One of the interesting aspects of Reykjavik is the plethora of public art in the city, both official and unofficial.

I'll deal with the former in a future post, but I thought I'd show some of the latter images we saw during our trip. All were from the "101" district in the core. The second image was constructed with what looked like sequins to produce the "mountain top". In a light breeze, the top shimmered, a very nice effect (there was a second piece about a block away from that one, which I presume was done by the same artist).

The top of the mountain is constructed of a series of sequins. I was looking at some Flipboard sites tonight and found an article on the artist -- see "Shimmering Sequins Street Art". 

Seen on the Streets

While out and about, we saw the following shops that we thought were suitable for photos:

"Bad Taste" was a small CD shop (about the size of a small one bedroom apartment, with an impressive selection of local and international acts. We spent a little time in the store on our final day in Reykjavik, getting the shopkeepers advice on who was doing interesting things in Iceland. Ended up with a couple of CDs by "Sin Fang" ("Summer Echoes") and "Rökkurró" ("i annan heim").

Of the two, I prefer the former. It's very reminiscent of some of Bill Nelson's early solo work, especially the first track "Easier". The Rökkurró CD is pretty, but a little too ethereal.

Continuing in a somewhat musical vein, we ended up in another church (Frikirkjan) later in the week. It was quite a bit simpler and smaller than the Hallgrimskirkja, but did have a fairly impressive pipe organ for the size and was also the venue where Sigur Ros burst onto the scene at the 2000 Airwaves festival. Met an incredibly friendly woman there who told us all about the church and much more besides.

Random Notes -- The Icelandic Diet

Generally, we were able to eat fairly well while we were in Iceland, although meals out tended to be a relatively pricey option. 


It was difficult to find restaurant meals that didn't set us back $70 or $80 or more, even without the addition of beer or wine or any other "extras". The most economical places tended to be vegetarian places (and, as it turned out, they also featured some of the best food). Beyond that, there were ubiquitous fast-food places, with pizza at the top of this section of the food chain and descending rapidly into places like Taco Bell or KFC (to their credit, though, they seemed to have been able to prevent McDonald's from gaining a foothold).


Besides fish, lamb was the big item on the Icelandic menu. Comfort food for them was a hearty soup made with lamb that was quite delicious. A hamburger was also a fairly common item on the menu. Here's a shot of burger and fries that we had at one restaurant, just like home except that 1) it's an open-face sandwich, 2) the meat is lamb shank and 3) the fries are root vegetables. It was excellent! 

As far as fish restaurants go, there were a number of higher-end restaurants available, but we were told we should pay a visit to the Saegreifinn ("Sea Baron"). A variety of fishes (and minke whale as well) is available as kebabs -- you indicate what you want from a cooler and they grill it on the spot. Drinks are available in another cooler and you sit at roughly hewn benches, sitting on barrels. It was simple to extreme and was worth the visit.

Inside of the Sea Baron

Seating fit for a Sea Baron

One thing we quickly got used to was the Icelandic propensity for sugary drinks and desserts. 


Iceland is apparently the world's largest per-capita consumer of Coca-Cola. Grocery stores devoted lots of shelf space to soft drinks and a plethora of chocolate bars and other candies.

In restaurants, desserts usually featured creamy cakes accessorized with mounds of whipped cream and chocolate sauce. We learned very quickly to add a request to pass on the cream and sauce. That way, madness and Type 2 diabetes lay. 


On the plus side, there were a number of excellent coffee places near the hotel. Prices were slightly higher than Toronto and the quality was consistently good. Coffee would be a fairly expensive habit in Reykjavik, though. I saw ground coffee in one shop for 1500 krona for 250g, or about $30 a pound. 

Crossing Continents

During our last couple of days, we went out on a mini-road trip of our own, renting a car and heading out of town. 


The hotel recommended a rental company called Atak, which had a variety of vehicles available for rent; everything from Suzuki Altos (very similar to a Toyota Yaris) up to large 4x4s.  Many of the vehicles had manual transmission and, as I'd never driven a "stick", we went with an automatic. Off we went in a Suzuki Swift, GPS at the ready and looking for adventure.

