Hallgrímskirkja: Reykjavik's tallest church
11:00 Arrival in KEF
KEF is about an hour outside of Reykjavik so we bought tickets through FlyBus to shuttle into the city.
15:00 Lunch at Messinn
A cappuccino is always warranted after a day of travel
Messinn was hailed in some reviews as potentially the best restaurant in Reykjavik and to be honest it lived up to the hype. In this first visit to the restaurant we had a shrimp appetizer, bread, and a fish platter.
At first we were worried about the amount of food not being enough for two people, but once the food came it was clear that we had ordered just the right amount. Each fish platter comes served hot directly from the stove, so there are large, wooden pan holders at each table to keep the pan from burning through the table or people. The sauce on the fish was a highlight due to its richness and complexity of flavor.
19:00 Blue Lagoon
Bridge over Blue Lagoon
They say Blue Lagoon is a "must see" attraction in Iceland, and all of the advertising that we saw before we landed in Reykjavik pointed to this reality as well. We accidentally forgot to book tickets early enough in advance, so we got stuck with tickets for a time later than we originally planned (tip for everyone would be that July is a high season for Iceland and everything books up pretty far out in advance).
Despite not having our preferred time slot, everything worked out scheduling wise since we were pretty tired from a day of traveling. After a quick nap between lunch and the Blue Lagoon we were ready to enjoy our evening in the water.