Northern Lights and Swans
Hljómskálagarður
It was strange, at least for me, to leave the road and nature and come back to walk on paved roads and wear what I now referred to as “city shoes.” But Reykjavík is so lovely that, while strange, the change wasn’t too difficult to accept. And it’s not like there aren’t any parks anywhere.
The National Gallery of Iceland
The National Gallery of Iceland was originally founded in 1884 in Copenhagen by Björn Bjarnarson, based mostly on gifts by Danish artists, and located in the House of Parliament. In 1916, it became a branch of the National Museum of Iceland, and moved in 1950 to share a space with it. It received its full independence in 1961, and in 1987 moved to its current location, a building originally constructed as an icehouse in 1916.
While there, we saw the work of Hulda Hákon in her exhibition Who are your people?
The National Museum of Iceland
The National Museum of Iceland was established in 1863 with objects that had previously been part of Danish collections. It was called the Antiquarian Collection up until 1911, when the name was changed to the National Museum of Iceland.
For a while, its collection was housed in attics across Reykjavík — in the Cathedral, House of Corrections, Parliament, and National Bank — and later in the attic of the National Library building, which is now the Culture House and part of the museum. In 1944, Parliament decided to give the museum its own building, into which its collection moved in 1950.
Sæmundur í Sparifötunum
After brief stops at Fischer (where we met the cutest dog ever) and the Handknitting Association of Iceland for some souvenir shopping, we grabbed a bite to eat at Sæmundur í Sparifötunum, a restaurant inside Kex Hostel.
I could have just moved in, honestly.
This trip was seriously such a dream, and I’m still pinching myself that it happened and that everything went so perfectly. Iceland is not cheap, but the trip is definitely worth the expense — I’m already planning to go back to this magical land of darkless nights, half-trolls, and neverending moss-covered lava fields. And who knows? Maybe next time I’ll just stay forever.
Gold Colored Fox 