The first trip was to the south-west area of the island, passing through a number of small villages before heading deep into the lava fields south of the Kevlavik airport. 

Dry dock

Lighthouse? 

Heading South

Although it was sunny, the temperature was only a degree or two above zero. Under normal circumstances, it would have been a cool day. At the same time, we were greeted by some of the strongest winds I'd ever experienced. 

Opening the door of our rental car was an effort if we tried to open it against the wind. As we soon discovered, trying to open the door when the window was coming from behind the vehicle was dangerous. Without a firm grip on the handle, the door would fly open as far as the hinge would allow.

The territory south of Kevlavik is quite unreal, resembling photos from the surface of the moon or Mars. Black ash covers a lot of the ground and the wind can create thick ash storms. 

In the middle of this territory is the "Bridge Between Two Continents", a metal bridge spanning the rift between the American and European tectonic plates. In addition, the rift is slowly pulling apart and Iceland is growing at a rate of about 2.5 cm per year.

The Bridge Between Continents 

Midpoint of the bridge

Rock Formation near the Bridge

Walking on the Moon (Icelandic version)

Rock Formation (detail) 

Area around the Bridge

Close to this area is a massive geothermal plant, making this even more of a science-fiction landscape. In addition, there are markers around the area which show the distance to each of the planets in the solar system. Not sure why they were put there (perhaps another example of the Icelandic sense of humour) and I have yet to come up with anything through Google.

The Mars Marker (one of a series)

We ended up at the southern port town of Grindavik before heading back in the rapidly advancing twilight. Grindavik is sheltered by a pair of mountains to the north. The valley in which it is situated is fertile compared to the area around the bridge. In the twilight, we passed a set of greenhouses, glowing with a warm yellow light in the approaching darkness. 

Imagine Peace

Reykjavik is home to an annual celebration of peace that was initiated by Yoko Ono. Coinciding with two major milestones in John Lennon's life -- the dates of his birth (Oct 9) and his death (Dec 8), the celebration is principally a focused set of spotlights on the nearby island of Viðey, which creates a tower of light visible for miles around. 

Imagine Peace tower from Viking Ship sculpture, Reykjavik 

There are other smaller scale recognitions of the project, mostly taking the form of paper wishing trees in galleries and shops (a wish tree is a metal skeleton festooned with small White squares of paper, upon which people write a wish for the future). You can see a photo stream of the wish trees associated with Imagine Peace here. 

Ono also played the Airwaves festival with the 2011 edition of the Plastic Ono Band. Her son, Sean Lennon, also played with his band, The Ghost of a Sabre-Tooth Tiger. 

Brennivin

[A note from the management: I spent some time on the trip back to Toronto creating a number of blog entries, which will appear over the next day or so. Also added a bunch of photos to some of the previous blog entries for embellishment and which had the unintended consequence of scrambling the early order a bit (a blog on "shuffle")].

The national beverage of Iceland is called Brennivin. The Wikipedia article makes a somewhat charming reference to its "dubious reputation"; on its label it refers to its appearance as one of the first liquours to be available after the repeal of Prohibition in Iceland in 1935. The product was released in a green bottle with a very plain black label, apparently to make it unattractive to consumers. Unfortunately it had the opposite effect and became quite popular. 

Brennivin is known affectionately as "black death" (svarti dauði in Icelandic) and has a taste not unlike schnapps, although there is a strong taste of caraway seeds and other herbs. Best drunk cold or as a chaser with beer or following a type of prepared shark meat called hákarl, it's definitely an acquired taste.

2008

Invariably, conversations with the locals end up with some discussion about how things have changed since the financial collapse in Iceland in 2008. Everyone we talked to was affected in some direct way by the collapse. Some had their wages cut as a result; many were saddled with having to deal with mortgages based on pre-2008 prices against properties that were suddenly worth a fraction of that amount.

