A FOND FAREWELL to Regent Explorer Guests
From Captain Rosario Vasta and staff...hailing from 36 different nations. We have traveled a total distance of 3,914 nautical miles. Don't forget to settle your account and remove your stuff from the safe and for the love of God- take your dang Monkey with you! We are out of bananas!!

On our own for the next 4 days in Reykjavik. No butler? Who's going to organize us Bubba??

"These suitcases are getting fatter by the day Boca"...Bubs, everyone knows dirty clothes expand.

Boca agrees with Pleep. Your pop just doesn't understand retail therapy.

"Get the bags in the room (Foss Hotel, one of the modern hipster places-minimal this and that) and let's get on the hop on hop off Pleep!" Yes, Bubs is guaranteed some nap time there.

For some time, we were the only folks on the bus and our ticket taker decided to take a snooze, while the bus driver never stopped talking on his cell phone to his girlfriend as he drove like a teenage boy.
Ya can't make this up...

The socks kept Boca's tootsies warm....Bub asked, "are those the only socks you brought?" Yup. "When was the last time you washed them?" Wash? No way Bubba, you know how 1 sock always goes missing.

Lots of Gay Pride around here...Boca take note of proper footwear. Duly noted.

The sun peaked in and out all day but we were so ready with our rain coat and wind breaker....this town has a lot of building going on. It is loaded with young people. Reki is quite modern and very clean and tidy. Why so few on the Hop On and Off? $40 a ticket? Athens was $19 a day.

Our friend Kay suggested we head over to the church for a concert. Perfect. It's a stop on the Hop On Off bus line...

Hallgrímskirkja church is Reykjavík's main landmark and its tower can be seen from almost everywhere in the city.

It was designed by the late Guðjón Samúelsson in 1937, who was often inspired in his endeavours by the fascinating shapes and forms created when lava cools into basalt rock. Construction of the church began in 1945 and ended in 1986, with the tower completed long before the rest of the building. The crypt beneath the choir was consecrated in 1948, the steeple and wings completed in 1974 and the nave consecrated in 1986.

Standing directly in front of the church, and predating it by 15 years, is a fine statue of Leifur Eiríksson (c. 970 – c. 1020) – the first European to discover America. Records suggest that Leifur landed on the shores of the new world in the year 1,000 A.D., that's 500 years before Christopher Columbus. The statue, which was designed by Alexander Stirling Calder was a gift from the United States in honour of the 1930 Alþingi Millennial Festival, commemorating the 1,000th anniversary of the establishment of Iceland's parliament at Þingvellir in 930 AD.

Don't you love when folks decide to camp out in front of a need to be photographed monument?

Renovation going on at the church too and what is that thing in front of the church? Their version of the Chicago Bean?

Now those are some pipes Pleep!

The church features, most notably, a gargantuan pipe organ designed and constructed by the German organ builder Johannes Klais of Bonn. Standing tall at an impressive 15m and weighing a remarkable 25 tons, this mechanical action organ is driven by four manuals and a pedal, 102 ranks, 72 stops and 5275 pipes, all designed to reproduce powerful notes capable of filling the huge and holy space with a range of tones - from the dulcet to the dramatic. Its construction was completed in December 1992. Wonder how Hear Comes the Bride sounds on it?

Can't wait to hear it blow! Pleep wanted to request

In-A-Gadda-Da-Vida.

Lovely absolutely lovely.

Special note put out for Pleep?

Pleep is not used to such a plain style altar....where are the rest of the pictures Pop? Those are called Icons Pleep.

He did like the idea of the minister preaching from the "tower".

Let the concert begin...can't wait for the organ to boom.

Lots of beautiful singing....

but no organ playing. Hey, what do you want for $25 bucks a ticket for a 30 min performance? A fellow patron looked a little miffed too...what's up with the pony tail beard? More Pride.

At least they invited us for coffee and a meet up with the chorus.

Boca loved one of the singer's bow tie- looks like you are so ready for the Pride Festival. He shared that the bow tie was a local Icelandic fashion. A crocheted bow tie?

Next stop the Perlan...

Built in 1988 on top of Oskjuhlid Hill, the Perlan in is where form follows function as a glass dome sits atop the city’s reservoirs in six huge tanks, each with the capacity to hold over 1 million gallons of geothermal hot water. The building was designed by Ingimundur Sveinsson.

Inside the dome, between the hot-water tanks, is a spacious atrium where various exhibitions and events are held. Perlan just recently opened a glacier exhibition and when Pleep heard he would get the chance to experience walking through one of them -he was all in!

The glacier exhibition, the first part of the Icelandic Natural Wonders exhibition, is on two storeys in one of Perlan’s six hot water tanks. It illustrates the glaciers, their history and future, and gives you the amazing opportunity to experience travelling through one of them.

The Museum has developed a method to accurately replicate an ice cave dug through a glacier. They told us nothing like this has ever been seen anywhere in the world. Travelling through the cave, you learned about the glacier’s dangers, the secrets it keeps, and how the disappearance of these vast bodies of ice is leading to enormous change both on the island itself and around the world.

And how about the restaurant up top...

Always time for a local brew.

