“Ain’t no party like an Iceland party, ’cause an Iceland party don’t stop!”

Last night was a rough one with regard to sleep. It was literally a party in the streets outside our hotel window with club music beats, noisy frolicking, and hook-ups gone awry. Frustration as well as curiosity enticed me to the window in my jammies between 3am-4am where I was witness to blatant drunken behavior at its best. I was the middle-aged woman at the window while my teenage daughter obliviously slept through it all.

Finally able to fall asleep around 4:30am, I slept through the quiet part of the morning. We did, however, still manage to catch brunch at Cafe Paris where Sydney finally got her Icelandic pancakes. The benedict here was delightful as well with grilled ham and sauteed spinach on brioche with hollandaise.

We made our way toward Lake Tjörnin just in time to see the beginning of The Festival of the Sea celebration. It was quite an elaborate display and we were able to hook up the GoPro just in time to catch this Icelandic tradition of promoting solidarity among fisherman. You can find our video here. Be sure to watch, it’s really neat!

Lake Tjörnin is filled with ducks, interesting little sea birds, and a stunning swan. Syd and I took a walk around the entire lake and found some fun sculptures along the way.

It was a cold, windy hike to get to Hallgrímskirkja Church, and all uphill. I recommended we stop for a cappuccino at Café Loki before going into the church. At over 244 feet high, Hallgrímskirkjait is the largest church in Iceland and among the tallest structures in the country. Their organ has 5,275 pipes and is quite impressive.

It’s our last day in Iceland! Once we re-packed our suitcases and warmed up in our room, we took one last 45 degree walk through the quaint neighborhoods of Reykjavik near the Landakotskirkja church, the only Catholic church in all of Iceland. I think it might be my favorite.

So long, Iceland! We’re off to Edinburgh, Scotland tomorrow.