"2008" exists in time for Icelanders like the Mid-Atlantic Rift exists in the terrain of their island -- there is a clear gap between then and now or there and here. At the same time, there is clearly affluence in Reykjavik that can not solely be explained by the arrival of visitors from abroad. We've been trying to figure out what this is based upon, but have not yet found the answer.

As a final comment, it makes the continuing story of the Occupy Wall Street demonstrations and their sibling movements in other locations pale by comparison. The protestors at the various "Occupy" events have their reasons for being there, but the reality of the Iceland situation is more keenly felt (and continues to be felt) here.

Iceland Airwaves 2011

Iceland Airwaves is a five-day music and cultural festival that takes over the downtown core of Reykjavik in mid-October each year. Although the size of the audience is relatively small (approximately 6000 people are taking part), the festival has a well-earned reputation for the strength of its line-up and an ability to create events that become legendary over time. 2011 is the 13th Airwaves festival.

It wasn't in our plans originally, but the dates we picked for the trip overlapped Airwaves. Unfortunately, the wristbands used to gain access to the ticketed events were sold out by the time we booked our airfare. At the time, we thought that we might be able to get into some of the smaller events (we gave up on the main attraction this year -- a six-show residency by Bjork at Harpa).

Turned out we didn't need to worry. Airwaves has a secondary "off-venue" program, featuring many of the acts that are part of the ticketed program. The off-venue events are short sets, typically 30-45 minutes in length and are set up in traditional (bars, halls) and especially non-traditional places like art galleries, bookstores and youth hostels. One Wednesday afternoon, we saw an American two-piece band called "Low Roar" (slow, atmospheric ballads), Ljosvaki (80's style dance synth pop) and Lara Runars (Icelandic folk-pop), all in the space of about 90 minutes.

After Low Roar's set, I had a moment to talk to the singer (a guy named Ryan Karazija). I complimented him on their set and he was kind enough to give me a copy of their CD (I wasn't carrying any hard currency on me at that time). It's definitely one of the best CDs I picked up on the trip (my other current favourite is the soundtrack to a film called "Draumalandið", by Valgeir Sigurdsson (see below). The CD was released earlier this week and is worth a listen.

Low Roar at a Youth Hostel

Youth Hostel, Exterior

Lara Runars, Eymundsson Bookstore

The festival reminds me of some of the better music programs at Harbourfront, in that walking through the downtown area is an immersive experience, although on a much larger scale.

Last night we went back to Harpa to catch a performance of the Icelandic Symphony Orchestra as well as a performance of Steve Reich's "Different Trains" by the International Contemporary Ensemble. This was the orchestra's first performance at Airwaves and provided them (and us) an opportunity to hear them in their new home in the main hall of the new facility.

The orchestra played pieces by two modern Icelandic composers -- Valgeir Sigurdsson and Daniel Bjarnsson (Bjarnsson also conducted the pieces). The pieces showed the qualities of the hall to its advantage. Even in the most dissonant passages, the sound was clear and it was easy to discriminate between individual sections of the orchestra, in particular the strings -- there were some lovely transitions from very loud sections, where the string section led you through to the following quieter sections.

During the two intermissions, we also were able to take in an Icelandic rockabilly band called Skuli Mennski playing on the main level and a DJ spinning tunes on the area outside the hall. A musical smorgasbord!

We're hoping to catch some more music before the weekend is out.

Random Notes -- Security and Sanitation

Some odds and sods on Reykjavik.

In the five days we've been here, I've seen exactly one police cruiser. Aside from the passport control gents at Keflavik Airport, there has been no visible police presence (and, apparently if we do see one, they will not be carrying guns). What makes this all the more remarkable is that we're in the middle of Iceland Airwaves 2011 right now, so the downtown core has a few thousand extra inhabitants, all looking for the latest thing and hoping to get a beer ot two to go with it (more on Airwaves shortly).

On a somewhat related note, aside from a fairly aggressive street art contingent (both good and bad), Reykjavik is one of the cleanest cities I've ever seen. We were on a tour today and one of the other participants mentioned that he had spent the previous night at Airwaves gigs and noted the refuse outside the various bars and clubs at the end of the night, refuse that was removed quietly and thoroughly by the next morning. They either have the most inconspicuous cleaning staff around or there may be some truth to all the stories about little people that abound on the island.

