A friend had heard you could get tours of the Althing (parliament), and so one morning during our visit we went in search of it. But we got turned around and decided we should ask directions somewhere. We spotted a slightly open door on what appeared to be an official building, and we popped our heads in. We were greeted by a small camera crew filming an older man behind the desk. They were puzzled but polite and allowed us to explain ourselves. The man behind the desk chuckled and said something along the lines of "I'm too busy now to show you, but if you just walk across the street…."
We learned later than this man was the President of Iceland!
We did eventually find the Althing, only to discover that the tours were for groups only. However, my companion explained how much she was looking forward to it, which resulted in us being offered a private tour the next day. Unfortunately, she couldn't' make it; so the next afternoon I went alone and got to hear about the history of the Althing, view the various chambers, sit at a parliamentarian's desk, and have tea in the lunchroom. I was floored by how kind and generous everyone was.
On the other hand, though, they still have a large whale processing plant outside Reykjavik, and just about anyone I got into an in-depth conversation with eventually got round to telling me how the Romanians were "ruining everything."
Ah well….
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