Reflections on Iceland

Evening

Harpa Concert Hall

Sun Voyager Sculpture

Perlan

Woodland walk (bear in mind my daughter is only 5 feet tall when you look at those trees!)

View across the city.

A Walk Around Reykjavik

Deconstruction before the rebuilding continues.

Einar Jonsson Museum and sculpture park.

A local house- I wanted to go inside :)

Hallgrimskirkja

Leifur Eiriksson statue. The Viking who was the first European to discover America.

Gift shop window.

Loo stop! I am always scared that the door will swing open before I have finished or that the loo will start its rinse cycle while I am still inside!

The view while waiting for the loo! (I'm pleased to say I got out in one piece!!)

Coffee break- one of many!

Turret.

A statue that I nicknamed "Woman with Kettle-bells". She looks really tired, bless her! Actually, she probably was very tired. The statue, by Asmundur Sveinsson, depicts a woman who carried water to every household in town, year round. Boy, must she have been strong!

Reykjavik

We are back from our family holiday and I am gradually easing myself back into normality.

We were very fortunate to spend a fantastic week in Iceland.

Our accommodation for the week was on the third floor of this apartment block (you can see our balcony) in Reykjavik.

It was a relatively quiet street and at this time of year there is almost 24 hours of daylight in Iceland, so I enjoyed spending time on the balcony early in the morning or late at night watching the world (and occasional drunks) go by.

I spotted this little guy on the back of our street sign as we were waiting for an early morning pick-up for a coach trip. Can you see him?

Here's a closer view...

There was quite a lot of yarn bombing in Reykjavik as well as street art and graffiti- it is a creative, laid-back sort of place!

I'm not sure what the homeless situation is in Reykjavik, but we did see someone sleeping in this hammock which was just up the road from the apartment, though it could have been a traveller! The economy is gradually improving, largely due to tourism and there is a LOT of construction happening in the city.  Many hotels are being built to accommodate the rise in tourism. I really hope they get the balance right and don't change the nature of the city, particularly for those that live there.

We were so lucky with the weather. apart from a rainy day on the Monday, the rest of the week was mostly sunny with beautiful, vast blue skies.

You know how I love to use houses as inspiration for my textile art. Many of the buildings in Iceland are functional, concrete blocks, but there is a lot of corrugated iron and some amazingly vibrant colours, which may just be featuring in some patchwork in the near future.

We saw so many wonderful things so I am going to make several posts over the coming days- pop back often! I'd love to hear some of your summer adventures too....