August in Iceland has been interesting. We woke up this morning to howling winds with gusts up to 40 miles an hour, along with a wind chill of 27 degrees, so it came as little surprise (and maybe some relief) that our whale watching excursion was canceled by the tour operator. So, time to implement Plan B, which was to do a walking tour of downtown Reykjavik, where most of the city’s attractions are. Three factors combined to make this an easy choice. First, there was a free shuttle from the pier to the downtown area, eliminating the need to make a fifty minute walk to get there. Second, we had all the clothing, including outerwear, necessary to be comfortable in the winter-like conditions. And third, there’s a lot to see downtown.
So, we caught the 9:00 am shuttle from the pier and a few minutes later we were deposited downtown, a block from the waterfront and next to the Harpa performing arts building. From there we spent the next two and a half hours wandering up and down the city streets, admiring the many landmarks and browsing in several shops selling souvenirs and attractive outerwear. I won’t go into a lot of detail here, because I doubt anyone would want to read a street by street and landmark by landmark narrative. Rather, I’ll describe what we saw in the captions to my photos, and you can read them if you like. That seems reasonable, doesn’t it?
In any case, we had pretty much covered the downtown area in time to grab an 11:45 shuttle, and we were back on the ship just after noon, perfect timing for lunch. All aboard time was 2:30 this afternoon, as we needed to make an early start toward Greenland, so we couldn’t have stayed out that much longer anyway.
I had a blast in Iceland, and actually enjoyed the cold, windy weather. It was such a change, as we have pretty much been chasing summer around the globe for the past eight months. Tomorrow is a sea day, and then on Sunday we’ll be sailing in Prince Christian Sound, a narrow passageway between mainland Greenland and a few of its islands. It’s supposed to be beautiful, and I can’t wait to see it. Following that we’re scheduled to make two port calls in Greenland, and I’m excited about them too. I’ll be back with full reports, so stay tuned.
The Harpa concert hall and convention center is where the shuttle from the pier dropped us off and picked us up. Great location and a very cool building.
This nameless worker is off to his job with the weight of the world on his shoulders.
A pretty downtown church.
There are a lot of murals on the sides of buildings in Reykjavik. It helps brighten up the city.
The National Gallery. Pretty building.
One of the main pedestrian streets is painted in rainbow stripes. Lots of interesting shops, and that’s the Hallgrimskirkja Lutheran Church in the background, one of Reykjavik’s iconic landmarks.
Seemed like a great place for a photo l
There’s a statue of Leifr Eiricsson (Leif Erikson) in front of the church. Eiricsson is widely believed to be the discoverer of North America.
The magnificent organ inside the church has 5,275 pipes. We were fortunate enough to be there during a concert.
The church pulpit.
Another mural gracing the side of a downtown shop.
We saw this cat inside one of the shops. It certainly appeared to be warm and well.
I ran into this fierce Viking warrior inside one of the shops.
Statue of Ingólfur Arnarson, believed to be the first permanent settler of Iceland.
Street art. Very cool.
Another pretty spot in downtown Reykjavik.
And another mural.
Iceland’s Parliament House.
This remarkable work sits across the street from the Parliament House. It’s called The Black Cone, Monument to Civil Disobedience. Attached is the following quote from the 1793 Declaration of the Rights of Man and Citizen: “When the government violates the rights of the people, Insurrection is for the people and for each portion of the people the most sacred of rights and the most indispensable of duties.”
More street art.
I really like this photo.
Statue honoring the “Father of Reykjavik.”
I’m told that falcons used to be kept here. Those are statues of falcons on the roof.
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