Trip to Iceland, Sept 1 2015

Landing early in the morning in Iceland was still very late at night for us, so we fought the jet lag by staying awake all day and wandering around Reykjavik.

Vintage Icelandic Photo

KEX, Reykjavik

The KEX patio, Reykjavik

Distressed numbers

An old game

Vintage BINGO?

Jazz night at KEX

The Wpg2Isl gang

Sept 2015 KEX menu

KEX bar, Reykjavik

KEX IS THE ICELANDIC WORD FOR “BISCUIT” AND A SOCIAL HOSTEL IN REYKJAVIK

Housed in an old biscuit factory in downtown Reykjavik and furnished with salvaged materials and found objects from various places, KEX is an organic concept blending a vintage industrial feel with an eclectic, contemporary touch.

More than just a hostel at KEX you will find a variety of dorms and rooms for up to 142 guests along with a café and bar, lounge area, heated outdoor patio, tourist information desk, laundry room, old school gym, guest kitchens, meeting room, free WiFi, and more. http://www.kexhostel.is/about

Sound and noises piped into the bathroom

Newspaper on the walls in the bathroom

Bowl-A-Lane

Vintage Deco lamp in KEX

We will tow you away: Iceland

Icelandic Graffiti, Reykjavik

Aaron, Jeope, Ian and Hugh.

10-11 Reykjavik

On the Icelandic bus

sattbar, in the Reykjavik Natura Hotel

Camera Doorstop

Reykjavik rainbow street

Reykjavik window style

The oldest restaurant in Reykjavik

Kraun house of Icelandic Design

Kraun gift shop

Salmon Skin Shoes

Thosklampi; fish skin lamp shade. Icelandic Design

Fish skin lamp shade

Exaggerated Icelandic window drip cap

The cemetery at Hólavallagarður, 1838, Reykjavik

Grasping hands, Icelandic Tombstone

Icelandic Graveyard

The cemetery at Hólavallagarður, Reykjavik

Grand house in Reykjavik

Reykjavik City Hall

Ian McCausland, beneath sea level

Reykjavik City Hall

The giant topographic map of Iceland in Reykjavik city hall

Vinsamlegast

Giant map of Iceland

Church and Gull, Reykjavik

HARPA, Reykjavik

Harpa

Harpa Reykjavik

HARPA’s beautiful windows

Harpa is a concert hall and conference centre in Reykjavík, Iceland. The opening concert was held on May 4, 2011. Harpa was designed by the Danish firm Henning Larsen Architects in co-operation with Danish-Icelandic artist Olafur Eliasson. The structure consists of a steel framework clad with geometric shaped glass panels of different colours.[2][3] The building was originally part of a redevelopment of the Austurhöfn area dubbed World Trade Center Reykjavík, which was partially abandoned when the financial crisis took hold. The development was intended to include a 400-room hotel, luxury apartments, retail units, restaurants, a car park and the new headquarters of Icelandic bank Landsbanki. The completion of the structure was uncertain until the government decided in 2008 to fully fund the rest of the construction costs for the half-built concert hall. For several years it was the only construction project in existence in Iceland. [4]The building was given its name on the Day of Icelandic Music on 11 December 2009, prior to which it was called The Reykjavík Concert Hall and Conference Centre (Icelandic: Tónlistar- og ráðstefnuhúsið í Reykjavík). The building is the first purpose-built concert hall in Reykjavík and it was developed in consultation with artistic advisor Vladimir Ashkenazy and international consultant Jasper Parrott of HarrisonParrott.[5] It houses the Iceland Symphony Orchestra and the offices of The Icelandic Opera. Harpa is operated by Portus, a company owned by the Icelandic government and the City of Reykjavík.

HARPA

Hallway reflection

HARPA Reykjavik

HARPA

Amazing Windows

Hörputorg

Sun Voyager (Icelandic: Sólfar) is sculpture by Jón Gunnar Árnason (1931 – 1989). Sun Voyager is a dreamboat, an ode to the sun. Intrinsically, it contains within itself the promise of undiscovered territory, a dream of hope, progress and freedom. The sculpture is located by Sæbraut, by the sea in the centre of Reykjavík, Iceland.

Reykjavik skyline

Billiardstofan, Skulagotu, Reykjavik

Big red house, Reykjavik

#82 Reykjavik

Icelandic Entrance with buttons

The Icelandic love of Chocolate and Black Liquorice

Tiny Window

Reykjavik Roasters, coffee beans

Reykjavik Roasters

Reykjavik Roasters makes good coffee

Reykjavik door sill.

Karastigur, Reykjavik

Icelandic corrugated steel architecture

Hallgrímskirkja church with the Leif Ericson statue

“Hallgrímskirkja church is Reykjavík’s main landmark and its tower can be seen from almost everywhere in the city.

It was designed by the late Guðjón Samuel in 1937, who was often inspired in his endeavours by the fascinating shapes and forms created when lava cools into basalt rock.
Construction of the church began in 1945 and ended in 1986, with the tower completed long before the rest of the building. The crypt beneath the choir was consecrated in 1948, the steeple and wings completed in 1974 and the nave consecrated in 1986.”

http://www.visitreykjavik.is/hallgrimskirkja-church

A prized Latte for jet lagged travellers landing in Iceland, Keflavik

Airport Architecture, Keflavik

International Travel Photographer Ian McCausland

Ruri “Rainbow” at Keflavik

RAINBOW

“The sculpture is positioned in front of the International Air Terminal Building (Leif Eirikson Air Terminal) at Keflavík Airport. Installed; 1991. The height of the sculpture is 24 metres. Material: stainless steel and stained glass.
Huge tiles of natural stone form a low platform around the base of the Rainbow.

I like to think of the Rainbow as an unfinished construction, and imagine that maybe one day – after some one hundred or one thousand years or so – someone might decide to continue the work.

The construction would reach higher and higher up into the sky, then decline again … until at last it would become a complete rainbow.” from http://ruri.is/2011/09/29/rainbow-2/

Fantastic staircase at Reykjavik Natura Hotel

satt bar and restaurant with wooden sheep, Reykjavik Natura Hotel

Flora Islandica, with 271 real-size drawings by Eggert Pétursson of flowers in Icelandic nature

A lovely Icelandic interior

“A vital staging-post on Eggert Peturson’s journey from his early bookworks with pressed flowers and photographs of plants to his paintings is a collection of 271 illustrations made for the field guide Icelandic Flora with Colour Illustrations, published in 1983. In this volume, Petursson’s magnificent drawings are published for the first time in their full size at A3 420 x 297 mm arranged by taxonomic order (family, genus).”–NHBS website.

Egbert Pétursson’s flowers and flora

Fjallasmari

Stuffed Chicken

“Inside Icelandair Hotel Reykjavik Natura you’ll find a warm and inviting atmosphere, filled with thoughtful details inspired by the beautiful nature that surrounds the property itself. This is no cookie-cutter Reykjavik hotel, Icelandair Hotel Reykjavik Natura embraces its legacy – its distinctly Icelandic roots, including works from local artists, the freshest local organic produce, a geothermal indoor pool and all the modern conveniences.” http://www.icelandairhotels.com/en/hotels/natura

Ásmundur Sveinsson was an Icelandic sculptor, was born at Kolsstadir in West Iceland on May 20, 1893 and died in Reykjavík on December 9, 1982. Gegnum Hljóðmúrinn