Buses in Reykjavik

Sheila has been wanting to visit the open-air museum Árbær (OUR-byer)...a collection of old buildings assembled from around Iceland.  But, without a car, this required dealing with the local bus system.  Bus timetables are hard enough to read in one's native language...attempting it in Icelandic is  a real headache.

There is a map of the system, which doesn't show any streets for reference.  Looks more like a subway map, with different routes in different colors.  The corresponding street map on the other side of the paper doesn't cover quite the same distance.  The bus company website lets you track your chosen route in real time...if you know what route you want, you can see where the buses are at any given moment.  IF you know what route you want....  Or, you can bring up the schedule for any given route....but again, you have to know which of some 40 routes you want.  And even when you email the location, and they tell you which buses go there, the timetable looks like this:


So,,,you want the #5 from Hlemmur, going toward Árbær,  What time does it leave?  Go ahead....I'll wait......

We finally figured out that the numbers are Minutes Past the Hour....so the #5 leaves Hlemmur at, say, 11:15, 11:45, 12:15, and so on.  And the last column is elapsed times...both directions.

OK, we know where to get the bus, and when it leaves.  We either need exact change (not the amount our hostess thought....) or we need to find somewhere to buy tickets....which is NOT at the bus station!!!  We went there, walked halfway back to where we started, looking for either an ATM to get more cash, or a Tourist Bureau.  Finally found the latter, where we learned that you could buy them at the convenience store across the street from the bus station.  They were 440 ISK each, about $4.40. Not a bad price....but the smallest tickets we've ever seen! This is 2 tickets....




So, teeny-tiny tickets in hand, we arrived at the bus station 5 minutes too late.  Waited.  Got on the bus.  Got off the bus (after consulting with the driver) in what looked like a vacant lot.  Looked at the driver.  He waved us toward a housing development....at the end of which there was a paved pathway that eventually got us to our goal.

The buildings were mostly representative of Reykjavik in the 18- and 1900s.  We had hoped for something earlier, as the farm has been in existence since the 1500s, but it was what it was.  There were a few docents dressed in period costume, but they were mostly taken up with about 9 million school children overrunning the place.  Luckily, it was a lovely day to be outdoors...a bit chilly in the wind, but quite warm in a sheltered sunny spot.  And there were critters to watch, and kids playing with go-kart sorts of things, of the "I'll push, you steer" variety.  The obscure brown item below is a carved wooden box.

 

 

 


Then, of course, we had to get back to the city...on a different bus, involving a transfer....but we managed (good thing the drivers are friendly and informative!).




There was a mix-up about our reservation at Eric the Red, so we're spending the night in an apartment owned by Edda and Runar, which was conveniently empty tonight.  But sadly, Raggi didn't come with us....maybe we'll see him at breakfast tomorrow.



While wandering around trying to get on the bus, we came across this wall of a clothing store, and Sheila had to have a pic of it:



That's it for our last full day in Reykjavik.  Tomorrow we're off to Sweden!