It was time to head to the airport. Along the way, we stopped by the petrol station to refuel and clear the car of trash. The Chevy Cruze has served us well. We did a good 1200 miles in our trip. Looking back at the picture of the car, it was surprisingly clean for a car that went through 7 days of road trips. I guess it's mostly because of the really well maintained roads and lack of bug splatters.

Surprisingly clean car after a 7 day road trip

Chevy Cruze survived our 1200 mile road trip!

Yeap 1200 miles

We arrived at the airport early to get some food before our flight. I ordered my 2 favorite popular and cheaper item, soup + bread and Icelandic yogurt, Skyr. After going through the security checkpoint, there was a huge souvenir shop for folks to pick up some last minute items.

Warm soup with bread and butter.

Topping off the meal with Icelandic yogurt.

The huge but largely empty souvenir shop during shoulder season.

The restroom stalls were huge with private sinks, which I thought was pretty neat.

Soon, it was time to depart the island. So many memories were made in this trip. It would be incredibly difficult to top a trip where you check off your #1 bucket list item. As usual, I picked the window seat. I soaked in my last glimpses of this magical Nordic island. I had an amazing view of Keflavik and the southern coastline. I even caught glimpses of Vatnajökull National Park as the plane headed east back to London.

Land of beauty, land of myth. It fully lived up to the hype and more. Iceland gave an awesome send-off with a beautiful glory. Thanks for all the memories Iceland.

Taking off from Keflavik with a heavy heart.

Iceland sending me off with a beautiful glory.

Beautiful hills of Iceland

Goodbye Iceland (It's not usually this sunny)

Like they say, all good things must come to an end. Unfortunately it was the final day of what has been an awesome Iceland trip.

Plan of the day was to start early, pack up, check off remaining Reykjavik to do items and head off to the airport at Keflavik.

To do items:

• Perlan
• Cafe Loki
• Bæjarins Beztu Pylsur Hot Dog

Neat AirBnB spot near Iceland's national stadium.

Pretty small and narrow room, but works great if you're just spending the night.

We only spent a night at our last AirBnB spot in Reykjavik, so there was not much to pack. The host had already left for work, so we made our way out ourselves. I'm sure going to miss the sulfuric odor showers. Or maybe not. Our first stop was Perlan, Iceland's iconic landmark building perched on top of a hill. Along the way, we passed by Iceland's Meteorological Department, which has been extremely helpful in determining aurora viewing conditions. Their cloud cover forecast website has been a life saver: http://en.vedur.is/weather/forecasts/cloudcover/ Thank you for such an amazing service.

Iceland Met Department. I just had to give a shoutout to them. Amazing work.

Perlan

After some driving uphill, we finally reached Perlan. Since it was still early, the entrance was still closed. So we just took pictures from the outside. We never planned to head in anyway. The view from the top of the hill was pretty good.

Early morning at Perlan.

Amazing view from the hill.

Cafe Loki/Bakari Sandholt

Our next stop was a light brunch at Cafe Loki, located just opposite Hallgrímskirkja church. It was one of the recommended cafes from the travel book as well as on Tripadvisor, and oh boy did it live up to its hype. I ordered the Iceland sampler and it was the tastiest brunch I have ever had. I never knew that pickled fish would go so well with rye bread.

Cafe Loki on Tripadvisor: https://www.tripadvisor.com/Restaurant_Review-g189970-d1960952-Reviews-Cafe_Loki-Reykjavik_Capital_Region.html

Cafe Loki's Iceland sampler

Morning sunlight shining into Cafe Loki

After that, we took a walk down to Laugavegur and grabbed a quick light pastry snack at Bakari Sandholt bakery cafe, which we have already visited and fell in love with on our second day in Reykjavik. Yeap, believe the hype.

Bakari Sandholt on Tripadvisor: https://www.tripadvisor.com/Restaurant_Review-g189970-d2236791-Reviews-Bakari_Sandholt_Reykjavik-Reykjavik_Capital_Region.html

Enjoying awesome pastry at Bakari Sandholt

Passed by this colorful building while walking back to the car.

