Before dropping Morrison back we pulled in to Pallett Kaffikompani for an espresso and then very sadly drove him back to the Happy Campers yard and parted ways with our newest BFF. Being back in a city was a bitter pill to swallow. The Man of the Wild and Outdoor Number 2s appear to enjoy being away from cities for a while.
We then headed in to Reykjavik for 11 hours of eating, drinking and exploring before beginning 40 hours of transit through airports to get us to Croatia.
First up was a couple more coffees at Litli Bondaerinn and Reykjavik Roasters amongst more hipsters than you've ever felt old and infinitely less cool around.
Then the world famous, Bourdain, Bill Clinton, Princess Diana endorsed hot dog at Bæjarins Beztu Pylsur. "Second worst hot dog of the trip" according to Nix. Second only to an abomination of a belly filler that we had in Romania.
At no point have I mentioned just how quirky and unique and, a lot of the time, strange the Icelandic people are. There's strangeness every where you look around the island. Knowing this, it then doesn't come as a surprise that an Icelandic man has devoted his entire life to collecting all things animal phallus related. Yes, a penis museum.
Here are a few of the photo highlights/lowlights.
What did we learn?
- A pizzle is a bull's penis that's been fashioned into a whip.
- Penis bones are a thing and a walrus has a huge one.
- The man with the biggest ever documented member has bequeathed it to the museum.
- Penises whether dried and placed on a plaque or pickled in a jar are not attractive parts of the anatomy of any animal.
Penises aren't a laughing matter.Dicks are really funny.
We felt a bit weird after that so headed to K-Bar for a beer. In particular one I'd been after for a while - Olvisholt Lava, a big, boozey imperial stout. It lived up to expectations.
What the beers really were, was some Dutch Courage for a little eating challenge that Iceland devised all those years ago.
Cafe Loki does a Braveheart plate that consists of some dried cod that was childs play and the infamous Hakarl - fermented, rotten shark meat - something that Gordon Ramsay couldn't keep down when he ate it and countless other foodies have struggled to keep down.
We tentatively placed it in our mouths, at which point the rush of ammonia invades your nostrils and sets up shop for the next few minutes. To say its flavour is long would be an understatement. My favourite quote from Nix was - "it tastes like eating someone's morning after a big night piss". So eloquent.
In all honesty, we don't really get what the fuss is all about. Bring on the next eating challenge.
The evening finished with admiration of a church that almost makes you want to go to church and our final sushi feed of Iceland.
Then began the epic transit to Split and the first of two nights in airports.
Who gives a f*ck, we'd just had the best eight nights of our lives.
