Reykjavik Cityscapes

We thought the day before was chill but the wind today was even stronger, making it downright cold.  Note to self, gauze shirts are not as warm for layering as flannel shirts!  The temperature with the windchill hovered around freezing or below all day so I became the designated photographer who would happily jump out of the van, take photos, then air drop them to everyone else in the car.  You have to love the technology of airdrop.

I bet you think I'm turning into an art connoisseur and I'm really not, but we ended up first thing at another sculpture park that morning.  It was similar to the one in Oslo in that the sculptor, Asmundur Sveinsson requested some land and a house so he could create, although not to the scale of the Vigeland's works.  Sveinsson also has works in various other spots throughout the city.  The one on the left is called "The Worker"., makes total sense  I had thought the one on the right would either be "Falling Apart", "Keeping it Together" or "Hanging On By a Thread" but it's actually called "Tones of the Sea".  You can decide what you like best. 

These two pieces were beyond me in trying to guess, they both looked like wrestling matches.  On the left is "The Whole World" and on the right is "Sorceress".  If you can help me understand why they're called that feel free to let me know.

We then drove by the most fortified building in the country, the U.S. Embassy.

While there weren't any military outside I've no doubt if we'd gotten out of the car and started up the stairs someone would have come out.

Iceland, though a part of NATO, does not have any military, just Coast Guard.  They contribute in other ways to NATO other than troops.

You find these throughout the city.  They are structures that cover the boreholes for hot water that much of the city is heated with.  Pipes either run through the floor of a home or they have radiators.

This relatively simple looking building is the Hofdi House, a structure that was originally imported from Norway for the French consul in Iceland around 1909.   Here is the place where Ronald Reagan and Mikhail Gorbachev met in 1986 to open discussions on various subjects which basically became the beginning of the end of the Cold War.  Today the interior is closed, only used for official city social functions.

Here at the back of the house, on the second floor, is the room where the two presidents met.

Not far away is a piece of the Berlin Wall, which now looks like a piece of street art.

We also drove past the house of the Primer Minister of Iceland.  Here they have both a President and a Prime Minister.  The latter is appointed by the President and has executive authority subject to parliamentary support.

One of the beloved sights in Reykjavik is the Sun Voyager, a steel sculpture on the waterfront that resembles a Viking longboat.  It ooks different depending on the weather and light.   

The sculpture was built to commemorate the 200th anniversary of the city and the inspiration behind it is that it’s a “dream boat”, to dream of progress, hope and freedom, lovely sentiments.

This was one of the spots where I jumped out to take photos for the group so I took a quick selfie as well.  You can see how the wind was blowing my hair every which way.

To me, the most beautiful building in the city is the Harpa, the music hall.

The structure is made of glass that changes color in different light and reflects the Icelandic landscape, sea and sky. 

Outside is another Sveinsson sculpture called "The Musician".  This one I get, no problem.

We all went in to get a look at the beautiful interior of the Harpa.  The glass cubes are lovely and truly unique.  The black colors of the building represent the ubiquitous lava rock, the clear are like the ice, and the yellow bits stand for the sun.  You see those colors repeated in other buildings in Reykjavik.

When you look closely you can see bits of other colors in the glass as well.  This slim red piece reminds me of the recent lava fissure.

You can see more of the colors in the photo of Karl and I.

Behind the Harpa is a small harbor.  We couldn't imagine living on any of those sailboats as it appeared some people did.

On the left are what were once the most expensive condos in Iceland, overlooking the water.  To the right is a sculpture of ingólfur Amarson, the founder of the first permanent settlement in Iceland. According to the Icelandic legends he found his way there in 874 from Norway.  There are records that Irish Monks inhabited the island even before the Norsemen but didn't stay.  The name Reykjavik means “smokey bay”, one that was inspired by the steam rising from the local hot springs. 

Behind these preparations for a local holiday sits the oldest house in Reykjavik, one that now houses offices of some of the nation's ministers.

In years past the city was known for being a place ships could come for dry dock for repairs.

