For my 60th year on this planet I chose to travel to an international chess tournament. As Nils Grandelius won last year, I chose Reykjavik Open. Not by any stretch of the imagination looking to copy that achievement, I thought it would be fun to at least once have playing abroad. And I’ve never been to Iceland. So Reykjavik it was.
I’ll post my impressions of Reykjavik and the tournament, the town and what of Iceland I see here. First impression – without even been there is that it’s expensive. Mid-class hotel in town was about 16K SEK (1600 USD) with cost-free cancellation and breakfast included for 8 nights. I found cheaper accomodation eventually. Also in town. And closer to the playing venue.
Next was restaurant prices, albeit in the “best of …” categories but 500 SEK (50 USD) for a “Chicken Tika Masala”? Get real … Thankfully I have an apartment for the stay, so am not dependent on restaurants.
I’ve been following the volcano activity around Grindavik (not all that far from Reykjavik (about 30km) and it’s active, that might be interesting. A friend suggested going to the “Blue lagoon” which unfortunately is on the Reykjanes peninsula which is seismic active – so it’s closed off at the moment. But the tournament directors have a mini-Golden Circle tour I’m taking, that will be interesting – getting out of town and seeing some of the natural sites of the south-west.
Thursday morning I’m off – more reports from the island …