Iceland – Reykjavik and Surrounds (Part 1)

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Outskirts of Reykjavik
Typical housing blocks. All quite neat, tidy and functional with large windows to make the most out of the light during the darker months.

 

 

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Functional architecture, Reykjavik
Many buildings in Iceland are not known for their aesthetic appeal. Functionality plays a greater role in their architecture.

 

 

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Functional housing, Reykjavik
A row of basic form housing off Stangarholt Street with the Hateigskirkja Church in the background.

 

 

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Reykjavik
Building off Brauterholt, Reykjavik

 

 

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Hallgrim’s Church and basic housing block
View of Hallgrim’s Church around a housing estate.

 

 

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Reykjavik
Commercial building in Reykjavik

 

 

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Alcoa aluminium plant
Huge aluminium plant between Reykjavik and Keflavik. Aluminium-processing from bauxite requires a large amount of energy.

 

 

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The Blue Lagoon
The restaurant at the Blue Lagoon.

 

 

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The Blue Lagoon
For a small fee, you can bathe in the therapeutic pools of this manmade lagoon heated with excess geothermal energy from the nearby geothermal plant.

 

 

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The Blue Lagoon
And yes, I was careful so as not to drop the camera into the pool!

 

 

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The Blue Lagoon
Ah! This is the life!

 

 

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The Blue Lagoon
Enjoying a manmade waterfall.

 

 

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The Blue Lagoon
If you’re really keen, you can smear this whitish mud all over your face! Suppose to clear bad skin complexion.

 

 

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The Blue Lagoon
Running half-naked from the Blue Lagoon in the wind, I took this shot of the surrounding landscape. Keflavik Airport is actually very near to the Blue Lagoon.

 

 

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The Blue Lagoon
Looking down from my viewpoint by the lava fields, you can see the Blue Lagoon in its entirety.

 

 

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Is this a fish shop?
I liked how spartan this shopfront looked. It reminded me, somehow, of some of the Welsh villages I grew up in.

 

 

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A little bit of Art Deco
Plain grey building in the Art Deco style.

 

 

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Office building, Reykjavik
Spartan office premises with an octagonal frame structure.

 

 

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Rustic old building, Reykjavik
Corrugated building with severely weathered wooden balconies and window frames.

 

 

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Traditional building, Reykjavik
Note the strange cutaway for the window on the corner of the building.

 

 

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Reykjavik Harbour
Cold grey waters from the bay can be seen from Reykjavik’s harbour front.

 

 

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Reykjavik Harbour
A well-weathered sea trawler in Reykjavik’s harbour.

 

 

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Reykjavik Harbour
Reykjavik Harbour seemed rather cold. The ‘cafe culture’ has not made it to the harbourside, but bear in mind, that I was there in June!

 

 

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Reykjavik Harbour
A surprising number of warships were docked in the harbour.

 

 

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Reykjavik Harbour
About the closest thing Reykjavik Harbour will be to becoming a ‘cafe culture’.

 

 

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Reykjavik Harbour
The vast majority of boats in Reykjavik Harbour are either fishing vessels or war vessels.

 

 

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Reykjavik Harbour
Great black fishing trawlers at dock.

 

 

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Reykjavik Harbour
Contrasting colours to corrugated housing gives Reykjavik that much-needed colour.

 

 

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Reykjavik houses
Detail of typical house with its corrugated roof.

 

 

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Reykjavik houses
Completely corrugated housing.

 

 

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What a name!
Almost as bad as Welsh!

 

 

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Pretty house in Reykjavik
One of the prettier corrugated house designs.

 

 

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Catholic Cathedral, Reykjavik
Forboding and colourless cathedral has a particular style of ambience to it.

 

 

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Next to the Catholic Cathedral
Adjacent to the Catholic Cathedral is what seemed to look like some sort of a church school.

 

 

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Catholic Cathedral, Reykjavik
Very plain but effective stained-glass patterns from within the gloomy Catholic Cathedral.

 

 

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Town Centre, Reykjavik
Bright yellow exterior of the Reykjavik Cafe.

 

 

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Town Centre, Reykjavik
Flower shop near the centre of Reykjavik.

 

 

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Austurvoellur, Reykjavik
Central square in the heart of Reykjavik.

 

 

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Austurvoellur, Reykjavik
In the central park in Reykjavik.

 

 

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Rustic wooden exterior
Wonderfully rustic wooden exterior of a building off Austurvoellur, Reykjavik.

 

 

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Hotel Borg, Reykjavik
Reykjavik’s most prestigious hotel in the heart of Reykjavik facing Austurvoellur square.

 

 

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Tjoernin Pond, Reykjavik
Place near the centre of Reykjavik where you can feed the ducks and swans.

 

 

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Houses off Tjoernin Pond
Attractive old housing off the Tjoernin Pond near the centre of Reykjavik.

 

 

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Petrified people on a bench
To give the impression that there are plenty of tourists hanging around Hallgrim’s Church, they’ve added a few bronze sculptures to their park benches!

 

 

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Hallgrim’s Church
More strange sculptures outside the entrance to Hallgrim’s Church.

 

 

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Hallgrim’s Church
They say you either like it or you don’t. Although the concrete looked a little weathered, I though this church had a great design. It symbolizes Reykjavik’s skyline. As with one of my other articles, it reminds me of the creepy pyramidal Ryugyong Hotel in Pyongyang!

 

 

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Hallgrim’s Church
Close-up of the church making the most of the late evening sun.

 

 

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Hallgrim’s Church
Large spacious interior. Most of the time, there was nobody else and you could hear a pin drop as it was so quiet.

 

 

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Hallgrim’s Church
Beautiful organ at the Hallgrim’s Church.

 

 

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Hallgrim’s Church
Even the wooden ends of the pews are shaped appropriately to match the exterior shape of the church.

 

 

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 Grass roof in Reykjavik
Not really normal in the towns, but this is right near the centre of Reykjavik.

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