Outside of town stands one of the 104 lighthouses on the island.

Nearby is another of the thermal boreholes, and a small wooden building.  There used to be a lot of the latter around the city, these were used for drying fish but stand empty today.  However, cod fishing is still a prosperous industry in Iceland.

The Halimgrimskirkja (HAHTL-greems-KEER-kyah), is the church that's the most recognizable building in the city, designed to be reminiscent of the island’s volcanic origins with an interior that is supposed to resemble an ice cave, and named after a 17th century Icelandic poet who wrote a series of fifty hymns about the Passion of Christ.  

A statue of Leif Erikson, who was born in Iceland, stands in front of the church.  After later being banished to Greenland, many believe he later went on to discover North America, hundreds of years before Columbus arrived.  Bjorn said Columbus had better PR.

I'd lost Karl and was going to take a selfie when Amy jumped in the photo with me.  You can see how bundled up she is!  That wind!

While Halimgrimskirkja was designed in the 1930’s construction didn’t begin until 1945 and it wasn’t completed until 1986.  There are almost daily concerts performed on the 5,275-pipe organ and we were able to listen for a bit.  

The bell tower has the premier view in town and best of all you only have to climb 33 steps after you take the elevator up its 250 feet to see it.   We decided we'd go up after taking a look inside.

A lovely but simple door was at the inner entry, with many of the organ's pipes just above the sanctuary entrance.

Absolutely nothing ornate in this church but impressive nonetheless.

Views of the city

can be seen from all four 

compass points.

If you look closely to the center right here you can see the wall of smoke/steam that is coming of the eruption of the magma fissure that was still going on out near The Blue Lagoon.

The sides of the church were reminiscent of the basalt columns we'd seen in the gorges the day before.

The elevator takes you to the level of the clocks, there is one on each side of the tower, then you climb the stairs to the level where the windows are and the wind whistles through.

We had to smile when Bjorn told us this building is where Iceland keeps its clowns, the Parliament building.  There are 63 members of Parliament, which would be the equivalent of 6000 members of the House and Senate in the U.S.  Can you imagine what a crazy mess that would be at home?!

When it was time for lunch we went for hot dogs at the most well know stand in the city.  Bæjarins Berztu Pylsur, serving what is a mix of beef/pork/lamb dogs since 1937.  We only felt slightly insane standing out in the cold in line for 20 minutes just to get a hot dog.  It would have gone much quicker if the guy there at the front of the line hadn't ordered 21 hot dogs.  We kept wondering if he were ever going to stop stuffing them into his backpack.

See what I mean, crazy people!

Even the little birds hopping around wondered why we were there.

When it was finally our turn we ordered ours with everything, which mean two kinds of mustard on top with raw and crispy fried onions below.  We did learn that hot dogs really are one of the Icelander's favorite foods so we were eating something traditional.

And they were delicious!  Karl ordered two and I'm sure I could have eaten more than one.  If anyone is reminded of JDawgs by the photos of the little shop above, so were we.  There are several more of them in Reykjavik but this one is the original.

Our last stop of the day was the most unique in my book.  Out in front was this small church, not the interesting part of the stop but nice.

Next to the church was an open gate and on the side of one of the posts where you couldn't really see it, were instructions about where you could and could not go on this property.

And why you ask, would anyone care?  Because behind me is the home of the President of Iceland.  She was just recently elected in June and took office on August 1.  This is my favorite photo of the day because I feel like it says a lot about this marvelous country.  Where else could you take a photo a few dozen yards from a president's home and no one cares, no security comes out to shoo you away, there's no show of force except for the one police car over there to the left.  It was an amazing feeling to stand there and have Bjorn take my photo.  I asked him later what he hoped for his country in the future and he told me that was a big question.  It was, but he gave me a wonderful answer, he hoped that Iceland would continue to be a land of peace.  I certainly hope so as well.  This country was a hard one to leave, because despite the icy cold temps, the fiery warmth of its people more than made up for it.  Someday Iceland, I'd love to return!