Harpa

Towards the end of Tuesday, we walked along the harbour to the Harpa Concert Hall. Harpa is one of the newest and most striking additions to the Reykjavik skyline and was opened in August. We were looking at a book on Iceland earlier today and they commented that the funding for the building came through just before the Icelandic economy collapsed.

It's a jaw-droppingly beautiful building. The interior of the building combines austere black surfaces of the walls and floors with a ceiling of silver, reflective panels, mammoth flying staircases and an exterior curtain wall of glass set in a honeycomb pattern of steel braces.

Harpa Concert Hall (exterior)

The ceiling

Interior, leading up to restaurant

Interior, outside the Eldborg Hall 

It must be absolutely stunning at night. We will find out tomorrow. We've got tickets for a special performance of the Icelandic Symphony Orchestra as part of the Iceland Airwaves festival (and we'll also have a chance to hear what the main hall sounds like).

Einar Jonsson

Across the street from the Hallgrimskirkja is a museum devoted to the work of Icelandic sculptor Einar Jonsson.

Although the museum was closed, a sculpture garden containing bronze casts of Jonsson's work (Jonsson worked primarily in plaster and the casts were done after his death) was accessible.

The garden contained numerous examples of his work. Some were clearly commissioned pieces for others. Although the craft was there, they were nowhere near as interesting as some of the pieces that Jonsson did to explore his faith and mortality. These pieces (notably one called "Skuld" (Fate)) and "Thor Wrestling with Old Age") were a little macabre yet emotionally powerful works.

Skuld (detail)

Thor Wrestling with Old Age 

Sculpture with Jonsson Museum & Hallgrimskirkja in background

Walkabout

Tuesday was our first day to explore the city. We did a loop around the core area. It was a beautiful fall day in Reykjavik, sunny, little wind and dry.

One of the first stops was a bookstore called Eymundsson, a chain that is not that dissimilar to Indigo in that it sells books, "lifestyle" items and has a small cafe inside (there are a number of bookstores in our area -- beside the hotel is an independent shop called Mal og Menning, which proudly proclaims its ranking as one of the best 12 bookstores in the world, courtesy die Berlinnske Tidende). While we were there, I saw a table with the collected works of Fridrik Thor Fridricksson and a copy of "Cold Fever" ("Á köldum klaka") is packed and ready to come home with us.

We walked up to the main church in Iceland, the Hallgrimskirkja. Although only completed in 1974, the church has become one of those iconic presences in a city -- the tower is visible from many locations in the city and is a focal point for visitors.

Hallgrimskirkja from the base of Skólavorðustigur

Side view of Hallgrimskirkja

Church tower (detail)

The scale of the place is massive and the interior carries very little ornamentation. Large windows flood the chapel with light, reflecting of the plain white walls. There is a gigantic pipe organ at the north end of the chapel -- we understand that there is a weekly organ recital on Fridays which we will try to attend to get a sense of what the room sounds like.

Church interior, looking toward the pipe organ

Church organ (detail)

A 74m church tower is accessible to visitors and provides a commanding view of the surrounding territory. The observation level is just below the church bells and the bells struck the time while we were up there. The sound was both exquisite and overwhelming.

View from church tower south towards Perlan ("The Pearl")

View from church tower towards harbour

In front of the church is a statue of Leif Eriksson by Alexander Stirling Calder, a gift of the US government that actually predates the church.

Hallgrimskirkja with Eriksson statue

Settled in

We landed around 06:30 this morning, the sunrise only starting to become visible as a lightening of the sky at the eastern horizon.

Clearing customs was a breeze and then we boarded one bus to go from the gate to the baggage claim area and, once re-united with our stuff, boarded another bus for the trip to the Reykjavik bus station and a switch to a mini-bus for the final trek into town and our hotel.

