We were checking out today at 11am, so we had an alarm set for 9:30am but an hour earlier I got up because I was hungry. Whilst I was gobbling my skyr an email came through from EasyJet. Our flight had been cancelled!

The message contained a link which I followed to rebook another flight for tomorrow and reserved accomodation in Hotel Keflavik, which was their choice. It was not far from the airport in case a last minute flight could become available. Everything was sorted inside 10 minutes which was a relief.

I gently woke Julie up and explained the situation but not to worry as everything had been taken care of.

At 10am we popped over the road to Kaffibrennslan where we had the same toasties as before. Somehow they tasted even nicer today, more cheese perhaps.

Almost everyone else in the cafe had similar stories to us, cancelled flights, cancelled tours, cancelled everything! That's when we realised we had a reservation for the Blue Lagoon for this afternoon, and buses to get us there and then to the airport. They needed rescheduling!

We returned to our apartment, checked out of our room, and sat in the foyer to use their internet to reschedule everything for tomorrow. There was a distraught family in the foyer, trying to find accomodation for them all. I think there was seven of them, grand-parents, mother and children. They were trying to stay in the same place.

They asked us how we were managing and we explained we were all sorted, having booked a hotel in Keflavik. They tried to be pleasant but it felt as if our perceived smugness was making it worse for them. In that moment I realised that perhaps reaching Keflavik wasn't going to be straightforward. We checked the roads on safetravel.is app and they were still closed!

All of a sudden we were also thrown into the nightmare scenario of not knowing where we were going to stay tonight.

Then followed a frantic few minutes of checking on booking.com where was available, starting with "Room with a view". Our previous apartment was booked, but we were in luck! They had another room free, so I made a reservation and paid for it before anyone else did. I then cancelled Hotel Keflavik, apologising that we were unable to travel.

We breathed a sigh of relief, we had a room for the night, the Blue Lagoon and buses rescheduled before our flight home tomorrow. We could now relax and enjoy our extra bonus day in Reykjavik.

We shuffled down Laugavegur stopping at the Blue Lagoon shop full of spa and beauty products, Julie picked up several of them but put them straight back. They were so expensive. 

Next we came across Flying Tiger, a store we had seen before in Copenhagen. It was like an IKEA for nick-nacks. It was cheap and cheerfull and once inside you had to follow a path through the shop until you reached the exit. We came out with a packet of throat lozengers. Julie was still feeling terrible.

Tired of shuffling around we decided to return to our hotel's foyer and wait for our room to be available. I have to admit I wasn't even convinced they had a room for us despite having a confirmation in my hands. With all flights cancelled the demand for rooms would have been ferocious. Any unscrupulous business would have double booked the room for someone willing to pay twice the price.

It was with enormous relief I heard the receptionist confirm they had received our reservation and it was a lovely bonus to hear that the room was ready for us.

It was on the 5th floor, the same as our other room. It was also a "room with a view" because it had a great view of the Hallgrimskirkja over the colourful corrugated rooftops. Arguably the better view.

The apartment itself was nice. It was one big room with a bed, a sofa and a TV. The kitchen was in the hallway. It wasn't as spacious as the other one but we were just grateful for a room for the night.

We spent a while thinking about what to do this afternoon. The National Museum was an option but it was shut on Mondays. There was plenty more, like the "Whales of Iceland", the "Northern Lights Centre" or the "Fly Over Iceland" attraction.

But in the end we decided to do nothing! Just batten down the hatches and bunker down in our room with a view.

There was a Punk museum, with a collection of artefacts from the mid-seventies to eighties, housed in a former public toilets that sounded interesting but when we walked past it on the way down to gather some supplies, it was closed.

From the 10-11 supermarket we bought some more skyr, bottled water and snacks for the room. It's name confused a little because the 10-11 was open 24/7 not just from 10 to 11.

We then picked up some beer and wine from the off-licence.  

On the way back we noticed (oddly for the first time despite walking this way on several occassions) a bronze statue of a woman carrying two heavy pails of water.

The Vatnsberrin (Water Carrier) by Ásmundur Sveinsson had an interesting past. It was cast in 1937 but despite being comissioned by the city it wasn't received very well. It was ridiculed, called ugly and also questioned why the lowly water-carrier was being celebrated. It was so unloved it remained in the sculptor's garden for years. In 1967 it found a home at the Meteorological Office and in 2011 it finally moved here, where it should have been originally located, at the site of Reykjavik's last working well.   

Looking like a water-carrier ourselves, ladened with heavy shopping bags, we continued up the hill towards our apartment. It was slow progress, the ice rink conditions were still making each step a risk.

When we reached the Bastard pub we realised we hadn't eaten in a while and decided to have a late lunch. I opted for their Skinny Bastard burger which was a very basic portabello mushroom between a burger roll, with fries. Not rocket science but did the job.

Julie went for their cod fillet. She found the bastard fish a little bland and was disappointed there was no potato on the plate, but every other component of the dish, even the rice, was tasty, so it wasn't all bad.

Back in our room we put the TV on and sat up in bed, relaxing for the rest of the day. I lined up my beers, a selection pack of Iceland's finest, Egils Gull, Viking Gylltur, Brio Nr.1, and Einstök Arctic Pale Ale.

We watched some classic British TV, like The Two Ronnies and then the film made from the TV series Porridge.

At 8pm we were getting hungry but Julie didn't want to leave the room, so we thought about a take-away. Our searches came across "the best chip shop" in Reykjavik, so it was decided. I would venture out in the cold to bring back supper.

Thankfully Reykjavik Chips wasn't too far, just a few minutes walk up

I ordered two "Big Classics" the large portion of their classic chips. They had an offer on their dips. With a choice of 15 different sauces it was quite a dilema, eventually going for a spicy aubergine, a regular mayo, and two garlic sauces.

Back in the room they were still warm, and the dips, especially the spicy aubergine were really nice. The fries themselves were disappointing, skin-on fries weren't the classic chip shop chips from where we came from. Also at £18.80 they were bloody expensive! However they were a big portion. Neither of us could finish them. One to share would have been enough. 

Before going to sleep I checked the roads to Keflavik. They were improving but the airport was still inaccessible.