REYKJAVIK SITES

                                              Lots to See

The church

 The famed Hallgrimskirkja Church  Completed in 1986, the church is designed to look like a mountain of lava and is the city’s most unusual structure. Named for a poet, its 246-foot tower affords a panoramic view of the city. Outside the church is a statue of Leif Eriksson presented by the US in 1930.  Many think the Lutheran church interior is stark, but I rather think it is elegant in its simplicity. The all white interior makes it very light inside. The plaza surrounding the church is paved with 9-inch charcoal and grey tiles that are laid to form several crosses in the design. The parish built the church taking 40 years to complete. Architect Samulson designed the church plus many other buildings in the city. In 1920 he was the first to graduate from architectural school. The church is the tallest building in the city, but I understand an office building is in the process of being built that will be slightly higher.

      The ten-story Perlan, Pearl Building, 1990, is where geothermically heated water and power is supplied to the city.  The building sits on six huge storage tanks. On the fourth deck of the building is an observation platform that offers wonderful views of the city. A revolving restaurant is on the top floor and a café below that.

       Old town is fascinating with much of the city’s past as well as where green parks and museums are located. The city was the site of the Reagan-Gorbachev summit in 1996.     Government offices are housed in a white building that was originally the 18th century jail. It is one of the oldest buildings in the city. A statue of the first prime minister in 1904 is on the right of the building and a statue on the left is of Christian IX. However, the oldest house in town, dating back to 1752, was Sheriff Magnusson’s weaving shed. Destroyed by fire in 1764, it was immediately rebuilt on the same site and now houses a pub.

      The City Hall, Radhus, was controversial when it was built. Located on the north end of the lake, its front pillars and part of the building are actually in the lake. It is an unusual building. The lake, Tjornin, is in the city center and is more of a pond than a lake.

      Reykjavik is relatively small and very walkable. There are sights outside the city and we took the time to travel to see the magnificent Gulfass, golden waterfall. The picturesque two-tier waterfall often showcases a rainbow shining through the mist and spray. The wind was blowing and we got a pretty good shower of spray. At one time a hydroelectric plant was proposed, but there was such a citizen uproar that the government bought the land to preserve the waterfall. West of Gulfass is the Strokkur Geyser, “the churn”, which spouts a 60-100 foot jet about once every five minutes. The geyser performed for us a couple of times as we walked by.

      The drive around the Golden Circle was a lovely ride into the countryside on a beautiful sunny day. The beautiful historic site of Thingvellir lies 30 miles from Reykjavik. It is the site of the world’s  oldest existing parliament. Starting in 930 AD the parliament met annually to enact laws and govern the island. One law in 1000 AD introduced Christianity.  The lake in the area, 84 meters long and 114 meters deep, is the largest in the country. Shalholt was the historic site of Bishops for 740 years. An early school dates to 1056.

 

A Friendly Greeting

     Since 1902 natural thermal heat from springs in the center of town has heated greenhouses at Hveragerdi, Greenhouse Village. Artificial light and hot water prolongs the growing season for flowers and produce. A thin layer of soil covers boiling water underneath. Many residents make regular treks here for fresh produce long after the normal growing season is over. It was an interesting visit to a unique facility. The southern low plateau is an agricultural area.

Visit posts 4-6-11 Reykjavik, Botanical Garden9-4-11, Blue Lagoon7-17-10, Famous hot dog12-31-10

BREATHTAKING NORWAY

                                              Talk About Photo Ops!

            Norway is a country of tunnels, the longest being 24 kilometers long. They know how to build tunnels; they were clean, odor free and dry. Maybe Boston should have consulted the country’s engineers before they started on the Big Dig! And beside tunnels the country also has speed cameras on most roads.

            The country’s scenery is spectacular! Even in late summer we saw snow on the mountain tops. Of course the climate is conducive to creating waterfalls and we saw them everywhere in all sizes, from narrow streams cascading down mountainsides to huge thundering waterfalls. We stopped to view the spectacular Kjosfossen waterfall with its 590-foot drop. It reminded me of a couple such falls I’d seen in the Swiss Alps. Absolutely breathtaking scenery around every curve of the road!

