Saturday – August 12, 2017
It was not totally dark last night this close to the Arctic Circle. When I peered out of our door in the middle of the night, there was a dim ribbon of light along the horizon. Dawn is early with full light in the sky by about five o’clock. Our ship, the Rotterdam arrived in Reykjavik early in the morning and tied up at the dock. Here’s my first view of Iceland:
Our stateroom is on the port side of the ship and away from the city, so we had a view of the islands across the harbor from Reykjavik. I expected Iceland to have tall jagged mountains similar to Greenland but the landscape is flatter with smoother mountains. Perhaps that’s one reason why there are more people on Iceland? Soon the morning clouds moved away to reveal a bright blue sky.
I had anticipated a cold biting wind and rain for our visit to Reykjavik but I was very pleasantly surprised by a beautiful crystal clear day with hardly any wind and 55 degree temperatures. The ship was docked almost three miles from the city, so we walked to the terminal building to purchase tickets for a shuttle bus and rode to town. We had read that everything in Iceland was expensive so we weren’t too surprised by the outrageous $22 each fare for the shuttle bus. The bus left us off at the modern impressive Harpa – concert hall – right along the harbor. The word “Harpa” refers to an ancient Icelandic musical instrument.
Volcanic rocks of all sizes and shapes line the shore and, over time, residents have stacked the “lava rocks.” They looked like small guards by the sea. Some resembled smaller versions of rock piles left by Inuits to mark pathways in the snow and ice.
We walked along the shore to the iconic steel sculpture called The Sun Voyager, which resembles a Viking boat. The sculptor was Jon Gunnar Arnason who wanted to pay homage to the early Viking settlers on Iceland. Young tourists were climbing on the silver sculpture and others were posing for pictures and taking selfies.
Jeff suggested we walk up the hill to the famous church, the Hallgrimskirkja, named after the Icelandic poet and clergyman, Hallgrimur Peterson. It is the largest church in Iceland and the highest tower in Reykjavik. We walked up a lovely street called Frakkastigur. The Icelandic language uses some of the same letters of the alphabet as English, however pronouncing the letters is different and saying the words is impossible to get right!
The Hallgrimskirkja church was built on top of the highest hill in Reykjavik and is quite impressive. A statue of Leif Ericsson proudly stands in front of the Lutheran church. There were many tourists but we made our way inside to see the interior which has simply white painted walls without any ornamentation. The view from the top of the tower is supposed to be spectacular, but the long line to buy tickets discouraged us from trying. We left the church and walked back down the hill on Skolavoroustigur street. Lovely shops selling everything Nordic lined both sides of the street.
Trolls and other magical creatures inhabit Iceland; their stories were brought over by Viking explorers. This one is probably the ogre Leppaluoi. His equally ugly wife is Gryla, who stood nearby. We continued down the hill and passed many Nordic souvenir and craft shops.
The street name Laugavegur comes from the hot springs where the women of Reykjavik washed their laundry during the 19th century. A paved road was built to make it easier for the women to carry their laundry back and forth. Today Laugavegur is the main shopping street.
Near the harbor, we found the internationally famous hotdog truck which Jeff had read about. He wanted to try one, so he ordered his “pjodarrett” with everything on it. He said it had a ‘unique’ taste and was very good.
Across the street from the hotdog vendor was the Kolaportid Flea Market – another sight on our visitor list. This was a market for locals and tourists alike because the vendors were selling used clothing & furniture and new t-shirts & souvenirs as well as fresh fish, dried fish, and grocery items.
We walked down to the shore to explore the harbor to see commercial fishing boats and the tourist boats which took people out to see whales.
We had a tasty lunch at a Fish & Chips place on the corner near the harbor. It was a lively shop filled with international tourists taking advantage of free Wifi.
Today was the Annual Gay Pride Day in Reykjavik which was celebrated with a huge colorful parade. The entire city turned out and there was an excited festive atmosphere everywhere. The first Reykjavik Pride parade was held in 1994 and has grown into a week-long festival. All the shops, businesses, and many local people were decorated in rainbow colors to commemorate the hard-earned victory of liberal attitudes and free expression. This was our sixth international Gay Pride Parade. We’ve seen “Rainbow Parades” in Stockholm, Amsterdam, Ottawa, New York City, and Sydney Nova Scotia on this trip. Reykjavik’s parade was a real party with music, dancing, singing, and celebrating.
Eventually we walked back to the new Harpa concert hall to experience the interesting, award-winning architecture. It was designed in cooperation with the artist Olafur Eliasson and opened to the public in 2011. I read that the building project almost didn’t happen because of its extravagant costs during Iceland’s economic downturn. Somehow construction continued, the concert hall was completed and most people are happy with the results. It’s an amazing multi-tiered glass box which looks like green glass on the water front.
When I get home and back to Google, I want to read about the construction of Harpa. The building was amazing! All the exterior walls are multi-thicknesses of glass. Sunlight filters through hexagonal panes and casts unique shadows inside the building. As the light changes throughout the day, the shadows move and change.
Mirrors which were placed on ceilings reflected interesting visual effects. They reminded me of M. C. Escher’s optical illusion drawings.
The Harpa concert hall has many performances running during the day and at night in a variety of spaces. The building is a work of art – inside and out – and fascinating to see.
Wonderful Street Art was everywhere and a joy to look at:
I love the irony of this sign in the window of a shop selling outdoor gear and clothing:
We returned to the ship in the early evening, exhausted from all our walking. We were so lucky to have such a fabulous crystal clear day! The Rotterdam is staying in port so we’re spending the night in Reykjavik. We signed up for an excursion tomorrow and I hope this great summer weather continues.
The ship had turned around and was almost back to the beginning of the channel by about 10:30. Seeing Prince Christian Sound had been an incredible experience.