Iceland - Reykjavík

We woke to a marvelous view of the Silica lagoon. Misty clouds rising into windless air. Postcard pretty.

The bus to Reykjavík was an easy ride of less than hour. We left the central bus terminal and walked up to the top of the city to the Hallgrimskirkja, which, if we interpreted the signs correctly, is a Lutheran church. It was clean, crisp and serene inside. I felt photography was inappropriate in this space, which is unusa as I’ve taken pictures inside any number of churches before.  One really cool tidbit is that someone created a wrought iron frame mounted on a pole through which one can photograph the church. I should have scrunched down just a bit more, but the effect obvious.   

We stopped at the Einer Jonsson Sculpture Garden and were awed by the bronzes. The one I liked best was Memorial to a Lost Airliner. Though I tried several times to get a quality picture, nothing captured the feeling, so I let it go. I’ll try to find a photo on the web later.

Following Marco’s suggestion from yesterday, we wandered down toward the harbor via the closed-off street , the site of the Soup Festival. We missed the festival but did encounter this intriguing lady:
We were intrigued with this housing row as it echoed the famous Rainbow Row in Charleston, SC.
We stopped to salute the Leif Eiricsson memorial, thanking him for finding Vinland!
We shopped in an amusing store: 
We admired the swans and ducks guarding the waterways of the city:
Lunch was at Primo, a marvelous Italian bistro that’s been on this site since 1876. The food was fabulous. The atmosphere intoxicating; it’s been decades since I dined at a restaurant sporting real
tallow candles.

 
Our postprandial stroll offered an inquisitive feline watching a bird, an interesting wharf-side mural,  a potted plant we couldn’t identify and an abandoned hexagonal building we could find no information on:    
A quiet bus ride back to Blue Lagoon and a walk through the lava field to Silica gave the gift of an evening sky reflected on the geothermal pools we passed:

The tour companies declined to schedule Northern Lights tours tonight, so we have only one more chance. Fingers crossed!,,
An aside: Our hotel has an efficient, environmentally sound toilet flushing system - large and small buttons reflect toilet use!