Perlan also has a 360 degree viewing deck on the fourth floor.-one deck below the revolving restaurant which doesn't revolve anymore. Huh? Yes, Mrs. Boca, the guests were getting sick from the motion so we shut it off. Oy. The viewing deck offers an awesome view of Reykjavik, the neighbouring communities and the mountain ranges around the city. On clear days you can even see the lofty Mt. Snaefellsjokull across the bay on Snaefellsnes peninsula. Who knew?

Oh yeah Bubs, you are known for your gusty winds.

Bend down a little more Bubs so we both fit in the selfie...and you might ask- why doesn't Bubba take the couple selfies? Because Bubba always presses the wrong button and shuts off the camera and looses the picture. Hmmmph.

And there is a view of the Hamjaresskajlianodtosomething Church we just visited.

You can't get out without going through the gift shop of course...we continue to be "awed" by the prices in Iceland...golf balls $8 EACH? Bubs, said with the golf balls he has collected from our back yard he could sell them over here and be a rich man.

Kids knit hat...$75.

Oh and there are some of those local bow ties! Afraid to ask what the price is for these beauties...

Bubs couldn't quite decide what these statues were all about...playing an instrument? dancing? smoking dope?

Enough museum time, where is Pleep? I told him 1 hour in the ice cave exhibition was enough! Time for some more hop on and off. I feel a nap coming on.

I remember that place .....

Höfði House, built in 1909, is considered to be one of the most beautiful and historically significant buildings in the Reykjavík area. It’s best known as the location for the 1986 summit meeting of presidents Ronald Reagan and Mikhail Gorbatsjov, a historical event that effectively marked the end of the Cold War. During this meeting images of the house were broadcast all over the world. A Japanese millionaire even had an exact replica of the house built in his country. The sculpture in front of the house depicts pillars from the chieftain’s seat of the first Norwegian settler in Reykjavík.

Höfði was initially the house of the French consul in Iceland and still bears many signs of its original purpose, such as the letters R.F (the abbreviation of the French Republic), the name of the council and the year of its construction above an inside door. Among other renowned guests of Höfði House include celebrities and heads of state, amongst them the Queen of England, Winston Churchill and Marlene Dietrich. In addition, the house is believed to be occupied by a ghost, "The White Lady", experienced by a former British Ambassador who once occupied the house. She caused so much distress that he persuaded the British Foreign Office to sell the house. Oy vey.

Höfði is owned by the City of Reykjavík and is currently used for official receptions and meetings. Although the house is unfortunately not open to the public, visitors are welcome to explore the house from the outside. Höfði House is located on Borgartún in the 105 area of Reykjavík overlooking the waterfront.

Per National Security Archives:

Washington, D.C. October 12, 2016 – Soviet leader Mikhail Gorbachev’s radical proposal in January 1986 to abolish nuclear weapons by the year 2000 met with derision on the part of many U.S. officials, who treated it as pure propaganda, but was welcomed by President Reagan, according to declassified documents posted today by the National Security Archive. The records reveal serious internal U.S. debates, consultations with allies, and support by the president that ultimately helped produce the historic Reykjavik summit 30 years ago.

The documents posted today include Gorbachev’s abolition letter of January 14, 1986, Top Secret critical responses by the U.S. defense secretary and by the director of the Arms Control and Disarmament Agency (“largely propaganda”), Reagan’s formal response over a month later (February 22), the minutes of a Top Secret National Security Planning Group meeting (February 3) that debated how to respond, key highly classified “OWL” and “SAGE” policy options papers produced by U.S. officials behind the scenes, reports back from consultation missions to allies from London to Tokyo, Gorbachev’s ultimate invitation letter for the Reykjavik meeting (September 15), and the actual declassified transcripts of the Reykjavik sessions where the two leaders came close to abolishing nuclear weapons.

Transcripts covering all of the bilateral summits from 1985 to 1991 will appear next month in the new book, The Last Superpower Summits: Gorbachev, Reagan, and Bush: Conversations that Ended the Cold War (Central European University Press, 2016).

Once an Agent always an Agent...PITA.

And speaking of Reds, Boca loves the red library...

and University grounds.

I'll take a pass on that...what's that over there?

Some of those rocks that people stack. We have seen them all over the world...have Annie and Patty been here?

Per Bubs, "Why do people want to spent $25 bucks on a plastic cup with cartoon on it? " Oh, you mean like the one you bought at Disney World years ago?

Sun peaking out again- for a neat view of the island across the water front...

Time for happy hour...we stopped in at the "American Bar"...quite vivid in their decor.

Boca wanted to do some foodie experimentation with the local faire but Bubs would have nothing to do with sheeps head....

Yes, this is what $85 bucks looks like. Fish and Chips, Burger and 2 beers. Yup, this Iceland is a very pricey place to visit.

Local "summer" flip flop wear in Reykjavik.

Barbie in Scotland asked about....

Álfhól

Wherever you are in Iceland - whether in a populated city or the middle of supernatural-seeming wilderness - you're likely to come across álfhól. These are small wooden houses people construct for the benefit of elves, who are said to live in them. You may even see very small churches, which are created for the purpose of converting the elves to Christianity. These elf homes range from simple to quite elaborate, and seeing how many you can spot while you're in Iceland can be an amusing pastime. Remember to take plenty of pictures for your friends back home - it's unlikely they've ever seen somewhere elves live.