Reykjavík

IMG_1052Reykjavík is an incredibly interesting mix of old and new buildings.  Mind you, these aren’t sod huts on the tundra, but there still are some historical houses among the modern architecture and office buildings.

IMG_1054 A VW Bus made it to Iceland!

IMG_1055IMG_1058I found a battle-weary Hilux, still driving and still having adventures.

IMG_1059 The university.  One day I hope to have official business here.

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IMG_1063Hallgrímskirkja Church.

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IMG_1077 IMG_1078 The downtown trendy part of town.

IMG_1079 IMG_1080 IMG_1081 IMG_1082IMG_1092IMG_1097 This is a good motto for Iceland.

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Perhaps the most internationally famous piece of artwork in Iceland.

IMG_1114The new concert hall.


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Adventure bikes are well-suited to the Icelandic environment.


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Iceland’s seat of government.  The Alþingi is open to anyone.  It reminded me quite a bit of Australia’s parliament house and the free access to all to the building.
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IMG_1134 Out on the eastern edge of the city, there is a sprawling area of half-finished homes and apartments.  When the economy crashed several years ago, all construction shutdown overnight.  People are living in half-finished houses and construction material was left where they stacked it before the construction projects were mothballed.

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IMG_1045 An adorable steam engine from Iceland’s old railway.

Driving Through Reykjavík from the Airport

 

 

 

 

Yes, my first photo in Iceland is of the windshield wipers on my car on the highway from Keflavík International Airport to Reykjavík.  I picked up a rental car from Route 1 Car Rentals (I HIGHLY recommend them) at the airport and proceeded into a fierce rainstorm.  The storm was the leftovers of Hurricane Irene.  My rental car was a Toyota Yaris with a manual transmission.  While I have driven a manual before, the six days that I was in Iceland were the first six days in a row that I had driven a stick shift.  A few days after returning to the states, and I am STILL searching for the clutch on my automatic transmission car!

 

Yay Iceland!

 

 

An industrial area outside Reykjavík.

 

A farm on the other side of Reykjavík.

The first real scenery I saw.  Thanks clouds and fog.

All of the hay is packaged in these white plastic sheets to keep it dry from the incessant rain.