Note: This post (Open Air Museum – Day 6) is from my daily journal on our DIY European vacation. You can find an overview of the trip here with links to all the published days. As such, am publishing each day consecutively so follow along and enjoy!

SELF-SERVICE BREAKFAST

After our breakfast fiasco yesterday we opted for a self-service meal consisting of cereal, milk, and coffee. It was much cheaper than the $17 per person meal we had yesterday.

OPEN AIR MUSEUM (family fun)

The Open Air Museum is packed with history and is a lot of fun. It was established on an old turn of the century farm, whose buildings were the basis for the museum. Over time, other buildings of historical significance were relocated from across Iceland to this location, creating a small town-like setting. Each building is filled with exhibits so you could spend all day here if you wanted to. We spent about a half day here, but we also had good weather. You will be walking outside between the buildings so be aware if the weather is bad when you visit.

The museum staff brought out activities for the kids to do, and we participated in some of them also. We had fun playing on the see-saws, playing with the kid’s stilts and with the go-carts. Stephen pushed Kaylee around the square in the go-cart which she enjoyed.

The stilts were challenging, but Stephen and Kirsten seemed to do pretty well.

ARBAER HOMESTEAD

The Open Air Museum, located on the Arbaer Homestead, has original buildings on the property. People stopped in here on their travels to and from Reykjavik.  This farm has been here for hundreds of years although the current buildings were aren’t near that old.

I appreciated seeing the sod and rock construction and the furnishings of the house and smithy as well as the church, which relocated to the property from up north.

CAR SHOW

One of the unexpected pleasures of this place was the small car show they had that included a 1965 Mustang fastback, a 427 Camaro, and a 67 Bronco. Very cool!

PHALLOLOGICAL MUSEUM

Did someone say penis museum? While we did not go through it we had to take some photos and get a souvenir from the Phallological Museum. It is supposed to be pretty good but it felt more like a curiosity to me.

SHOPPING ON LAUGAVEGUR STREET

As much as I wanted to keep seeing nature stuff, the rest of the family had enough of waterfalls, so we decided to take the day in Reykjavik and do some street walking/shopping. So we headed down Laugavegur Street, which leads downhill from the cathedral.

A few blocks down from Hallgrimskirkja, Laugavegur Street becomes a lot more fun with more exciting places to see.

JOYLATO FOR VITAMIN G

We found Joylato while shopping and went in for some “vitamin G” (for gelato) and a crepe.

Joylato is a fun little hole in the wall place set almost below street level. You have to walk down steps to enter the business. Once inside it opens up into a bright and fun shop where you can watch them assemble your crepes and browse their ice cream flavors.

The folks at Joylato were friendly and engaging. We enjoyed watching them and the aromas of the shop!

The kids got gelato and Steph, and I split the Forest Fruit crepe with strawberries. It was awesome! After eating we continued down the street looking for more shops to explore.

WORLD CUP GAME

While walking down Laugavegur Street, Stephen spotted an outdoor bar playing the World Cup game between Croatia and Denmark. We were visiting many of the countries that were playing in the World Cup so it was fun to follow the progress. Stephen did not want to go shopping so we left him at the bar to watch the game with the rest of the crowd. In this case, Russia beat Spain in PKs in overtime.

SHOP ICELANDIC

The rest of us continued shopping and found the Shop Icelandic store. So we decided to go in and buy some souvenirs.

SEABARON RESTAURANT

All that shopping made us hungry. We asked some locals for recommendations on a restaurant that the locals frequented. They recommended the Seabaron for seafood so we decided to try it.

When you enter, there is a small eating area in front of the counter and a case that has fresh seafood in it. We worried there was no additional seating, but we followed an employee back to a large seating area behind the counter that sat a hundred or so people! After looking over the menu, we ordered grilled scallops, shrimp, lobster, and a whale steak (the blue plate below). We were apprehensive about trying the whale, but it wasn’t bad. It was chewy and was a lot like steak.

HARPA CONCERT HALL

After dinner, we drove down to the Harpa Concert Hall to walk around enjoy the architecture. It is a large building with several venues inside for different types and sizes of performances. When you visit Iceland you should see what performances are happening during your stay. Their website has an upcoming event schedule.

SUN VOYAGER

Finally, on our way back to our apartment, we decided to swing by to see the Sun Voyager sculpture. The artwork sits between the road and the water. So if you go to visit, take the turnout near the sculpture, where you can stop and take pictures.

ICELANDIC APARTMENTS

After a long day of shopping and walking it was good to get back to our apartment. We stayed once again in the Icelandic Apartments, and this time, we were in 207, which was a corner room and very spacious. I would highly recommend this place!

Day 5 – Iceland’s South Coast
Day 7 – The Blue Lagoon

LESSONS FROM THE DAY

1. Plan a half day for the Open Air Museum – There are lots of things to see and read. Give it time to browse and enjoy it.
2. If you have several days be flexible in your agenda – Watch the weather and fit the Open Air Museum in when the weather is best.
3. Make sure you take your “Vitamin G”! – Everyone loves Ice cream or gelati. Pause during your trip to enjoy it.