Reykjavik; a new part to the ever expanding island

10th September

Reykjavik is much larger than you realise, but it is spread out with wide boulevards, trees and open grass areas sitting between modern tower blocks, and glass fronted shops. Step to one side and you are confronted with its past, old houses of  corrogated steel and slate, brightly coloured 'frontier style' buildings selling everything from groceries to flash lamps.
It reminds me of a garden city which started not that many years ago and is still expanding because it can.
As it grows ever outwards with its campus style university and large, sprawling airport, its youth allows it to have the very best of everything; up to date hospitals, schools, colleges, government buildings, old people's homes and communities and ever expanding housing estates of apartments growing out of the ground at a rapid rate.
Somewhere in this is the charm of its older buildings which tend to find sanctuary close to the marina.

There is a strict code as to what can be done to the places. The outside can be maintained but not altered, not even windows. Our guide told us she wanted to 'modernise' the windows in her apartment but was told it was a listed building so no changes were possible. Very strict. Wish I could say the same for the UK where listed buildings are often allowed to fall into ruin and then demolished even though they had a preservation order on them originally.

I have probably uploaded this photo before but it is the symbol of Reykjavik and appears on  everything. It is created in this way to represent the lava flow from the volcanoes which are contributing to the expansion of the island. The buttresses symbolise the flowing of the lava.
Its appropriate for this part of the island because its here the Mid Atlantic Ridge comes above ground and is creating new island mass on a continual basis, and it was this I was keen to see.



So, I was off to explore the area around the capital. I'd kinda seen the city itself and it has left me cold, but I was keen to explore the area around and see just what made this part of the island tick.
We made our way to the buses and I was off on a trip with the intriguing title of Vikings, horses and hot springs. Should be interesting.

Our first stop was the Viking museum set in a remote part of the region, not far from Keflavik airport and a place called, Reykjanesbaer. Please, don't ask me to say it! 
What's it like there? Flat, desolate and strewn with the remnants of the last volcanic outpourings.

Once inside the centre I realised what an amazing place it was. There are very few actual remains of the Vikings and their presence, they appear to have taken their belongings with the when they moved on but there was a recreated Viking ship taking centre stage with the public being invited to 'get on board'.
Upstairs, there was an exhibition of the known, and presumed from stories, aspects of their lives gleaned from the scant evidence found in their house remains. 
A funeral boat, full size with a dummy in place (promise, not a real person) under the skins, lay ready to be launched under the volley of fire arrows with his goods surrounding him, which they believed he needed to enter Valhalla.

There were other things as well; these Tupilaks.
They were very distinctive in Greenland it seems and were small carvings made with evil intent. Sent to the enemy with the intention it should kill them, this was the Viking equivalent of the voodoo doll it seems.
An attack by the tulipak was called "devouring of the intestines" and was considered to be the messenger which brought with it the evil spirit whose sole purpose was to eat souls.
Not something the average Viking warrior would want to find in his mail first thing in the morning!
I'm not sure you will be able to read what it says behind the tulipaks but it seems shaman had their work cut out, they were considered the only ones who could lift the curse.Heaven help a shaman who was asked to lift one of these from a warrier who failed to live the day out.

The ship itself was impressive and occupied the majority of the museum. It was well worth exploring and being able to stand on deck and imagine all those people rowing or lashing the sheets tight to the mast was awe inspiring.

standing upstairs, the size of the ship came into clear focus. The sails intrigued me for no other reason than they reminded me of the London barges when they came up the river. This layout of mast and sail obviously worked, so many civilisations ended up using the same/similar system.

Standing at the centre of the ship look in toward the stern. That rudder placement reminded me of the Nile ships.

Amazing sculptures, supposedly giving an idea of what it is believed the Vikings were like at this time in Iceland

All too soon we were given the signal, we had to get back on to the bus. Next stop, Grindavik.

We are certainly covering the miles on this excursion, but it's interesting passing all these small hamlets which look like each other; new, freshly constructed, with state of the art commercial buildings and fishing boats!
Grindavik is just one of these places. If you Google it, you'll probably see the crossroads there, and all there is are low rise buildings hunkering down below the perpetual winds and driving rains and snows.
Having looked from the window of the coach, we drove on, our second stop being the thinnest part of the crust on the island, the hot springs of Krysuvik.
As we got off the coach, I immediately gravitated toward a beautiful pick up truck. Growling, I took photos whilst most people were moving off to look at bubbling mud and hot vapour fumaroles spewing out sulphurous deposits. (One picture of this particular vehicle is now the screen saver on my phone)
There is a specific route tourists were allowed to walk. As the safety talk said, stray of the path, stand on an area which is particularly thin and its possible you might lose your leg. Food for thought.

Looking up at the headland, there was evidence of a recent earth tremor which had caused part of the pathway to be cordoned off. I think if we'd attempted to walk along any of it we could have kissed more than our leg goodbye.
The colours were amazing, ranging from moss green of the vegetation to that sulphur yellow we probably saw in the science labs at school. Set against this backdrop of mosses and grasses, bubbling muds of a most sickly grey, plopped and spat, whilst jostling alongside them, fumaroles gave the area a gentle smell of rotting eggs and something else most unpleasant, almost fishy. The deposits around these pools were both yellow and red from the oxides. Everywhere you walked there were streams of hot water running down toward the road and on colder days, steam would have risen from the whole scene.

Sands had built up over the lava and a dune type environment rolled out over the lower levels. I cannot remember why or where this sand came from but surfeit to say it was present and without the dune grasses would have been airborne long ago.
Like a Japanese tourist, we had long enough to snap and go. We had one more appointment, and the horses would be wanting their tea if we didn't get a move on. So we climbed once more into the bus, with me giving a final backward glance to the grey pick up truck and we left for our final, official stop, Alhestar, near Porlakshofn ( apologies to the Icelanders for possible place name misrepresentation).
The final part of the day, I will finish in my next Blog, I'm still dreaming of 7 litre diesel engines, raised body work and uprated suspension.......😍