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| Iceland has always been on our list of destinations. It worked out on this trip that we were flying Icelandair, the national airline of Iceland. It is encouraged to stop and spend some time (and money) in Iceland. The main hub for Icelandair is Reykjavik. So, we took advantage of being able to stay for up to 7 days as a "lay over" and planned 3 days into our trip. |
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| I found the Salvation Army guesthouse on-line and it appeared to be in the middle of town near some of the items we wanted to see and was one of the drop off - pick-up points for the shuttle vans from the airports and the tour companies. Nice and clean building with a nice room, restrooms down the hall and a nice small breakfast. We found the prices of Iceland to be exactly like what we would pay in Alaska. Much cheaper than Norway and more expensive than the lower 48 states. |
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| Neat little fountain in the square near our guesthouse. |
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| Large 4-wheel trucks were running about in Reykjavik. Off road riding is one of the main activities around here! On our next trip we will book one of these excursions! |
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| A nice harbor area with a few large ships - several for regulating fishing. We didn't see many small personal vessels and speculated that perhaps the weather is so extreme on the water that sailing/motor boats aren't popular here. |
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| Reykjavik 871 +/- 2 turned out to be directly across the street from the Salvation Army guesthouse. Reykjavík 871±2 is an exhibition on the settlement of Reykjavík, Iceland, created by the Reykjavik City Museum. The exhibition is based on the archaeological excavation of the ruin of one of the first houses in Iceland and findings from other excavations in the city centre. The exhibition is located in Reykjavík old centre, on the corner of Aðalstræti and Suðurgata. The exhibition is based on scholars' theories on what the heritage sites in central Reykjavík reveal about the life and work of the first settlers. The focus of the exhibition is the remains of a hall from the Settlement Age which was excavated in 2001. The hall was inhabited from c. 930–1000. North of the hall are two pieces of turf, remnants of a wall which was clearly built before 871±2, hence the name of the exhibition. Such precise data dating is possible because a major volcanic eruption from the Torfajökull area spread tephra across the region and this can be dated via glacial ice in Greenland. The hall is among the oldest human-made structures so far found in Iceland. Also on display are objects from the Viking Age found in central Reykjavík and the island of Viðey. Various methods are employed to explain and interpret the remains of the building. These include creating a three-dimensional image of how the hall may have looked. Building techniques are also explained. On the multimedia table is a large model of the hall, with information on the archaeologists' research findings and methods, the hall as it was, and the life and work that went on there. Two touch-screens give information about cultural affinities between different North Atlantic nations, in addition to the Vikings' expansion and how they settled new countries. |
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| 66* North is the Iceland outdoor clothing line. Nice stuff.....but, expensive!! |
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| This sports store was fun in that it had a slide from the ground floor to the lower level. |
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Hallgrímskirkja (Lutheran church), Reykjavík, Iceland.The Hallgrímskirkja, church of Hallgrímur) is a Lutheran (Church of Iceland) parish church in Reykjavík, Iceland. At 74.5 metres (244 ft), it is the largest church in Iceland and the sixth tallest architectural structure in Iceland after Longwave radio mast Hellissandur, the radio masts of US Navy at Grindavík, Eiðar longwave transmitter and Smáratorg tower. The church is named after the Icelandic poet and clergyman Hallgrímur Pétursson (1614 to 1674), author of the Passion Hymns. State Architect Guðjón Samúelsson's design of the church was commissioned in 1937. He is said to have designed it to resemble the basalt lava flows of Iceland's landscape. It took 38 years to build the church. Construction work began in 1945 and ended in 1986, the landmark tower being completed long before the church's actual completion. The crypt beneath the choir was consecrated in 1948, the steeple and wings were completed in 1974. The nave was consecrated in 1986. Situated in the centre of Reykjavík, it is one of the city's best-known landmarks and is visible throughout the city. It is similar in style to the expressionist architecture of Grundtvig's Church of Copenhagen, Denmark, completed in 1926. The church houses a large pipe organ by the German organ builder Johannes Klais of Bonn. It has mechanical action, four manuals and pedal, 102 ranks, 72 stops and 5275 pipes. It is 15 metres tall and weighs 25 tons. Its construction was finished in December 1992. It has been recorded by Christopher Herrick in his Organ Fireworks VII CD. |
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| The statue of explorer Leif Eriksson (1929–32) by Alexander Stirling Calder in front of the church predates its construction. It was a gift from the United States in honor of the 1930 Alþingi Millennial Festival, commemorating the 1000th anniversary of Iceland's parliament at Þingvellir in 930 AD. |
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| The church is also used as an observation tower. An observer can take a lift up to the viewing deck and view Reykjavik and the surrounding mountains. |
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| We thought this was pretty neat. A pay toilet near the church grounds - cute! |
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| Cute little corner market. |
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| After Norway, Doug felt the need to move and pile all the rocks that he could find! |
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| Harpa is a concert hall and conference centre in Reykjavík, Iceland. The opening concert was held on May 4, 2011. Harpa was designed by the Danish firm Henning Larsen Architects in co-operation with Danish-Icelandic artist Olafur Eliasson. The structure consists of a steel framework clad with irregularly-shaped glass panels of different colours. The building was originally part of a redevelopment of the Austurhöfn area dubbed World Trade Center Reykjavík, which was partially abandoned when the financial crisis took hold. The development was intended to include a 400-room hotel, luxury apartments, retail units, restaurants, a car park and the new headquarters of Icelandic bank Landsbanki. The completion of the structure was uncertain until the government decided in 2008 to fully fund the rest of the construction costs for the half-built concert hall. The building was given its name on the Day of Icelandic Music on 11 December 2009, prior to which it was called The Reykjavík Concert Hall and Conference Centre. The building is the first purpose-built concert hall in Reykjavík. It houses the Iceland Symphony Orchestra and The Icelandic Opera. |
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| A fabulous building! |
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| And for dinner.....Mexican! And it was good! |
