Wild like Steve Trout

You're a malt extrakt.

How could I forget one other gem from our driver? Upon approaching an establishment at which we could consume food and beverage, he says:

"The speciality of this restaurant is the meat soup. It is lamb, vegetables -- and something else I don't know."

The hard sell. He wasn't as excited about the soup as he was about MEGA EARTHQUAKE SIMULATOR 2012 RUN FOR YOUR LIFE MACHINE!

So the original plan was to get back after the tour, chill for an hour or so and then get back on a bus to the Blue Lagoon geothermal hot spring spa place thingy. But I was spent (I'm strong against the Euro), so I reskedded that for the next day. 

Instead I headed back to a tourist office and asked where I could sample the local cuisine. The rep asked if I wanted "normal" Icelandic fare or the weird stuff.

Yes.

Icelandic Bar has shark, puffin, whale ...

Loki has more traditional (mainly) seafood dishes.

Seafood. Foreign food. (it's an old mock of my prior food preferences -- which apparently still come out now and then.)

I go to Icelandic Bar, bartender says I can sit anywhere. I do.  I wait a few minutes before he brings me a menu, but he says I can't eat. 

Eh?

"OK, so yes to drinks, but no food."

"Yes, no food."

Maybe I'm not strong against the Icelandic Krona.

So I leave and head up to Loki, which is across from the church with the tower and the statue and the view. Loki -- as in Norse god. Hulk don't like Loki.

It's a nice, inviting space. The menu has some safe choices and some more interesting ones (was even more interesting before I swapped the Icelandic menu for an English one). I try to split the difference and order a platter that consists of some traditionally prepared trout, their homemade rye ice cream, and salad. Yes, shark is on the menu. I'm tempted, even though everyone says it's awful. Sharks don't have livers, apparently, so thar be poison in that meat. It's cured out, partly, but ammonia is released with each bite. Yum.

Anyway, the food comes. The salad is, well, a salad. Just fine. The trout... well, I need to forgive the driver for not knowing how to explain the meat soup (which this place also had), as I really had no idea what the hell I was eating.

Imagine a large/tall slice of cheesecake. But instead of cheesecake, it's minced/ground up trout with some grains and veggies mixed in -- along with some other stuff I couldn't identify.

Awful.

Once here stood a house. Dadgum geyser done gone blow'd it up.

But I kept trying it, trying to appreciate each bite and enjoy the experience.

Still awful.

So it probably tastes great to people who, well, think it tastes great. Just so happens I am not one of them. I manage my way through about two-thirds of it. Solid effort.

I probably would have finished it if they weren't out of Diet Coke. Instead they suggested a malt cola. Brewed like a beer, but it ain't beer. Sort of caramel-y and thick -- interesting taste. But way too malty. And not ideal for washing down disgusting trout cake. 

Did I mention I enjoyed the salad?

I finished maybe two-thirds of the drink, if that. Mediocre effort.

The rye ice cream? Odd/interesting -- and deeeeeeelish. I finished roughly three-thirds of it. Tough meal, strong finish, glad I tried it.

Bummed around city center after that, hit a cafe -- that's about it. Feeling much better, save for the recurring cough. 

Oh, earlier I said the city wasn't very urban. It's not. Just reinforcing the point.

Actually, there are some areas that are a bit more congested, that have more of a crammed/lots of buildings and businesses/tons of apartments feel. But still not overwhelming -- though city center still nicer and more quaint, but fun.

Losing track of time a little -- which is nice. Forgot to set fantasy lineups (oh well -- still might win one matchup), paid no attention to World Series (maybe that would have been different if Yanks had made it -- and good for Giants, I guess) or to sports world in general, will miss fantasy basketball draft today (it's Monday -- the stuff in this blog entry happened Friday), which I don't really care about anyway. Will also miss MEGA NORTHEAST STORM 2012 RUN FOR YOUR LIFE meteorological event. Seriously, hope everyone will be OK up there.

Chomp.

Trying to pay attention to presidential and congressional races, but otherwise I've been pretty disconnected. Well, OK, except for being on my iPad and iPhone all the time, taking advantage of free wifi. But even most of those efforts are put toward trip/sightseeing/activity planning -- and writing this blog.

And Plants vs. Zombies. One can't be lax in the war against the undead. 

Point is, sometimes my brain is filled with all the purple nonsense, but sometimes it's not filled with anything! I enjoy the latter. This trip very much is helping with that.

Plus, maybe an empty brain will mean the zombies leave me alone. Or perhaps try to recruit me.