Saturday, March 25, 2017

Reykjavik

We arrived in Reykjavik about 1:30 but couldn't check into our hotel so went for a wander.

The Harpa Concert Hall and Conference Centre is an amazing building, completed in 2011 it features a distinctive coloured glass facade inspired by the basalt landscape of Iceland.


The coloured glass makes for some very interesting patterns both outside and inside.






















We then headed off to visit the cathedral which, co-incidentally, is also inspired by basalt rocks and lava flow. The statue in front of the cathedral is of Leif Erikson but strangely there is no mention of what he is most famous for - The High Chapparal :)



The inside is very plain but rather beautiful and there was an organist practising.  If my Dad had been with me, no doubt he would have chatted the organist up and been offered a chance to play.
















We noticed a lot of painted building walls during our brief walk around Reykjavik, too good to be classed as graffiti - I guess urban art is the correct description.










Even the manhole covers get a treatment.


This final one made me chuckle, we persuaded Dirk to stagger past the cans pretending he was drunk and clutching his Red Cross bag (he'd just paid €50 for an Icelandic jumper in the charity shop)


Well, that's the end - I've thoroughly enjoyed my trip around Iceland and thank you for following me.