Reykjavik, Iceland - 09/20/17

Finally, we reached what for most of us is the apex of the entire journey, the most urban you can get in Iceland, the northernmost capital of the world, Reykjavik.

As expected, the range of sights and activities here is enourmous; museums, galleries, landscapes, historical places and many memorable sights.
The city, which now has over 123.3 thousand inhabitants, is believed to be the first permenent settlement in Iceland, being established in AD874.

Reykjavik was founded in 1786, officially as a trading town, growing steadily over the decades, later becoming the national center of commerce, population and governmental activities in the country.

Interesting Facts:

• Reyjavik (and Iceland overall) is among the cleanest, greenest and safest cities in the world.

• The settlement of Reykjavik, believed to be the first in Iceland, is described in the Book of Settlement, Landnamabok. The name means Bay of Smoke, or Smokey Bay, and is said to be inspired by the steam from hot springs in the area.

• Reykjavik Golf Club has the largst and oldest golf course in Iceland, the Korpa, opened in 1963. The club, also the oldest in the country was opened in 1934.

Austurvollur park

We always like to spend some time at regional parks, specially at places such as Reykjavik, a beautiful capital full of energy and interesting visuals. Just upon arriving at the city center we went to Austurvollur park.

After a long 142 miles journey, we couldn't enjoy this stop more,  a very quiet and pretty place next to the Icelandic House of Parliament, where we couldn think and discuss our next stops.

Höfði house

• Intersting Fact: In the middle of the park is the statue of Jon Sigurdsson, leader of Iceland's independence movement. Iceland's Independence Day is in June 17

We passed by Hofdi on our way to Hallgrimskirkja, the place where Reagan and Mikhail Gorbachev met in an important step to end the cold war.

Can you remember the last time we visited a church? -There are many imponent cathedrals and churches in England and the surrounding areas, so a church/cathedral visit was very common there. But in Iceland there are not nearly as many interesting churches to visit. Of these exceptions is Hallgrimskirkja, a Lutheran parish church, named after the Icelandic poet and clergyman Hallgrimur Petursson (1614-1674), author of the Passion Hymns, a collection of 50 religious poetic texts.

At 74.5 meters (244 ft), it is the largest church in Iceland and among the tallest structures in Iceland.

The church is in the center of the city, being visible throughout the whole of Reykjavik, and is one of it's best known landmarks.

Hallgrimskirkja took 41 years to be completed, from 1945 to 1986, the design of the church was done by Architect Gudjon Samuelsson in 1937, who said to have inspired it in the trap rocks, mountains and glaciers of Iceland. -Which is a felling we totally get-

View from the top of Hallgrimskirkja

Interesting Facts:

• The church is also used as an observation tower. There is a lift to a viewing deck with open views from the city and the surrounding mountains.

• In front of the church is a stutue of the explorer Leif Eriksson, who we learned about in Eiriksstadir. The statue predates the construction of the church and was done by Alexander Stirling Calder and sent as a gift by the United States commemorating the 1000th anniversary of Iceland's parliament, in 1930.

The tower was completed long before the church, in 1974.

Kringlan shopping mall

After visiting the church we went to the main street in Reykjavik, Laugarvegur, and got ourselves in a shopping mall called Kringlan, the second largest in Iceland. Though we didn't spend much time there, our time in the shopping helped us understand more about the life in the city; not a lot of local stores but many international, global brands.

• Interesting fact: The name is derived from the Kringla Marsh (Kringlumyri) meaning 'circle' or 'pretzel', although the mall has nothing to do with any of those things.

The shoping also has a supermarket, a library, a theater and a cinema.
It is of course a big shopping, but small compared to the ones we saw in Ireland for example.

Perlan

The next stop is a very important multi-purpose complex, a remarkable landmark with 360° views of the city, enabled by it's glass dome design. It's name is Perlan, "The Perl".
Not only is it an exellent viewing deck, but also a huge hot water storage facillity which supplys the city with regional geothermal water, through six large tanks pilled on top of each other creating decks. Each tank has a capacity of 4 million liters (1 million gallons). The space between the decks (over 10.000m³) is used for many different events such as concerts, as well as housing several museums and exhibitions.

The current arrangement of the museum includes;

Viking Saga Museum: Maritime Museum
&;Glacier Exhibition; Icelandic Natural Wonders: 

Many top notch attractions are on the way; on May 1 2018 Perlan Museum will open a new cutting edge planetarium with the best quality available in the world today - Sadly we came to early! but now at least we now about it in advance. We will surelly hear about it again, maybe even visit it when it's finished.

Interesting Facts:

• The viewing deck das panoramic telescopes at each six corners of the deck, it is from here that MT. Snaefellsjokll can be seen with frequency in Reykjavik, (which we learned about while in Olafsvik)

• There is a rotating restaurant on the top of the dome, it takes 2 hours for a full rotation. A cafeteria is located under the restaurant.

We were very excited to see a man-made version of two small geysers, one of which we assumed was Strokkur, imitating the sprouting action we saw in Haukadalur on our way to Eirikstadir.

The building was designed by Igimundur Sveinsson and is situated on a hill, Öskjullid. The project was completed in 1991, largely at the behest of mayor David Oddson.

Aerbajasafn

Lake Tjornin

• From the observation deck we checked some future stops off our list, including the lake Tjörnin in the city center, next to the city hall and Reykjavik Airport, and Arbaejasafn; an open air museum. We also located our next stop, the National Museum of Iceland, right next to Tjornin.

National Museum of Iceland

As an ending to our journey in Iceland, we visited the National Museum of Iceland.
We came here expecting to leave fully enlightened about the making of Iceland and it's history. We were not mistaken, but also not entirely right. Although the premise is good, the practice seems to disappoint.
The many exhibitions and displays richely illustrate the story of Iceland's past, from the Viking settlements to currently culture. With over 2000 items in it's main exhibition, there was no little doubt that we couldn't erase regarding the history of Iceland. Some of those doubts were answered by interactive displays, including touch screens and phone calls with historic figures.

The Valþjófsstaður door in
the National Museum of Iceland

Amongst the museum's many treasures, the Valthjofsstadur door stands out, featuring unique elaborate engravings depicting scenes from the 12th century knight's tale 'Le Chavalier au Lion' , where a knight slays a dragon, thus freeing a lion that becomes his companion.

Our jorney through time started in the permenanent exhibition; Making of a Nation: Heritage and History in Iceland, with the ships in wich medieval settles crossed the oceans to get to the island, and progressed with the help of over 1.000 photographs and 2.000 artifacts from various periods, ending in a modern airport.
 Along with the permanent exhibition, there are currently 4 more:
Points of view: A collaboration of 6 different cultural institutions
Bundled up in blue: Investigation of a viking grave
Iceland in the world, the world in Iceland: Centered in transnationalism
Thoughts of Home -Inga Lisa Middletion: Photographs by Inga Lisa.

The Musuem also has a restaurant and a gift shop.

Our Next Stop is to be decided! -