We woke up to a mild and (partly) sunny Reykjavik, and on the advice of the Icelandair guide to the country, we made our way to Hallgrímskirkja, a beautiful expressiionist style Lutheran Church. The observation deck in the church’s tower provides stunning views across Reykjavik’s colourful rooftops.
With a of an overview of the city we walked the main shopping strip and took in all the cute art galleries, cafes and designer clothing stores - eyeing off the traditional Icelandic woollen jumpers in particular, and resisting the urge to by the $10 can of ‘pure Icelandic air’!
We made our way to the indoor flea market, Kolaportið, where along with secondhand clothes and DVDs is a food market which sells ‘delicacies’ such as Harðfiskur (wind dried fish: tastes like fish food; smells like fish food) and hákarl (rotten shark: tastes like tofu; smells like death).
Next we went to Harpa, the brand new concert hall and conference centre designed by Danish architects Henning Larsen, one of our new favourite buildings! It really captures the spirit of Iceland. At times you feel like you might be exploring the inside of a glacier, other times you could be walking along the black, volcanic beaches of the Icelandic coast. It’s a very impressive building!