Reykjavík - Capital and Gateway to Fire and Ice

Reykjavík is our next and final port of call before setting sail back to Liverpool. We leave Ísafjörður around 6pm to sail up the Ísafjarðardjúp and down the west coat past the Westfjörðs and on to Reykjavík. We pass the most northerly fishing village in Westfjords, Bolungarvík. Nestled under a crescent of 600m plus mountains.

As we emerge from Ísafjarðardjúp and head south we get a good view along the Westfjords as the light stays bright into the late evening.

We arrive in Faxaflói Bay early Thursday morning and cruise up into Viðeysund with Viðey Island on one side and a great panoramic view of Reykjavík on the other. Although the main city is quite flat you do get a good view of the elevated Hallgrímskirkja Church that dominates over the city.

Viðey Island lay to the North of Reykjavík and is carpeted with a verdant green grass at this time of year. In the middle of the image below you can see the white circle that is the Imagine Peace Tower. Lit at certain times of the year in memory of John Lennon, creating a vertical pillar of light that reaches the clouds.

Coming into Reykjavík Cruise Port located to the north east of the city but just a short courtesy bus ride from the centre.

When in port I always take an interest in the other ships docked. Here we have a LNG carrier the Anthony Veder Coral Energy moored alongside another cruise ship. I didn’t recognise the Cruise Line of the other ship until back home. Evidently, it is The Ponant Cruises, Le Commandant Charcot, named after a French Polar Scientist, Jean-Baptiste Charcot, and for good reason. This is a Icebreaker Class ship that has visited both the Geographical North Pole as well as the edge of Antarctica. A true explorer and complete luxury for those with deep pockets. This relatively new cruise ship is a hybrid that can run on LNG (Liquified Natural Gas) and briefly on battery power. Hence the two ships together. As I write this the ship is currently visiting the Antarctic Peninsula en-route between Christchurch, New Zealand and Ushuaia, Argentina. Nice.

Leaving the ship there is a regular courtesy bus that takes you to the Fiskihöfn or Fishing Harbour, where the Harpa Concert Hall is located. An ideal point start exploring the city. The grassy mound is an artwork by ólöf Norda, called Thufa (tussock).

The Harpa Concert Hall and Conference Centre is a unique geometrically shaped building where the light dances from pane to pane picking out colours in a similar way to the old leaded lights found in many old buildings in Europe.

From the waterside we chose to hop on a city sightseeing bus, that in summer, circles every 30 mins during the day. After travelling around the old harbour our first stop was the Whales of Iceland Exhibition. We came to see Whales at large. However, it was useful and informative to see these mock ups and the different variety of whales.

Once you have been around the Whales you can hop back onto the next bus to continue around the city. Passing the National Museum of Iceland we get to the Lækjargata (stream street) area where once a stream ran along the street. The area borders a lake, the City Hall, Parliament House and some fine houses.We are back in the centre of the city and from there we can walk to the other main central features.

Here you will see the Reykjavík Tjörnin or pond a major feature of this downtown area. The word Tjörnin is similar to the English word tarn, that we use for an upland lake or pond. Across the water is the City Hall, and right of that, out of view, is the Althing or Parliament House. Behind you is the green roofs of the Frikirkjan or Lutheran Free Church, dated about 1903.