“Thanks. Love you, Adam.”
“Love you too, Rach. Bye,” he said softly, hanging up before she felt ready.
She lay back on the pillows resting the phone on her chest, feeling homesick, not really for home, but to be with Adam. She let herself wallow for a couple of minutes, then considered that even if she was at home they would most likely not be doing anything out of the ordinary. They probably wouldn’t be spending the evening gazing into each other’s eyes over dinner. She’d most likely be eating alone, wondering what time Adam would get in. That made her smile and snapped her out of her rose-tinted homesick daydream.
In the morning, she decided to venture on a longer walk around the harbour where she hadn’t explored yet. She wanted to see the Harpa close up and walk along the seafront because so far she’d only glimpsed it from the roof windows in her hotel room. She was waiting for Gudrun, the new store manager, to return her call having left a message for her the day before about meeting up. With no work to get on with, Nick had flown back to London so there wasn’t much else she could do for now.
From the hotel, she walked downhill towards the sea and crossed the road so she could walk next to the low sea wall. Across the bay were huge jagged snow-covered mountains which seemed so unlikely a sight this close to the city but they tempted her into wanting to explore the spectacular scenery.
There was a very brisk wind blowing at the seafront, as it was a flat open area and a wide road away from the closely packed buildings of the town which provided, she realised as the cold crept its way through every part of her, a haven from the wind.
In the dusk of the morning, the window lights of the Harpa were still visible but they were static now unlike the amazing, colour changing spectacle she had seen the day she arrived.
The wind was quite fierce so Rachel was grateful for the warmth that hit her as soon as she walked into the building. The foyer was majestic with a wide but shallow staircase that reached up to the very top floor in one never-ending sweep, with numerous landings to pause at on the way up, to enjoy the space and the view towards the town. On the ground floor in front of her, small corridors led the way through the heart of the building with promises of sea views on the other side. Again, the building opened up at the back and full-height windows were giving an amazing view of the sea and sky, making her feel like she was on a boat right over the water. There were plenty of places to sit and enjoy the peace and quiet so she went back to the foyer and bought a coffee, planning to do just that.
“Hello again.”
Rachel looked around and saw Jonas standing there with an armful of leaflets.
“Oh, hi!”
It was funny seeing someone from here who knew her.
“How are you enjoying Reykjavik so far?” He smiled at her, his eyes wrinkling at the corners, looking like he was really pleased to see her.
“Well, this is the first place I’ve been to apart from the hotel and the shop but yes, I love it, it’s beautiful. I can’t wait to see more of it.”
He nodded his head towards his mountain of leaflets.
“Take one of these, I am just delivering them around town, it’s our latest brochure.”
Rachel slid one off the top of his pile. “My boyfriend is coming to visit in a couple of weeks so I might book something. I’ll let you know, thanks.”
Mentioning Adam to Jonas felt odd, for some reason, and left her feeling flustered, so she busily tended to her coffee while she thought of something else to say.
“Do you know a swimming pool here that’s within walking distance?”
“There is a great pool called Laugardalslaug, it’s a twenty-minute walk but you could get the number fourteen bus which stops right outside.”
“I don’t think I’m brave enough to try catching a bus just yet.” she laughed.
“I am going there today to deliver leaflets, why don’t you come so you know how to find it?”
“Oh no, gosh, don’t worry, I’m happy to walk.”
“No, I am going there anyway. What are you doing now?” He was already making as if to leave, full of enthusiasm, eyes wide, clearly keen for her to go with him.
“Nothing really… okay then, thanks, Jonas. Let me at least buy you a coffee to take as well.”
It was hard to judge walking distances when you were in a car, but Jonas’s estimate of twenty minutes seemed plausible and Rachel was pretty sure she would remember how to find it again. Jonas dropped his leaflets off and had a brief chat with the girl at the reception desk.
“We can have a look round if you like?” he said.
They went through a door to the left of the desk, outdoors, onto the poolside which was surrounded by squashy tarmac like you find in children’s playgrounds. There was an Olympic-sized swimming pool, a leisure pool and slide and yet another pool nearest to the door which was steaming with heat and had ledges to sit on; more like a network of deep streams than a pool. This by far had the most people in it, everyone was sitting and chatting.
“Coming here to the pool is a social thing in Iceland, a bit like going to the pub in England,” explained Jonas. “Everyone meets here and sits in the hot pots talking.”
He gestured over towards four sets of railings circling hot tubs which you stepped down and into via a spiral staircase. They each had a sign hung on the outside stating the temperatures, ranging from 36°C to 42°C.
