Day 20/21- Exploring Reykjavik

It has been a very fun past 2 days I have spent in Reykjavik, with one more exciting day to come!
Yesterday, I just walked around the city center, exploring and seeing what it has to offer. As small as it is, it is also pretty dense with a variety of things to do. I walked through the main pedestrian street, whose sidewalks are bigger than the street! I then went to the city hall, where they have a free exhibit of photography from Iceland, as well as a to scale 3-D map (topographic) that took 4 years for 4 people to make. Made out of chip board (like the models we make!) it was pretty incredible to see.
After, I went bird watching at the lake right out in front. People feed the birds with bread, and it is amazing to get photos of all the different birds in different positions. They supposedly have up to 50 different species that make this little place their temporary home throughout the year. Some people realized that if they throw the bread in the air, the birds (seagulls I think they are) will fly around waiting to catch it in the air. I took some fantastic photos of this in action.
I then met up with some of the students from the UNESCO school who I met on the day field trip I took with them. We grabbed a bite to eat, walked around the water's edge taking lots of fun photos, and then went to the night clubs. The night life in Reykjavik is pretty nuts. The cafes and restaurants transform into bars beginning around midnight. Since the sun doesn't leave the sky, the main strip was flooded with people all night long. I was pretty impressed, but most of the music is similar (at least the ones we went to)- some old school hip hop, 80s, and 90s songs with a very small selection of music coming out today- all from the US. Kind of funny, but it was great to see all the Icelanders rock out to it. The crowd is very mixed in age. You have to be 20 to drink, so that is the youngest you will see, but even many old timers were rocking it- sometimes they were the ones dancing the most! It was great and a ton of fun.
Today, I woke up late, of course, and decided to buy a 24hr 'tourist card' for 1500 ISK (or about 12 US dollars). This gives you free admission to museums, swimming pools, buses, and discounts in select stores and restaurants. I have already made my money back, and more, and I'm only half way finished :)
I went to two museums, one that just opened due to a recent archaeological excavation that is now the oldest dated home they have found from the Viking period. After, I quickly went to the National Museum, which I need to return to because I only had about 20 minutes there (everything closes at 5PM!) Next, I went souvenir shopping for the fam, where I got a discount and will have a tax refund at the airport which will be nice. I then went to a restaurant where I was entitled to a free dessert. The best part about this, though, was that the dessert costs more than what I paid for the card, ha! That was pretty great, and it was a delicious dessert, although not worth the amount they were asking for..
I capped my night off with a showing of "The Volcano Show". This guy and his father have been following and filming volcanic eruptions in Iceland since about WWII. I watched the 2 hour show, which had a fantastic in depth explanation about each eruption that has occurred . He even showed us footage of the Eyjafjallajokull eruption (yes, I have learned to pronounce this), but is in the works of being cut. He was explaining how all of the active volcanoes are due to erupt at any moment! Too bad I didn't get to see any..When I went to pay for my ticket, he didn't let me. When I insisted because I wanted to support his cause, he said I need help too, haha..it was very very nice of him.
Tomorrow I have created a very jam-packed itinerary for myself since I can pretty much do everything for free until 5 PM tomorrow, and it is my last day. So, I am going to go to the swimming pool, zoo, Videy Island (free ferry with this card), and then whatever museums I can with the left over time. I kind of wish I had an extra day to see more museums- I had no idea there were so many in this little city!

Image 1: Bird Watching near City Hall- a girl having a blast throwing bread in the air and watching the Lesser Black-backed Gull catching it air borne
Image 2: At Reykjavik Bay- Me and some of the UNESCO students
Image 3: The Settlement Exhibition in Reykjavik- the archaeological uncovering of the oldest found artifact, a Viking home, which this exhibition was built around
Image 4: Reykjavik Urbanism- about 10 PM in the evening looking up the street to the church
Image 5: Reykjavik sunset- at the harbor at about 11 PM waiting for the bus- first time I was actually able to see this because I had only experience clouds every evening