Leaving Ireland, as we head back to Boston we will visit additional ports in Iceland, Greenland and Canada. We will also enjoy turning the clocks back several times as we head towards home.
Our next stop was Djupivogur, Iceland August 12. It is a small fishing village on Iceland’s east coast, pop 509. The day was cold and overcast as we took the tender boat over to the town.
One of Iceland’s oldest commercial buildings, dating back to 1790, is located here. At one time it was a slaughterhouse and warehouse. Today it is a cafe and museum. We saw very few people and no vehicles. We found a geocache and since it was very cold, we returned to the warmth of the ship.
Displayed In The Museum
Our final Iceland stop was Reykjavik, the capital of Iceland, population 140,000, August 13/14. It is the largest city in Iceland and the world’s northernmost capital city. The first permanent settlement in Iceland is believed to be here, founded by a Norse explorer in 874 A.D.
Seal of Iceland
The famous world chess championship in 1972 between Bobby Fisher and Boris Spassky was here. In 1986 it was the site of the 1986 Summit between Ronald Reagan and Mikhail Gorbechev.
The Church Stands Tall
The city graciously offered free shuttle buses from the port to the center of town. There were two ships in port today so the bus was pretty crowded. The bus let us off at the Harpa Concert Hall which opened in 2011. The building has an interesting colored glass facade which represents the basalt landscape of Iceland.
We found a geocache nearby and then walked down to the Sun Voyager, a steel sculpture resembling a Viking ship. The sculptor hoped to show the promise of undiscovered territory while also signifying hope, progress and freedom. We also found a geocache here!
We continued walking, uphill towards the main shopping area of town. Rainbow Street has a variety of brightly colored houses, shops, cafes, restaurants and galleries. We did a little shopping here for a couple souvenirs.
Our last stop was the Hallgrimskirkja Church, the largest church in Iceland. Sitting on a hilltop, at 244 feet it is one of the tallest structures in the country. Construction began in 1945 and was completed in 1986.
In front of church is a statue of Leif Ericson (970 – 1020) is regarded as the first European to land in North America nearly 500 years before Christopher Columbus.
It is a Lutheran parish church and is visible throughout the city. It was designed to resemble the rocks, mountains and landscape of Iceland. It originally was not supposed to be that tall but the Church of Iceland wanted it to be taller than the Catholic Church of Iceland. There was an observation tower but with two ships in port there was a very long line so we skipped it.
After walking uphill to the church, it was nice to walk downhill to the shuttle stop. We took the bus back and enjoyed the rest of the day on the ship.