I am staying in Reykjavik, Iceland, for the week with my sisters and cousin. Here are some of the beautiful photo highlights. We have had amazing weather! The views are astounding.
We travelled for a week in March, picked specifically for high potential to see the Northern Lights. (See my next entry.) I programmed myself as best as I could for the time change and feel I was above average in my success. At least better than my two sisters and cousin because I was elected to drive when we arrived as the most alert!
We stayed in a Batman-theme air BNB which really was a great apartment in a slightly crappy building.
Our first day was acclimation and shopping, then a tour of the Harpa concert hall. DO NOT MISS THIS PLACE. Parking in the shopping district was weird because we Americans wanted a giant SUV and most of the cars are smaller, but we figured it out.
The view at the Harpa was amazing, but having finished the trip now — I can say the best was by far yet to come. Reykjavík has great views but the further you get into the countries, it really opens up.
The guided tour at the Harpa was guided by an opera singer. SO FUN. The walls of this crazy building are a weird 3D pattern of self-supporting glass that they couldn’t finish due to their economy collapsing so a few of them are mock-ups with pillars to support it but match the look of what they could afford.
The floors are all bluestone and the walls are Icelandic concrete painted to look like lava. The ceilings are mirrored. It’s a crazy awesome effect. We heard some orchestra people practicing, then into the main hall which seats 1600. It was set for an opera Trattoria. The walls are BRIGHT RED stained birch so you can still sea the woodgrain. The front third of the stage lifts and lowers to become an orchestra pit.
INSIDE THE WALLS there are these crazy reverberation chambers. When our guide sang a note, the sound stayed bouncing around for ten seconds!
After the Harpa, we did more shopping and ate lunch. Then we went to the grocery store where the refrigerated section was a whole room instead of fridge units. Maybe that’s European??
We also went for a run on the path by the water and saw the big metal Viking boat that you see in all the pictures.
