Travel Reference
In-Depth Information
1
Icelandic and international
art
, the only permanent exhibition is that dedicated to
the multicoloured cartoon-like work of Icelandic artist
Erró
. There's also a
café
on the
first floor, from where it's worth taking time out to enjoy the view of the harbour and
Mount Esja through the floor-to-ceiling windows.
Volcano House
Tryggvagata 11 • Daily 10am-10pm • 2000kr •
W
volcanohouse.is
Unless of a serious geological bent, you're unlikely to want to give but the merest of
glances to the collection of lumps of pumice, tephra and jasper displayed at the
Volcano
House
. Actually more cinema than museum, it's worth visiting for the twenty-minute
films
of the 1973 Westman Islands and 2010 Eyjafjallajökull eruptions which are
shown every hour on the hour. Although rather grainy, the
Westman Islands
film is the
more interesting of the two, documenting the devastating impact of the eruption on
the island community. The
Eyjafjallajökull
film, whilst outlining the basics of what
happened geologically during the eruption, barely mentions the ensuing chaos in the
skies across Europe; if you're looking for something altogether more comprehensive on
Eyjafjalljökull, check out the National Geographic film shown at the Eldfjallasafn in
Stykkishólmur instead (see p.166).
The harbour
North of Geirsgata, the busy main road which runs parallel to the shoreline, Reykjavík
harbour
is built around reclaimed land - the beach where vessels once landed their
foreign goods is now well inland from here. Street names around here, such as Ægisgata
(ocean street) and Öldugata (wave street), reflect the importance of the sea to the city,
and a stroll along the dockside demonstrates Iceland's dependence on the Atlantic, with
fishing trawlers being checked over and prepared for their next battle against the waves,
and plastic crates of ice-packed cod awaiting transportation to village stores around the
country. Keep an eye out, too, for the black
whaling vessels
, each with a red “H” painted
on its funnel (
hvalur
is Icelandic for “whale”), which are moored here. Paradoxically, the
harbour is also the departure point for
whale-watching tours
(see p.80).
Saga Museum
Grandagarður 2 • April-Sept daily 10am-6pm; Oct-March daily noon-5pm • 1800kr •
W
sagamuseum.is
Housed in a former fish warehouse on the western edge of the harbour, the excellent
Saga
Museum
is Iceland's answer to Madame Tussaud's. The expertly crafted
wax models
of
characters from the sagas and their reconstructed farms and homes are used to superbly
enliven medieval Icelandic life, often a confusing period in the country's history, and
although the entrance fee is steep in comparison to Reykjavík's other museums, it's worth
splashing out to get a genuine sense of what life must have been like here centuries ago.
All the big names are here: Snorri, who even rocks back and forth as he ponders; Eirík the
Red; and Leifur Eiríksson and his sister Freyðis, the latter portrayed slicing off her breast
as a solitary stand against the natives of Vínland who, after killing one of her compatriots,
turned on her - according to the sagas, however, on seeing Freyðis brandish a sword
against her breasts, they immediately took flight. An informative audioguide (included in
the admission fee) explains a little about each of the characters on display - and the
smells of the period which have been synthetically reproduced inside, too.
Harpa
Austurbakki • Daily 9am-midnight • Free •
W
harpa.is
A striking new addition to the Reykjavík skyline, the eye-catching
Harpa
opera
house
had a difficult birth. At the time of the economic crash in 2008, the structure