Last Day in Iceland// Paris & Iceland, Day 11

Tuesday, October 11, 2017
We got all of our bags straightened up in the morning before heading downtown.

We stopped for a delicious breakfast at Sandholt Bakery, which is regarded as one of the best bakeries in Iceland. You won't get any argument from me!

We made our official photo stop visit to Hallgrímskirkja, a Lutheran parish church that is the largest church in Iceland and among the tallest structures in the country.  It is named after the Icelandic poet and clergyman Hallgrímur Pétursson and is one of the city's best-known landmarks, visible throughout the city. It was designed it to resemble the mountains and glaciers of Iceland's landscape, and it definitely reminded us of the basalt columns we'd encountered during our visit there.

We drove around the city, passing by this concert hall and conference centre.

Harpa

And because I am nothing more than a 12-year-old boy, we visited The Icelandic Phallological Museum, and I proceeded to take many pictures of penises.

This museum contains a collection of more than two hundred and fifteen penises and penile parts belonging to almost all the land and sea mammals that can be found in Iceland.

Of course, the gift shop was full of crazy, novelty penis items.

Next to restaurants serving puffin and whale, we found the Chuck Norris Grill, haha.  Almost all the meat from minke whales slaughtered in Icelandic waters is eaten by visitors to the country under the mistaken belief that this is somehow a 'traditional' dish. In fact, most Icelanders never eat whale meat and restaurants procure it only due to tourist demand.

Since we enjoyed it so much, and I am quite obviously a fan of fine dining, we returned to Reykjavík Chips for more delicious french fries. We also returned once more to Sandholt to pick up pastries for the flight. We then swung by Hagkaup, which Francisco dubbed the Icelandic Meijer.  Hagkaup is an Icelandic hypermarket chain with a wide selection of food and non-food products including clothing, electronics, and toys.

Overall, I'm glad we ended up visiting the Snæfellsnes Peninsula the day before instead of tacking another day onto Reykjavík.

It was a bigger city than we anticipated, but we find our time better occupied exploring nature rather than museums.

We took our time driving to Keflavík since time at the airport tends to go by quickly anyway. Returning our rental car was hassle-free, and then we indulged in some pizza for the first time during our entire trip.

Our flight took off at 4:45 PM, and I watched The Guest and kept myself occupied for the 6.5-hour flight.  With the 5-hour time difference, we arrived back in Chicago at 6:15 PM.

We spent the night at my parents' house, so we didn't pick up our boys until the next day. I think we were all happy to see each other lol. 

Before picking them up, we stopped to visit my Grandpa who'd been stuck in the hospital for a while. 

Finally, it was time for the 4-hour drive home that turned into something like a 6-hour drive with traffic...then back to work the next day!