The first stop on our trip to France was Iceland, where we landed at Keflavik, the country’s major airport, 45 minutes from its capital city, Reykjavik. Reykjavik is a small city of 120,000 inhabitants and by far the largest community in Iceland, population 335,000.
Reykjavik is located at latitude 64 deg N, about the same as Norman Wells in Canada’s Northwest Territories. Despite its northerly location, just east of the southern tip of Greenland, Iceland enjoys a moderate climate, influenced by the Gulf Stream. It does rain considerably, as we learned!
We spent our first day of our visit in Reykjavik, a very pleasant and easily navigated city. Today’s photos include a mix of city scenes I snapped in the course of our walk around downtown. I begin with this photo of a Reykjavik landmark Hallgrímskirkja, a Lutheran parish. At 74.5 metres (245 ft) high, it is the largest church in Iceland and among the tallest structures in Iceland. The statue of explorer Leif Erickson (c. 970 – c. 1020) in front of the church predates its construction. It was a gift from the United States in honor of the 1930 Alþingi Millennial Festival, commemorating the 1000th anniversary of Iceland’s parliament at Þingvellir in 930 AD.
This next pictures features a pleasant neighbourhood street not far off the downtown area.
Reykjavik has a small, but busy harbour, home to a mix of pleasure craft, a fishing fleet and some larger commercial and military vessels. Here’s a picture of one small area of the harbour.
Not far from the waterfront is a typical seaside pub, not the prettiest waterhole in Reykjavik but convenient for sailors and other inhabitants of the harbour area. I entitle it the “grubby pubby” but I’m sure it has a more elegant name, although I can’t translate Olsmidjan Bar.
The urban art scene in Reykjavik would seem to be dominated by large murals on the ends of buildings. A number caught my eye, but none more so than this interesting, three-story tableau featuring a man with a partly obscured face and a nice tie. I haven’t figured it out yet, but I’m thinking about it.
We discovered a very nice Italian restaurant near our hotel, Caruso’s! I liked the window decor, so I photographed it.
Happy to hear you made it safely to Iceland!
Beautiful church…..impressive structure!
Is it still under construction?
Looks like a very quaint town, the pub sure
has “character” !
Love the mural…….thought provoking!!
Enjoy your travels!
Nancy
I think it’s like an airport, perpetually under construction.
Beautiful shots as usual. Together, they create the feeling of really being there. Thanks for sharing. Carol
On my bucket list . .. very picturesque!
Interesting set of images, Peter. I like the one of an inner city neighborhood the best. Nice lines.