Reykjavík

We ended the Brenner Bonanza in Reykjavík, a convenient location for easing our relaxed rural mindset back into the hustle and bustle of sidewalks and 2-lane roads.

We visited the new concert hall in Reykjavík, Harpa, and took a small tour. Harpa's a gorgeous building, but was constructed amongst political/economic/social controversy. Nonetheless, the halls have wonderful acoustics, and we attended an AfroBeat concert featuring Tony Allen and an Icelandic funk/jazz band.

The windows are supposed to mimic the basalt columns found along Iceland's coast...There's also something about water? I don't totally remember...Buuut. It looks pretty enchanting when the light shines through.

The architect made the indoors very dark and bland so that visitors would be more inclined to look elsewhere, such as the ceiling or, more importantly, the city. The main goal of the architect was to highlight the city of Reykjavík itself. The windows are purposefully facing away from the ocean and towards the downtown area, in order to frame the city as the focal point.

We went to the Reykjavík Art Museum, which had some amazing exhibits featuring artists such as Erro, Tomi Ungerer, and, my favorite, Sigurður Guðmundsson.

There was also this.

Here's the apartment I got to inhabit during the winter!


Part of my time in Reykjavík was spent preparing for the approaching SIT program. During one excursion we went to the mall and treated ourselves to some tasty ice cream before beginning the grueling shopping process. Afterwards, as we were perusing the aisles of a pharmacy, I heard Felix calling out my name from around the corner. When I found the lil goober, I was greeted by this enchanting and befuddled face:

Minutes later the entire ice cream, cone and all, had mysteriously vanished. Because Felix, quite apparently, is not the most efficient of ice cream eaters, we could hardly fathom that he had consumed the whole thing himself, but could find no trace of the missing ice cream. The cone remains at large.