Today we joined the Reykjavik protests

Our day started with a morning walk around Reykjavik before our 'I Heart Reykjavik' walking tour. We walked along the sea front to the Harpa concert hall. I’m not an expert on architecture but gosh the use of glass is amazing and well worth a walk around. We had a quick walk around Hallgrimskirkja before starting our walking tour. It was a really informative tour, we were taken around the nooks and crannies of central Reykjavik. After five times in Iceland, we have realised that we have spent little time in Reykjavik so the walking tour was great for us. The little characters above street signs are just one example of something we would completely miss if we weren’t on the tour. Also, the street art and colourful corrugated iron houses. We walked by Government House and the Alpingi, which wasn’t covered in barracades…yet.  

We met Lea and Jay, our friends from Virginia. We are Iceland addict twins. We met on a super jeep tour on wedding eve, their picture from our wedding night of the Northern Lights is on our living room wall, the last time we were in Iceland, we met again at the airport and it was both of our fifth visits to Iceland. We met at Reykjavik roasters for coffee and a cinnamon scone. So good to see them and catch up.

After afternoon tea, we walked to the settlement museum via the Alpingi again but this time the police were putting up the barriers, ahead of the fourth day of protests. We first visited the settlement museum under Hotel Centrum, which we stayed in 2011. Below is a longhouse with interactive displays which are fun to play with.

We joined the protest at the Alpingi. Protesters were hitting barrel drums and a gentleman in cloak and woollen hat was blowing a horn. There were bananas hanging from the trees and the protest was building. We needed sustenance so visited Beztu Pylsur, aka the best hot dog stall in town. We asked for ‘one with everything’ and was a hotdog with crunchy onions and sauces. Just what we needed before a protest.

It’s been a strange week for Icelandic politics, and Icelanders aren’t happy. Protestors brought kitchen pots and metal spoons to bang, hammers to hit the metal barricade and if they didn’t have either, they kicked the fence with their boots. People held pieces of red card in the air. Toilet roll was thrown at Alpingi and lots of bananas. The police just walked through the protestors. A brass band showed up too which I’ve never seen at a protest before.

A quick walk around the lake before we were frozen and then we retired back to the suburbs to our warm apartment to thaw.