Reykjavik, A Unique City:

From the time we stepped off the plane in Iceland I was struck by a sense of calm clean space. No cramped walking spaces. The restroom was a gleaming well lit space that felt as though it was a room prepared for performing surgery. Yesterday on a 15 minute walk from our apartment to the old downtown area and back traffic appeared to lack urgency. The route we walked we saw very little traffic.

None of the cigarette butts and scattered paper on the streets that we saw in Porto was visible. Buildings were visibly cleaner on the outside, almost without exception, than what we saw in most of Europe.  This is a very ethereal and probably unsubstantiated claim, but the city just feels good. Even in the moderately crowded touristy streets of the old town we did not feel harried. It crosses my mind that part of this presentation is that alcohol is not readily available and very expensive. It is a state controlled enterprise designed to keep crime low and people healthy. Does it work, hard to say.

The city is a mix of rather plain living spaces, a few cool older buildings and some incredibly cool architectural marvels like the Harpa concert and conference hall.  It is the glass building pictured below, with two photos from the inside.

Here is a series of 4 buildings in the same block on one of the downtown streets.

We saw a good number of sculpture/statues strolling through town, and a few interesting murals.

I realize this is a lot of pictures of sculptures, but I have been blown away by the beauty, artistry and ambience of Reykjavik. Not only the sculptures, but a huge number of green spaces, broad streets and pedestrian walkways.

And now for the murals.

How many cities have a large lake in the middle of the city that is not for human use. This lake is a wildlife viewing refuge. No boats, no swimming. Very cool. Lots of bird watchers.

I leave you to ponder this question. “does art mirror life, or does life mirror art?”