Bæjarins Beztu Pylsur
Back in Reykjavík, with our adventure winding down, we spend time pursuing the downtown shops and scouting tattoo parlor options for our commemorative Icelandic tattoo. We decide on Street Rats Tattoo, conveniently a minute’s walk from our capsule hotel, but before our walk-in appointment we go for a pair of pylsur (hot dogs) at Bæjarins Beztu Pylsur. The Reykjavík location of this hot dog stand is Iceland’s oldest, founded in 1937. We ordered all of the available toppings on our dogs including fresh diced onions, crispy fried onions, apple based ketchup, sweet brown mustard, and a remoulade with capers and pickles. We noshed happily in the rain and once finished, headed to the tattoo shop.
Street Rats Tattoo
At Street Rats, our artist Óli presents his spin on our idea to get the Icelandic word for “honeymoon” tattooed in a gothic font. Instead of the traditional word for honeymoon, brúðkaupsferð, or “wedding journey”, he suggests we do a play on words and combine “hunang” (honey) with “máni” (moon) to create “hunangsmáni” (honeymoon). We are immediately infatuated with the idea, and after choosing from an assortment of gothic fonts, Óli gets to work inking us up.
In the photo above, you can see Vim’s finished tattoo below a scab from when they rammed their knee into a volcanic rock while wading in a geothermal pool- another tattoo of sorts.
Click on the black arrow to hear a recording of Óli pronouncing “hunangsmáni”, so we can remember (accurately) forever.