Day 6: City stroll
Sometimes it is nice to wonder through the city with no plan in mind. You go where you eyes or your heart takes you and you never know where you will end up. Comparing to our first day where we had to kill those eight hours, we are in control of our time today. We walked around Tjörnin, the city pond, coming on the other side. It is very nice and we could imagine how beautiful it is during spring or summer when everything is green or in bloom. There it was, next to the statue of Jónas Hallgrímsson, an Icelandic poet, a bench with a QR code. I was getting excited thinking that we would hear the sound of the poem, but the site was 404 – dead end.
We stopped at the bakery where I had my coffee with klena, Icelandic twisted doughnut.
Just like many other tourists, I thought the Sun Voyager (Solfarid) is a Viking ship, but it is “a dream boat and an ode to the sun. It represents the promise of undiscovered territory and a dream of hope, progress and freedom”. The day on the seashore is perfect for taking photos: foggy, misty, mysterious, just like you can imaging Iceland. We dropped by Harpa again, which was in the vicinity, for a break.
Nothing but the ocean 
A few vessels 
Sun Voyager 
The details of Harpa (from below) 
Harpa’s wall 
More floors that we could not explore
On my way out from Harpa, I caught a glimpse of this girl carrying her instrument. We followed her for a short bit, and then went our separate ways. As we were crossing the street, we noticed that this misty rain that just started was not rain, but snow! It didn’t last long, but it was my first snow this year, and in Reykjavik!
When you search for “what to eat in Iceland”, they definitely recommend Icelandic hotdog. So, we couldn’t leave this country without testing it. It was worth it!
The famous hotdog place 
Even the tables have these wooden “hotdog trays” 
A puffin eating his hotdog
The stroll took us to the museum that had two parts: the oldest Reykjavik house and the settlement. It seems that the latter was build on the actual archeological dig with the discovered settlement (built similar to turf houses). I like museums as they are often ahead of everyone else in terms of using technology for display or interaction. This time, in the first room, there was a model of the part of the city and two viewers mounted on a stalk. Just like with those used in the city, the device magnifies objects seen through its lenses, however, it is not just magnification. Another layer of images is added to what you can see. So, even though they are not in the model, you can see people interacting on the streets and hear them talking. The second interesting way of using technology was with long illuminated strips of images, and small digital squares embedded into them with short videos. I also spent time with no-tech objects, like this loom or a board game that looks like chess.
Mural on the museum wall 
Video embed into the exhibition 
Loom 
Board game 
From the oldest house 
Oldest house study
I did find the ways to spend a bit more money on souvenirs and something for myself: I wanted to find true Icelandic yarn. I couldn’t buy a lot. The prices here are so high that I had to limit myself in my desires. I don’t know yet what it will turn into, but it will be a part of Iceland that came (and stayed) with me.
November 1, 2022 @ 10:00 am
So great to follow in your footsteps via this travelouge blog.
(The yellow house with the mansard roof looks very much like an older Nfld. outport design).