            On a fabulous leisurely day traversing the countryside we stopped in Borgund to view and admire an original stave church, built in 1129. Stave churches were a blend and bridge of Viking paganism and Christianity. In 1066 it was declared overnight that everyone would be Lutheran. At one time there were over 1000 stave churches, but today only 25 remain. Except for one stave church in Sweden, the few remaining churches are in Norway.

            A guide briefly explained, “Stav in Norwegian means load-bearing post, thus giving the church construction its name. They are very similar to the more commonly known post church. Walls are formed by vertical wooden boards, known as staves. Four corner posts are connected to ground sills, resting on a stone foundation. The rest of the staves rise from the ground sills. Each stave is notched and grooved to lock into one another, thus forming a sturdy wall. Scissor beams support the ceiling, in other words two steeply angled supports cross each other to form an X shape with a narrow top span and a broader bottom span. Think of a pair of scissors that are opened only half way. I believe there are a couple of replica churches in the United States.”

            I commented to my friend, “It would be fun to research that.”

            “They no doubt are in Norwegian communities, so let’s put that on our ‘to do’ list.” 

           

WATERFALLS AND BOTANICAL GARDEN

                       Fun and Unexpected Sites

Hiking in Davos, Switzerland we walked down a 1500-foot desent, which often passed by the melodious sound of a running waterfall. We stopped to eat our box lunch by a rather large waterfall. After lunch while we relaxed and enjoyed the ambiance I lent my old Girl Scout knife to one of the fellows as he was whittling a walking stick. It didn’t take him long to break the main blade. He felt bad and so did I, as I’d had that knife over fifty years. But what can one do when accidents sometimes happen?

            Another day we rode the bus to Davos Platz and picked up funicular tickets for a ride to Schatzap where we were to visit and hike around the alpine botanical gardens. At the top we disembarked at the Hotel Berghotel Schatzap. Davos was originally known as a health center and spa for people with lung problems. A huge sanatorium was built in 1899. By 1950 the city decided to change its focus and image to a ski and summer resort. The sanatorium, located at the base of the botanical gardens, was converted to a hotel at that time.

            The hike around the gardens was hilly and at times rather steep. Paths were very narrow necessitating single file walking. It is an unusual garden with small pockets of flowers in numerous areas. Needless to say the area is very rocky so to me it is really a rock garden, although big. I was stunned to see some of our desert plants growing at that altitude and in a harsh and cold climate.                    In answer to my friend’s question I said, “Well, that is gaillardia or Indian blanket and it grows all over our prairies. And that is purple coneflower or Echinacea. This is amazing.”

            By the time we were ready for the funicular ride back down to street level it was clouding up over the mountains. Davos hosts a music festival every weekend in July so we walked over to the Post Hotel to see what was going on.

            We decided to sit on the hotel balcony so if it did rain we’d at least be under cover and dry. The whole lower courtyard was filled with tables for sitting and eating. Several food vendors were located around the perimeter. A live band was playing at the far end of the yard. We had a great spot for both seeing all the activity and also for listening to the music. We listened to some good jazz for quite awhile before wandering down into the courtyard to check out the vendors.

            I bought a cobbler ala mode. Since it involved two different vendors I had a hard time making the ice cream man understand that I did not want a cone but the ice cream on top of the cobbler. Eventually I got my point across. We returned with our treats to our seats on the balcony just before it started to rain!

            Hotel waiters came up onto the balcony and removed the huge umbrellas taking them down into the courtyard to cover the tables. They also handed out umbrellas to people standing around in the rain. We’d made a wise choice to sit comfortably under the roof overhang. We stayed dry and had fun watching all the commotion.

            The rain was really just a heavy shower which lasted about a half hour. When the rain stopped we decided to take advantage of the break in the weather and walk back to the hotel.