Iceland 2023 Day 7

• Start of day: Húsafell Cottage
• End of day: Old Reykjavik Charm, Reykjavik

Moving day! We had some timing issues to work through. Though our Hertz reservation said we could drop by 4pm, the office itself at Reykjavik Domestic airport closed at 3pm. In one place I read it said I could do a key drop; somewhere else it said I absolutely could not do a key drop. Easiest bet was to just have the car there by 3pm. We could check in to our lodging at 2pm. We also needed to budget time for Supercharging so the car was returned near 80%.

Car logistics

We drove direct from Husafell to the Supercharger on the north side of Reykjavik – and were lucky that nobody was there, though 2 car showed up directly after us, and another car ended up having to wait at least 15 minutes.¹ We made it to 83%, then set out to find our Reykjavik home for the next few nights. We found without much trouble, dropped the bags, then I was off to drop the car, trying my best to understand and follow Reykjavik driving laws and etiquette.

We’d brushed some bushes back near Laugarvatn that made a scratch but I think I successfully distracted the Hertz guy by volunteering a scratch on the inside drivers side seat that was pre-existing. No additional charges, and I was on my way to walk the 2.2km from the airport back to our rental. “What’s the best way to get from here back over to the old town?” “Just look for the Church.” Good idea, thanks Hertz guy.

These were my photos from fast-walking back from the Hertz at the domestic airport:

Exploring Reykjavik

The weather today was cooler and more overcast than previous days.

First stop was back to the obligatory Hallgrimskirkja for a closer look, which is both larger and smaller than in the photos; Siena and I checked out the inside while Rowan and Sherri stayed outside.

Then there was swinging on the swings out front. We took photos on the rainbow road and just wandered around the town.

I was starving by this point and found a nice place for fish & chips.

After coming back to the rental for a bit, Siena and I went down to the water to the Sun Voyager art installation.

Wanting to head back up the church but not wanting to walk the hill, we rented a Zolo scooter and zipped up the hill (1.2mi).

For dinner all of us ate at a touristy Italian place Rossopomodoro up the hill from Old Charm. It was fine. Then back ‘home’ for the night, with a quick pop-in to a convenience store for ice cream.

A note on our Reykjavik lodging. We stayed at Old Charm Reykjavik. Writing this two years later, it’s the second time now we’ve stayed there, and would definitely recommend it if you’re looking for that experience between a full service hotel and an Airbnb. It worked great for our family of four.

Footnotes

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