Hallgrimskirkja Church. Rather impressive isn't it? It really looms up at you with those wings shooting off to the side like a rocket about to launch. The simple, clean lines of the architecture are very typical of Iceland, there is nothing overly fancy or ornate with twirls and swirls, but simple, understated outlines that are like a breath of fresh air. The inside follows the same idea and although the windows aren't painted or stained, the sun streaming through them gives an ambiance all on its own.
Our third day in Reykjavik was a little more relaxed and slow paced after the excitement of the previous two days and we wandered around the town exploring the shopping streets, popping in to tourist shops searching for the perfect postcard and exclaiming over the street art (it cannot be called graffiti!).
From wandering up the hill we then wandered down again to the water's edge. Reykjavik has a little cove or bay and on the opposite side is a rather lovely white mountain which you could often see peeking between rows of houses as you walk through the town. It was fascinating to see the different weathers and cloud formations around the peaks. On this particular day there were a couple of grey cloud stripes which look almost as if somebody has tried to rub the image out with a grubby rubber, leaving a grey streaky mark behind.
Gazing out across the water is The Sun Voyager, a sculpture by Jón Gunnar Arnson which is described as a dreamboat, or an ode to the sun. You could stand for hours at the bay watching the water ripple through- then again, it was freezing cold so perhaps ten minutes or so would do.
Also along the water is the Harpa conference hall and conference centre, a vast building built with a glass shell like a honeycomb that lit up at night time and defied the usual conventions for how a building should look. During the hours of darkness, each window would light up and flash at different times to create patterns scrolling across the walls, it was utterly fascinating! At the front are decorative pools of water which steam gently in the sunshine. We assumed that the water would be hot for it to steam so, however after I tentatively stuck a finger in, we discovered that actually the water was pretty cold, just a lot warmer than the ambient temperature of about -6°C.
After a full day's relaxation (including lots of stitchscaping- more of which I will show you in another post), we decided to venture further afield on the fourth day and hopped on the hop-on-hop-off bus which delivers you to all of the main sites in Reykjavik. Our first stop was the Perlan museum- to see the ice cave, and the view! You have to pay an additional fee to go out onto the balcony at the top of the building, but it is well worth the extra krona as you can go out as much as you like, and you get a fabulous view over the city in all directions. We went out twice, the first time just before the sun came up and then again (after a delicious salted caramel tart in the cafe) just as it appeared over the hills. The lighting in this country is incredible, I cannot describe to you how beautiful it was, just have to hope that these photos convey it.
The museum also has hidden depths- a man made ice cave in the basement!! The temperature is -15°C down there and you are taken around by a very knowledgeable tour guide who tells you that the ice came from one of the glaciers and has layers of volcanic ash running through it which can tell you how many times the volcanoes erupted depending on how deep the stripes are within the compacted ice.
Back on the bus, we hopped off near Reykjavik Zoo and Botanical Gardens which were particularly hilarious due to the lack of anything in them! Clearly this was not the time to go but we ploughed on regardless.
Once entering the zoo we were given a map telling us where all of the animals were, and we found ourselves gazing across empty fields of undisturbed snow, which gradually sent us into near hysteria as each enclosure was as empty as the next. Eventually we managed to track down the elusive creatures who were mainly hiding in little huts (probably very sensible), and said hello to the Icelandic farmland animals; sheep, goats, horses, chickens, turkeys and cows, the Icelandic pets; rabbits, guinea pigs, doves and budgerigars, and to the exotic animals; stick insects, frogs, iguanas, terrapins and bugs. My favourite were the seals playing and snoozing in their pool, and the Arctic foxes who looked very pretty all dusted with snow. With the additional sleepy reindeer and an eagle, that pretty much sums up all of the animals in the zoo!
After that we hopped back on the bus and made our way homeward. We had already decided where we wanted to eat out that evening as one of the resturants was offering a Nordic set menu of fish soup starter (poured at the table from copper saucepans), either a main dish of fish or beautifully tender lamb on mushroom risotto and a dessert of love balls.... I still don't really know what love balls are. They were a little bit like a deep fried sponge with raisins in, service with strawberries and the local skyr which was partially frozen. Utterly delicious!! All of the food in Iceland was tasty and seemed pretty designer- from the crepes which were stuffed full of ingredients and paired with different flavours of ice cream, the oreo cheesecake (which totally defeated me!) and the humble bread and butter (again, served in copper saucepans! So chic.).
Our final morning was spent wandering around the town again (of course including a trip to the crepe cafe), and this time taking the lift right to the top of Hallgrimskirkja Church just as the sun was coming up. There are about two hours of half light at either end of the day and this was enough to bring out the twinkly lights that adorn the trees and houses, sparkling right out to the distance like little glow flies. I popped my zoom lens on the camera and we zoomed right in to see some of the prettiest buildings in Reykjavik.
We said our final goodbyes to the beautiful birds that look like a cross between a Robin and a Thrush - I have been reliably informed that they are Red Wings who thrive in Iceland but can be seen in some parts of England and Scotland. We also mosied down to the water once more to see what was happening across the bay, no clouds this time, just a glorious reflection on the water. So pretty. We stayed a little while here watching the geese and other water birds bringing up crabs to have as a spiky snack before we grabbed our belongings and souvenirs and headed out to the coach to take us back to the airport.
I would really love to go back to Iceland again in the summer time and experience it without all of the snow. I imagine it would be a very different place indeed- especially as they would then have barely any darkness! The total opposite of now. Perhaps I have inspired you to visit there yourselves? I would thoroughly recommend it!
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