To start the adventure we landed at the Keflavik International Airport after an all night flight. Blurry eyed, trying to get a quick bite to eat, I discovered that my cash card was not working. Luckily our guide, Greg, bought me a sandwich.

The next stop, as we headed into Keykjavik, was a quick soak and white mud facials at the legendary Blue Lagoon hot springs. And no, the white mud did not make me look any better, specially after the night flight. It is interesting though that these hot springs are part of some ponds that were previously used by the thermal power generating plant next door.

We settled into our hotel (Fosshotel Baron) on the beautiful harbor in Reykjavik. After a quick unpack we wandered up into town to have an easy lunch at a small vegetarian restaurant. Keykjavik still holds most of its small town atmosphere and is very pleasant to explore.

After lunch, we all met during a light rain shower for a ride through town on mountain bikes which was a nice warm up for the long ride the next day. With the under-inflated wide tires we set off in the quite streets.

Starting with a sculpture representing a viking boat, we road along the harbor and then up into town. The architecture varied from ultra modern skyscrapers to older government houses, to tall churches and sporting centers to spanish style house groupings. Along with the expected northern home designs mostly made of wood.

It was amazing how much sculpture there is in Reykjavik. We had a chance to stop by and view a series of sculptures in a nice open area before starting to head back. As we went towards the hotel, we crossed over a typical modern highway, got to ride along a small river going through town, and stopped for a quick look at a 3D model of the entire country. It made me realize that we were only going to see a very small part of it in this very busy week.