellir, we made our way to Gullfoss, a majestic waterfall. I would have stayed longer watching this amazing sight, but the bugs were really annoying so after snapping a few shots I sought refuge in the bus. On our way back into the city, we came into a thick cloud. At first, the bus driver and our guide couldn't tell if it was fog, rain or ash. Turns out that it was drifting ash from the recent eruption of the Eyjafjallajökull volcano. Although it has long since stopped erupting, the tons of ash are still drifting in the air. The guide said if it got to the point where we would not be able to see ten feet ahead of the bus, we would have to put on our gas masks, but it didn't come to that. We also drove through a huge lava field that was created during a volcanic eruption around the time Iceland became Christianized, around the year 1000. One thousand years later, there is still very little vegetation here, only moss growing on the rocks. We also saw the massive destruction from 2008's devastating 6.3 earthquake, and the huge boulders that had been hurled from the highest mountain tops into the valleys below. The guide also said that salmon and trout are very prolific in the waters here. In one lake, the largest trout caught a few years ago weighed 38 pounds, and people were sure it was a salmon, but it wasn't. Given the fantastic fishing here, fishing licenses are ridiculously expensive: 300,000 kronúr (about $3,000 Canadian dollars) a day. Because the costs are so prohibitive, only an elite of sportsmen and women come here, chief among whom are Princes Charles, William and Harry.
It was around this time, near the end of the tour, that Troy's camera jammed. I couldn't turn it off or do anything else with it. So it stayed on for another 10 minutes before the battery went. I tried removing the battery, but the shutter would still not recede back into the camera. I figured I would have a look at the instructions, recharge the battery, and see if I could get the camera working again.
When we got to the city, the chauffeur was kind enough to drive me to my hotel, so I got my stuff ready and headed out for dinner. I wanted to sample authentic Icelandic cuisine, so tonight I made my way to the Ðrir Frakkar restaurant. I did not have the guts to try the whale steak or the fried puffin, but I bit the bullet and decided to be adventurous and order the hákarl, the putrified, raw shark, as an appetizer. Luckily, it came with some brennevín to wash it down. I thought I was quite brave and can't believe that I actually sampled three pieces before giving in. There were still about a dozen pieces left in my bowl, but I couldn't finish it. The taste still haunts me. As I brought the toothpick to my mouth, I could smell the slight aroma of ammonia. The first few chews weren't so bad: it reminded me of salmon sushi. But then the taste exploded into my mouth and the aftertaste was dreadful. If ever I had wondered what Fricot and Sarriette's kitty litter box tasted like, I think this would be it!! I am happy to report that the rest of my meal was a million times better: butter-fried halibut with lobster in a lobster sauce, a glass of house white wine, and then the chocolate cake with vanilla ice cream for dessert. I got to speak some Spanish with the waitress who was from Columbia, I spoke French with the tourists from Belgium on the tour bus, I listened to the Swedish tourists on the bus speaking with each other. And of course, spoke lots of English during the day. It truly was a multicultural experience.
So here I am now at the hotel, putting the finishing touches on this post. I just mailed a bunch of post cards, and I am thinking of retiring soon because the tour bus is picking me up at 7:30 a.m. tomorrow morning for our tour of the southern coast of Iceland. Luckily, when I went up to my room immediately after dinner, I was glad to see that I could finally turn off the camera by placing the recharged battery inside, so all should be good for tomorrow. I am a little concerned that I might be nearing the upper limit of photographs I can take on this memory card, but we shall live dangerously.
Bless ("Bye bye" in Icelandic)...
M.
Isn't it wonderful how much you can pack into one day!! I can't believe you tried the shark!! I think I would have gone for the fried Puffin!! LOL
ReplyDeleteGlad to hear the camera is working again. I suggest you buy one of those disposibles, just in case.