dregs of Iceland

Sunday we decided to lay low and just visit around town. We got a late start (up real late the night before) and started with about a 3 mile walk to “Perlan,” the pearl. This is a dome built atop 6 large hot water tanks on a hill overlooking downtown. The dome has four floors with an observation deck and restaurant. In one of the tanks is the Saga Museum in which the history of the saga era in Iceland is told. Each of the figures in the museum is literally molded on a citizen of Reykjavik, so you may see the actual person walking around town. They tried to get descendants of the historical figure to model for the figure…interesting. Then we walked another 3 miles or so to watch The Volcano Show which is presented by an individual filmographer who has been filming volcanoes in Iceland for over 40 years. The film showed islands forming offshore, villages being buried in ash, spectacular “fissure” volcanoes that shot volcano fountains hundreds of feet in the air over 10-15 kilometer lines…impressive. After a short nap, we headed out to dinner at the “Fish Company” where I had what must be the best salmon dish I’ve ever tasted. The salmon was crusted in crushed cashews and smothered in a miso sauce with anise seed, salvia, and ginger. Then it was baked, but probably in a pan of water as it was still very moist. Then it was served over steamed shitake mushrooms and bok choy leaves. Surrounding it on the plate were small samplings of three variations of corn: pureed steamed corn, corn Salsa, and popcorn. There was also mango sorbet with a scattering of crushed cashews on top. A marvelous presentation and fantastic taste! Off to bed and an early plane to Manchester in the morning.