ICELAND - Number 50 - I'm here!

If you allow me to count the constituent parts of the UK separately as they do in football and add in a couple that no longer exist i.e. Yugoslavia, then yesterday when I touched down in Iceland I arrived in my 50th country. After a very nice flight from Norway, Iceland greeted me with a bumpy landing, grey skies, wind and rain. The wind means that the showers blow through quite quickly so you don't really get wet, but of course also means that the temperatures are much lower than what I've been use to recently. 

Moody Weather

The cloud is lifting - gradually!

I have three days of tours and adventures booked here from tomorrow, so today was a rest day pottering around Reykjavik. After the multicoloured wooden houses of Norway (with grass covered roofs is some places) I was quite surprised to find how modern the architecture was in the world's most northerly capital.  There were two buildings in particular that really stood out.

If you want to show the world that you are a modern, progressive, forward thinking city these days you need a stunning opera house or concert venue - Oslo and Cardiff are two amazing examples - and Reykjavik is no exception with the "Harpa" that opened in 2011. Right on the harbour it dominates the city and after having a nose round this morning I decided that it would be nice to attend something there. So this evening I went to see a one man stand up comedy show (in English) called "How to become Icelandic in 60 minutes". It was very good and apparently the one of the main prerequisites of being Icelandic is being able to say EYJAFJALLAJOKULL (the volcano that grounded all the flights in 2010). Actually watching the video footage of newsreaders around the world struggling to report on it was very funny.

The other building is the Hallgrimskirkja a large concrete church on a hill in the centre of the city. Controversial in it's design, you either love it or hate it. I am a fan. The tower is open to the public but I am waiting for the visibility to improve before I go up to take some photos - so watch this space.

 

After a cultural sort of day I'll keep you guessing as to what I'm doing over the next few days but lets hope it gets warm enough to take my coat off.