{"id":12091,"date":"2017-08-12T08:45:12","date_gmt":"2017-08-12T12:45:12","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/gallivantinggrandma.com\/?p=12091"},"modified":"2017-09-10T17:06:19","modified_gmt":"2017-09-10T21:06:19","slug":"reykjavik-iceland","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/gallivantinggrandma.com\/?p=12091","title":{"rendered":"Reykjavik, Iceland"},"content":{"rendered":"

Saturday – August 12, 2017\u00a0<\/p>\n

It was not totally dark last night this close to the Arctic Circle. \u00a0When I peered out of our door in the middle of the night, there was a dim ribbon of light along the horizon. \u00a0Dawn is early with full light in the sky by about five o\u2019clock. \u00a0Our ship, the Rotterdam arrived in Reykjavik early in the morning and tied up at the dock. \u00a0Here\u2019s my first view of Iceland:<\/p>\n

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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. \u00a0I expected Iceland to have tall jagged mountains similar to Greenland but the landscape is flatter with smoother mountains. \u00a0Perhaps that\u2019s one reason why there are more people on Iceland? \u00a0 Soon the morning clouds moved away to reveal a bright blue sky.<\/p>\n

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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. \u00a0The 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. \u00a0We had read that everything in Iceland was expensive so we weren\u2019t too surprised by the outrageous $22 each fare for the shuttle bus. \u00a0The bus left us off at the modern impressive Harpa – concert hall – right along the harbor. \u00a0The word \u201cHarpa\u201d refers to an ancient Icelandic musical instrument.<\/p>\n

Volcanic rocks of all sizes and shapes line the shore and, over time, residents have stacked the “lava rocks.\u201d \u00a0They looked like small guards by the sea. \u00a0Some resembled smaller versions of rock piles left by Inuits to mark pathways in the snow and ice. \u00a0<\/p>\n

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We walked along the shore to the iconic steel sculpture called The Sun Voyager, which resembles a Viking boat. \u00a0The sculptor was Jon Gunnar Arnason who wanted to pay homage to the early Viking settlers on Iceland. \u00a0Young tourists were climbing on the silver sculpture and others were posing for pictures and taking selfies. \u00a0<\/p>\n

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Jeff suggested we walk up the hill to the famous church, the Hallgrimskirkja, named after the Icelandic poet and clergyman, Hallgrimur Peterson. \u00a0It is the largest church in Iceland and the highest tower in Reykjavik. \u00a0 \u00a0We walked up a lovely street called Frakkastigur. \u00a0The 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!<\/p>\n

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The Hallgrimskirkja church was built on top of the highest hill in Reykjavik and is quite impressive. \u00a0A statue of Leif Ericsson proudly stands in front of the Lutheran church. \u00a0There were many tourists but we made our way inside to see the interior which has simply white painted walls without any ornamentation. \u00a0The view from the top of the tower is supposed to be spectacular, but the long line to buy tickets discouraged us from trying. \u00a0We left the church and walked back down the hill on Skolavoroustigur street. \u00a0Lovely shops selling everything Nordic lined both sides of the street.<\/p>\n

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Trolls and other magical creatures inhabit Iceland; their stories were brought over by Viking explorers. \u00a0This one is probably the ogre Leppaluoi. \u00a0His equally ugly wife is Gryla, who stood nearby. \u00a0We continued down the hill and passed many Nordic souvenir and craft shops. \u00a0<\/p>\n

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The street name Laugavegur comes from the hot springs where the women of Reykjavik washed their laundry during the 19th century. \u00a0A paved road was built to make it easier for the women to carry their laundry back and forth. \u00a0Today Laugavegur is the main shopping street.\u00a0<\/p>\n

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Near the harbor, we found the internationally famous hotdog truck which Jeff had read about. \u00a0He wanted to try one, so he ordered his \u201cpjodarrett” with everything on it. \u00a0He said it had a ‘unique’ taste and was very good.<\/p>\n

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Across the street from the hotdog vendor was the Kolaportid Flea Market – another sight on our visitor list. \u00a0This 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.<\/p>\n

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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. \u00a0<\/p>\n

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We had a tasty lunch at a Fish & Chips place on the corner near the harbor. \u00a0It was a lively shop filled with international tourists taking advantage of free Wifi.<\/p>\n

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Today was the Annual Gay Pride Day in Reykjavik which was celebrated with a huge colorful parade. \u00a0The entire city turned out and there was an excited festive atmosphere everywhere. \u00a0The first Reykjavik Pride parade was held in 1994 and has grown into a week-long festival. \u00a0All the shops, businesses, and many local people were decorated in rainbow colors to commemorate the hard-earned victory of liberal attitudes and free expression. \u00a0This was our sixth international Gay Pride Parade. \u00a0We\u2019ve seen \u201cRainbow Parades\u201d in Stockholm, Amsterdam, Ottawa, New York City, and Sydney Nova Scotia on this trip. \u00a0Reykjavik\u2019s parade was a real party with music, dancing, singing, and celebrating.\u00a0<\/p>\n

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Eventually we walked back to the new Harpa concert hall to experience the interesting, award-winning architecture. \u00a0It was designed in cooperation with the artist Olafur Eliasson and opened to the public in 2011. \u00a0I read that the building project almost didn\u2019t happen because of its extravagant costs during Iceland\u2019s economic downturn. \u00a0Somehow construction continued, the concert hall was completed and most people are happy with the results. \u00a0It\u2019s an amazing multi-tiered glass box which looks like green glass on the water front.<\/p>\n

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When I get home and back to Google, I want to read about the construction of Harpa. \u00a0The building was amazing! \u00a0All the exterior walls are multi-thicknesses of glass. \u00a0Sunlight filters through hexagonal panes and casts unique shadows inside the building. \u00a0As the light changes throughout the day, the shadows move and change. \u00a0<\/p>\n

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\u00a0Mirrors which were placed on ceilings reflected interesting visual effects. \u00a0They reminded me of M. C. Escher\u2019s optical illusion drawings.<\/p>\n

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The Harpa concert hall has many performances running during the day and at night in a variety of spaces. \u00a0The building is a work of art – inside and out – and fascinating to see. \u00a0<\/p>\n

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Wonderful Street Art was everywhere and a joy to look at:<\/p>\n

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I love the irony of this sign in the window of a shop selling outdoor gear and clothing:<\/p>\n

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We returned to the ship in the early evening, exhausted from all our walking. \u00a0We were so lucky to have such a fabulous crystal clear day! \u00a0The Rotterdam is staying in port so we\u2019re spending the night in Reykjavik. \u00a0We signed up for an excursion tomorrow and I hope this great summer weather continues. \u00a0<\/p>\n

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Saturday – August 12, 2017\u00a0 It was not totally dark last night this close to the Arctic Circle. \u00a0When I peered out of our door in the middle of the night, there was a dim ribbon of light along the horizon. \u00a0Dawn is early with full light in the sky by about five o\u2019clock. \u00a0Our […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[31,39],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-12091","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-cruising","category-iceland"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/gallivantinggrandma.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/12091","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/gallivantinggrandma.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/gallivantinggrandma.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/gallivantinggrandma.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/gallivantinggrandma.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=12091"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/gallivantinggrandma.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/12091\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":12092,"href":"https:\/\/gallivantinggrandma.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/12091\/revisions\/12092"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/gallivantinggrandma.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=12091"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/gallivantinggrandma.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=12091"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/gallivantinggrandma.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=12091"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}