Did I actually leave the country? Or was that just a dream. Only a pile of sweaters from earlier this morning convinces me that I went to Iceland the first week of May. This email has been in my drafts for almost two weeks.

According to our CityGuide, we were supposed to head straight to this Lutheran Church and take in the panoramic views of Reykjavik. It stands at the peak of the city and Leif Ericcson, the first son of Iceland, is facing the sea.

These are the church doors, which were closed. We figured out that most everything closes at 4 on Saturday and remains closed on Sunday. Of course, the church is open tomorrow. But we plan to head to the Blue Lagoon since we keep missing the opportunity to shop.

We have been told that the Blue Lagoon is like a church. The store keeper that sells their bath salts in the city told Henry: "You will take it with you in your heart, soul and mind." she also told him, "Take your time and do all of the muds."

I didn't know this until earlier in our trip, but Iceland is the world leader in hot dogs. And the best hot dog in Iceland, all agree, is at Baejarins Betzu, conveniently just a few steps from our hotel.

Yes, it's a shack. But people come from all over the world to eat there - including one William Jefferson Clinton, whose smiling picture is the only decoration in the shack.

Since no one can eat just one, the picnic table conveniently includes a hot dog holder for your extra dogs.

No one knows what makes them so good. Some guess that they are cooked in beer. I think it's the genius-level innovation of putting the fried onion condiment underneath the dark honey mustard and aioli so that they don't get soggy. I'm inspired to start putting potato chips underneath my own dogs. Granted I can count the number of hot dogs I eat in a year on one hand.
This dog snapped so hard when you bit into it that you could hear it. There was a line outside the window of people eating them in their cars.

We washed it down with a tiny ice-free coke. When I went to Europe with Sarah after college, I think I cried at one point about the lack of ice and miniature drinks. But we are in Iceland and the Coke was ice cold. And surprisingly I still had just enough after I finished my dog. Yum!

Just above our hotel is Iceland's first park designed by the country's first landscape architect in the 1950s. We are headed back tomorrow before our flight home to visit the museum next to the church.

The landscape was a delightful walk home after a traditional Icelandic dinner.

We ate dinner at a family style restaurant. Most notably, my french onion soup reminded me of a barbecue sauce. The bread had an interesting lemon flavor. My entree of tuna and wasabi mashed potatoes was delicious but massive. I tried to come up with a theory related to the size of drinks and food consumed, but I couldn't.

Valspar's Lyric Lake

Thank you to Heather for going by to take the pictures. I like the front.

Henry loves the back. So, according to him, we both win. I'm still not convinced it's the right color. But it is what it is for now.

We visited Cintamani, an athletic clothing shop, which was full of places to play. The most notable was a slide from the top floor straight into the shoe section.

I missed this when I entered the store and took the stairs instead. Downstairs featured a stream, rock garden and bridge. Kids were taking the stairs back up and down the slide over and over again.

A pillar was outfitted with rock climbing gear just before the mouth of the slide. A knit rug made of the fattest braids I've ever seen was wrapped around the base.

Another space for kids was just beyond the clearance section. It consisted mainly of a chalkboard wall, books and a table. No need for a kid friendly blog here. Pretty much everywhere has spaces for kids.

Thanks to our black curtains and the time change, we slept until 1pm. Therefore we skipped straight to Icelandic Fish & Chips, an organic fish and chips place in Old Harbor. You pick your fish, your side and sauce. Fortunately they offer a sampler platter, which is the way to go.

Henry ordered the red fish and I ordered the cod. It was light and tasty. All of the sauces are spectacular. The orange is a chili sauce. Others included mango, tsasziki, tartar, basil, and wasabi. Despite my best efforts, I left half of my food on my plate. (Same is true for our 6 pm supper.)

We could see the water and the mountains from the window.

Lava rocks are everywhere - inside and out. Here they are used for the counter. Like most stores and restaurants in Rekyjavik, Icelandic Fish & Chips includes a small place for kids to play/read/work on an elevated space to the right of the counter. I noticed it when pouring a glass of self-serve water. Kids can't go anywhere, but they are out of sight to give both parents and themselves a little break. Love it.

While at the Reykyjavik Art Museum, I noticed this mini-parade of families with balloons. Look closely to the left. The Symphony stands to the right.

I didn't take any pictures of the art in the museum, because they asked you not to. The center of the museum of the museum includes a large opening with windows placed around the corridors and a few of the galleries. At one point, someone used a small machine to fill the room with steam. It was quite magical, considering it looked like it may have been a prison in a previous life.

I took a picture of the night sky at precisely 11 pm. The sun rose at 4:48 this morning at set at 10:03. A few minutes ago, the sky was still fairly light out. It was strange walking past all of the closed shops when it feels like four o'clock. We stopped for desert at a bar called Boston, but their kitchen was already closed.

What would life be like if you still had six hours of day light after you finished your work day?

We ate lunch around 6 pm. We both had a cup of Lobster Soup and a fish kabob at Saegreifinn in the Old Harbor area. I could have completely skipped my salmon kabob, although I did enjoy Henry's halibut.

This soup was so delicious that I had to take a picture of the lobster. Although I decided to take a picture after I had eaten practically all of it. I told Henry that the lobster was soft and he thought I was crazy until he tasted it and confirmed it is soft. Others may call it tender or succulent. I call it fantastic.

A loaf of warm bread and Icelandic butter accompanies the soup. The butter was superb. Henry said that was a bit unfair since I have eaten very little dairy in the last three years. The soup and bread made me want to cuddle up and head back to bed. After not eating dairy, it's easy to feel the sluggish coma take over your body.

I thought the pilsner was quite tasty, especially in comparison to Henry's beer. Later we learned that a pilsner in Iceland is non-alcoholic. So I can blame the evening drag completely on the dairy. But it was worth it. We may head back tomorrow for a second cup.

I found a spinning heart in my coffee this morning. I needed something at catch my attention. I was a zombie after our overnight flight. I only slept an hour tops. So we hung out in Prikid, the oldest coffee house in Reykjavik, until our room at Hotel Borg was ready. What a sweet surprise.