View of Hallgrímskirkja while heading back to the car

Bæjarins Beztu Pylsur

The final stop of the day was the famous Bæjarins Beztu Pylsur hotdog stand. Though we had a rough idea of where it was, it turns out it wasn't that visible. It took us a while to finally locate it as it was small stand hidden behind some fence.

Baejarins on Tripadvisor: https://www.tripadvisor.com/Restaurant_Review-g189970-d1852122-Reviews-Baejarins_Beztu_Pylsur-Reykjavik_Capital_Region.html

The famous hotdog stand. The line wasn't long at all. Perks of visiting during shoulder season I guess.

Munching on hotdog while admiring the view of Harpa.

The hot dog looked just like a normal hot dog, nothing special, but it was really good. Why? Not really sure. Maybe it has something to do with good meat maybe? Or munching on hot hot dog on a chilly day. Bliss. I felt bad dragging my vegetarian friend along with me. Okay maybe not.

Since the hot dog stand was near a park and also to the beginning of Laugavegur street, we decided to stroll around there as we had time to spare. We stopped by a cafe for another coffee break before finally heading to the airport.

Iceland school kids playing around at a square near Arnar Hill.

Lipstic on a majestic statue on Arnar Hill.

View of Harpa from Arnar Hill.

A very peculiar poster indeed.

The entrance to Laugavegur.

Souvenir shop with trolls?

One last coffee break before heading to the airport.

Harpa

Exploring Reykjavik would not be complete without checking out another architectural gem that is Harpa, Reykjavik's concert hall.

Harpa: http://en.harpa.is/harpa
Harpa Guided Tour: http://en.harpa.is/access/harpa-guided-tours
Wikipedia: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Harpa_%28concert_hall%29

I initially wanted to go to one of their guided tours, but unfortunately we couldn't find a slot to accommodate it. Luckily, the building is open to public till midnight, so we decided to swing by on the night after touring the Golden Circle.



Parking was easy at night. There are open parking lots near Harpa. Harpa was beautifully lit at night. I would say it actually looks much better at night. The facade looked like it was made up of lots of hexagonal panels joined together like an elongated beehive. But after some Googling, it appears that it's much more complex than that.

Interview with the designer: http://www.domusweb.it/en/architecture/2011/09/08/eliasson-s-kaleidoscope.html

Too bad the shot was blur. It was really beautifully lit at night.

We casually strolled into the building. It was pretty much empty, except for some folks hanging about the hall entrance on the top floor. My guess was there was some private function in the hall at the time. As such, we didn't check out the inside of the concert hall. Nevertheless, the lobby area was impressive enough. Sporting a gleaming modern look, Harpa definitely contrasts with the other mostly Beaux-Art style concert halls in the States or Europe.

Hexagonal mirror panels as the ceiling. How cool is that.

The uber cool futuristic lighting of the facade up close.

One last shot of the exterior.

Checking out Harpa was a good break from all the usual Iceland touristy stuff. Instead of soaking in the wonders of nature, it was a chance to soak in the beauty of human design and engineering. If you enjoyed Seattle's Public Library when visiting Seattle, then this is a must do.

Laugavegur 

Laugavegur is a popular street in Reykjavik that is lined with retail/souvenir shops, cafes, restaurants and bakeries. It is like the main street of a town in the US. This is where most tourists do their shopping in Reykjavik. One note about souvenir shopping: If you plan to check out Reykjavik's mall, Kringlan, for souvenir shopping, I would say Laugavegur is still the better choice. There really isn't anything special about Kringlan. It's just another mall similar to any mall you would find in the States or anywhere else in the world really. I think Kringlan is more for locals to do their shopping, rather than for tourists. Kringlan is not worth checking out unless you have plenty of time to kill.



Back to Laugavegur, the street is just 2 blocks away from Hallgrímskirkja church, so one can easily walk from there as part of the trip. Otherwise, there are also parking lots on streets parallel to Laugavegur.

Even if you are not into shopping, it's still worth a stroll down the street to get a taste of main street Iceland. There were some interesting murals and shops that caught my eye.

The amazing Chuck Norris Grill!

Interesting wall art

Giant puffin guarding a souvenir shop

Inside a souvenir shop along Laugavegur.