Reykjavik Picture
29. May 2004
Spending a day just doing as little as I can while at the same time enjoying the city. Reykjavík is a great place to spend you time!
In this article I hope to give you a view of Reykjavík in words as well as pictures.
Skólavörðustígur is the perfect place to start. It stretches from the Hallgrímskirkja church right down to Laugavegur. This street is the home of many of the best art galleries in Reykjavik (as well as in Iceland).
Walking up the street you notice the friendly atmosphere and the easy going traffic. The wooden guy sitting by looks like he belongs there and will stay awhile!
Hallgrimskirkja church is the biggest church in Iceland with the tower reaching over 70 meters high. The beautiful church organ fills up the surrounding space with music.
Hallgrímskirkja was designed by Guðjón Samúelsson in 1937 in the influence of hexagonal basalt columns that are seen in various places in the Icelandic landscape.
Looking out on Reykjavik from the church bell tower you can see typical Icelandic architecture. The houses seem to be thrown together from different eras and different cultures!
On the way to down-town I spot this lonely dog sitting on a bench waiting for the owner who is perhaps taking a look at the gallery inside the open door.
In a nice day like this you can even see some people enjoying the sun and fresh air at a café.
Even down-town nature is never far away. The orange-yellow busses and the yellow flowers are bright contrast to the gray buildings!
Iceland has been enriched by cuisine from all over the world. Italian, Indian and other exotic restaurants are numerous and the standard is usually quite high.
Old and new fighting each other. In this picture it literally looks like there is a giant getting ready to hit the old renovated house. The newer building is rather unexciting except for the giant mural art work.
Like so many cities a forest machine is a common site. Old houses are moved out of the way and new ones built. Lately, awareness of the cultural values of old houses has increased and subsequently more are being restored.
Close to the harbor I spot this brand new Ferrari Enzo. Its street price here in Reykjavík is about 1.2 million USD! It was imported and put on a show here but is not a very practical vehicle in Iceland. Mostly due to the fact that there are no high speed highways and I guess they won't handle too good in the snow during the winter time.
To see some PRACTICAL vehicles we have another site dedicated to the subject - Reykjavik picture at 4x4OffRoads.com.
Sailboats!
Fishing is still one of the pillar of our economy. Reykjavík harbor is full of fisher boats of all sizes. The smaller ones in the front and some larger behind.
Taking a big ship like this one and doing advanced body work and repair is possible in the shipyard. This is typical trawler used for cod fishing in the deep waters around Iceland.
Chess is very popular by Icelanders. Perhaps because of the long winter nights.
Grótta is a beautiful little island off the west side of Reykjavík. You can walk out to the island during low tide. Except for the lighthouse and a couple of houses you are in undisturbed nature.
Voluntary rescue units operate on sea as well as on land. Here I spot them on a practice mission on a powerful inflated boat.
Iceland has one of the highest car to people ratios. About two persons per car!
Reykjavík spreads its houses far and wide apart. The good thing is you can live in the suburb sometimes in close contact with nature and without the noise of the down-town. The bad part is you have to use a car a lot.
Typical single family houses in a suburb in Reykjavík.
In the afternoon a performing band livens up the city center. Bogomil Font and his band of performing musicians.
English
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