Reykjavik
The Reykjavik was the second stop of the Whit Bear on his way to Greenland. I did not pay much attention to my staying in this city and I did not prepare myself for the sightseeing. I had only few hours so I did not have as much time to see a lot honestly.
[embedyt] https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SjJMzo4mL0A[/embedyt]
Cemetery Fossvogskirkjugarður
The cemetery was the first visited place. It was located next to the hotel that I was staying that time. After walking few hundred meters I was already at the cemetery. I have visited there a tomb of the polish crew from the ‘Wigry’ ship. It sank at the Island’s banks in 1942. I spent my childhood by the Wigry lake so I could not pass and do not stop even for a minute at the sailors grave. It was very peaceful place. Fossvogskirkjugarður is divided into sections so it was not difficult to find the area B42 where the sailors were buried.
As a result of the accident 25 members of the crew including 12 Polish people died:
- Władysław Grabowski – the Captain
- Zygmunt Lewicki – I Officer
- Czesław Nowak – III Officer
- Wacław Przybysiak – Radio Officer
- Charles Peach – Radio Officer – connector (Canadian)
- Brunon Schmidt – I Engineer
- Jerzy Zieliński – II Engineer
- Aleksander Trućko – III Engineer
- Marian Lewandowski – Boatswain
- Gardar Magnusson – Older Sailor (Islander)
- Reginald Smalwood – Older Sailor (British)
- Tadeusz Stachura – Older Sailor
- Witold Zeles – Older Sailor (Latvian)
- Arthur Bernes –Sailor (the British)
- William Catterell – Younger Sailor (the British)
- Jan Chmielewski – Stoker
- John Dixon – Stoker (British)
- Ahmed Essa – Stoker (Egiptian)
- Franciszek Grzela – Stoker
- Ragnar Palsson – palacz (Islander)
- John Ross – Stoker (British)
- Edward Strarola – Stoker (Latvian)
- Julian Caroll – The Chef (British)
- Roman Grabowski – The Steward
The name of the 27th member of the crew is unknown.
The source: Wikipedia
Perlan
Perlan is a museum and the viewing point gathered at one place. I let go the part where the museum with the ice cave is located but I had to go and see the sightseeing point. The platform was located on the tanks filled out with the hot water. From this point you can see the beautiful view that spreads to the city and its’ surroundings. The mountains that could be seen nearby impressed me a lot.
The ticket cost 490 ISK and it was only entry ticket to the viewing point. You can buy it online or being here at the ticket office. There are some free buses to Perlan that goes from Harpa Music Hall & Conference Centre in 30 minutes, from 9:00a.m. to 5 p.m.
Few suggestions
I suggest buying the Premium both ways ticket when you come to the Keflavik airport. Having this kind of the ticket you will be taken to the bus stop that is located the nearest from your accommodation point.
Two main transport companies:
- Airport Direct (orange buses) 6.770 ISK
- Flybus (white buses) 6.950 ISK
The prices I provided are valid when booked online and I do not know if they are the same when you want to buy the tickets at the airport.
When you travel you rather count each penny. I did not want to pay 1000 crones and I have bought normal one way ticket to get to the bus station. Being at BSI I realised that I do not want to march 30 minutes to the hostel with carrying 30kg rucksack. I took a taxi and I paid 1900 so I overpaid 1000 crones than I could have paid for the Premium ticket. It was the business of my life.
The private rides
There is a group on the Facebook „Skutlarar!” where you can book a lift in a car or order some alcohol.
On Island people over 20 years old are allowed to buy the alcohol. What is more there is a time frame when the alcohol can be bought at the shops:
- Monday 11-18
- Tuesday 11-18
- Wednesday 11-18
- Thursday 11-18
- Friday 11-19
- Saturday 11-18
- Sunday closed
The option of alcohol delivery is commonly used.
Happy hours
The pubs are not as strict as the shops but the prices are much higher. The cheapest beer at the pub that I was able to buy cost 590 ISK (about 20 zlotys).
Sometime there are also special offers such as Happy Hours. There is even special application Appy hours that informs where and when the cheaper beer is being sold. If you want to save some money on the alcohol it is better not to drink it at all :).
Roaming
Do not be afraid of using the data transfer while being on Island. This country is not a member of the UE but there is a special roaming agreement that regulates the data usage. The Internet from ‘Orange’ worked in my case without any issues what made my trip much easier. The operator will notify you via SMS about the messages and the Internet data usage costs.
Reykjavik
The city did not impress me from the beginning. Reykjavik has become beautiful for me since I walked through the downtown. There were a lot of sheet metal houses but somehow I liked them. At this part of the city the houses were more colourful than in the others. There were also some interesting wall paintings and atmospheric restaurants.
Reykjavik is well prepared when it comes to the tourist. At the airport and at the hostels there are free maps (at least in ‘Capital In’ where I was accommodated). The buses to the airport go very often at least one per hour. There are many tourist offices that offer a lot of interesting excursions. The best known is ‘Golden Circle’. The rental of the car and trip on your own is not a problem as well.
Honorary patronage of the President of the city Suwalki and Wigry National Park
Media patronage: TVP3 Białystok and Wrota Podlasia
Supports me Relax from the Czech Republic that is owning brands Relax and R2 and Larix official representative of the brand Meind.