It was intended to be a travel and catch up on laundry etc. As we drove through Reykjavik we saw this magnificent church on the hill, the Hallgrimskirkja. Since it was such a visible target we decided to head into town and find it. Success after some narrow streets through Old Town and parking within a block. It's a stunning white concrete church. The columns represent the volcanic basalt columns found throughout the country. It was built from 1945-86.
Hallgrimskirkja
Leifur Eiriksson, the first European to discover America
stands proudly in front of the church.
Very plain inside - clear glass windows.
until you turn around and see the vast 5275-pipe organ!
You can take an elevator up the tower -- Old Reykjavik...
and the other direction (N) the mountains of the next peninsula.
Perlan is a "notable" building with one of the best restaurants
in town on the top floor
The mirrored dome covers huge geothermal-water tanks.
There are spouting geysers on the bottom floor.
We made a stop at the Viking World Exhibition. The star of the
show is the 23m long Islendingur, an exact replica of the Viking
Age Gokstad longship. It was built by Gunnar Marel Eggertsson
who then sailed it from Iceland to NY in 2000 in commemoration
of the 1000th anniversary of Leif's journey to America.
Side rooms in the Exhibition featured old Celtic remains and
a room that told Saga tales focused for children.
And finally to a wonderful find in Sandgeroi at the end of the Reykjanes Peninsula - I-Stay campground complete with free showers and a washer and dryer (most of the washing machines we've found have been associated with swimming pools (which almost every town has) but dryers are almost unheard of in the camping world in Iceland!! Very fun day!