The area between Keflavik airport and the bus terminal is quite barren, a lava field dusted with early morning frost (the temperature was -2, a small change from the 26 degrees in Toronto on Sunday). Homes dotted the fields. If there was a master plan, it wasn't immediately apparent -- homes looked they like had been dropped from the sky at random. The following image will give you a small idea of the terrain. It was taken on our trip out to the airport on the 19th:

As we crossed the city limits, the traffic increased dramatically. For all the Ontario politicians who complain about the "war on the car", they haven't seen a Reykjavik rush hour. Streets in the core are all mostly one-way and barely wider than a car-width.

We arrived at our hotel/apartment (the Room with a View) about 8:30, checked in and immediately crashed (we'd been up since early Sunday morning without a break). The day started for real about 4 pm.

The hotel was in the 101 Reykjavik area of town (i.e. the 101 postal code) on a street called Laugavegur. Laugavegur is full of restaurants and cafes, as well as several jewellery and clothing stores and a selection of touristy places, both at the low and high end of the economic scale. The street looks like this:

Things That Make You Go Hmmm....

I was listening to a collection of Icelandic artists on the plane's media system, part of which was a section on the upcoming Iceland Airwaves festival. The title of the first piece was "Lay Down in the Tall Grass. The title was familiar, but no artist was listed. It should have been. It was Timber Timbre, a band originally from Toronto (there are several Canadian bands at Airwaves). You're never far away from home.

The journey

Stepping on to the plane yesterday evening was like immediately crossing a border into Icelandic territory. The headrests in the aircraft are printed with Icelandic phrases; each seat had a blanket at the ready and a small pillow with an Icelandic lullaby in both their language and English.

The captain's announcements were delivered in Icelandic first, then English, then in a game attempt at French. The first was absolutely musical -- it's an aurally pretty language to listen to. The musicality extends itself to their use of English as well.

I typed this note while listening to a selection of Icelandic musical artists on the plane's entertainment system -- some like Bjork, Sigur Ros and Jonsi, I knew very well. I recognized some names; others were completely new to me and may end up as new additions to our music library.

The passengers were a real mixed bag. Some are residents returning home. There was a strong contingent of younger hipsters who appeared to be heading to the Iceland Airwaves festival that is playing in Reykjavik later this week. And, in the set of three seats across from us were three priests. Not sure if they were heading to Airwaves but you never know. And then there was Sherri and I.

Each of Icelandair's fleet are named after a volcano on the island or surrounding territory. Wasn't able to catch what name our plane was, but it struck me as a little bit odd that our plane was named after a large exploding object.

Why Iceland?

My interest in Iceland was probably started with film! Although I was well aware of Bjork and her previous band,The Sugarcubes, before that.

One of the first Icelandic films I recall seeing was probably "Cold Fever" by Fridrik Thor Fridriksson. It's about a young Japanese man who has to travel to Iceland to commemorate the deaths of his parents in Iceland seven years before. 

The first scenes, set in Japan, are shot in a classic 1.33:1 aspect ratio. The frames are stuffed with detail, creating an overwhelming feeling of claustrophobia. 

The next scene is of an aircraft landing at Keflavik (the same airport we flew to). The aspect switches immediately to 2.35:1, the wide-screen image and open space delivering a sharp shock to our systems, just as the experience is for our young protagonist. It was exhilarating.

As the man struggles to reach the spot where his parents died, he gradually has everything stripped away from him -- he gets lost, his vehicle breaks down, etc. By the time he reaches the spot, he only has himself and his memories. 

Full of the harsh beauty of the Icelandic countryside along with the somewhat harsh humor of the locals, it made a pretty strong impression on me. Over the years, I've generally tried to see any films from Iceland that appeared at TIFF (there are typically one or two a year). 

The attraction to Iceland is multi-faceted for me. I find the barren geography quite beautiful. That, aligned with the fierce independence of the people, is a powerful combination.

When our thoughts turned to ways of commemorating our 50th birthdays, something out of the ordinary seemed appropriate and Iceland fit the bill. And we're off!