Reykjavik

Wednesday, 30th of September
The hotel where I am does actually sell access to Internet. In Iceland, in 2009. I got pretty disappointed about that. (Tap water was free.) Moreover, it’s the kind of access where you can basically just surf the web and not do anything remotely exciting like, you know, plugging a cable to upload photos -I might edit this post later. [edited!]

That was the compulsory rant, now let us speak about the city itself. Cold, but not that much, sunny and full of interesting things. In no particular order:

The National Museum of Iceland. Entry is free on Wednesday. Where we learn that there were Vikings, then the Sterlung Age (time of strife), then the Old Covenant bringing the island under the domination of the king of Norway, then the plague, the execution of the last Catholic bishop, the Icelandic Bible, fishing, more bibles and more fishes, nowadays. Ok, I may have taken a few shortcuts, but the point is that the question I had when I entered (what happened between Egill Skallagrimsson and the Fanfest?) was answered by, basically: nothing but fishing and praying.

The Reykjavik Cathedral. I like churches and temples. Europe can be proud of what its builders managed to erect in the Middle Ages and ever since. I also like size in a church. I do not think it is gross: bigger is not necessarily better, but I believe it helps the mind leave the human world behind and reach at the sky. Saying I was disappointed by the Reykjavik Cathedral would be an understatement. Though its age is quite impressive, it looks smaller than any of the churches of the suburb where I was raised. The Ausurvöllur Square in front of the Cathedral is also quite small. Places of historical significance can sometimes fail to impress the hurried passersby.

The Hallgrimskirkja Church. I was looking forward to bask in the huge shadow of the church built between 1945 and 1986. Unfortunately, Reykjavik’s iconic building was wrapped in scaffoldings. Inside, I was happy to discover a very impressive organ.

The Reykjavik Art Museum.
There were wall-sized paintings of frames from films by Lars von Trier and Fridrik Thor Fridriksson -the Chinese artists who draw the frames seem to have been forgotten in the process and that is a shame; even craftsmen deserve recognition; I enjoyed the interesting video installation that was part of the package.
On the ground floor, kind of hidden among shipping crates, there was a series of crude drawings by an artist named Yoshitomo Nara and one member of the graf collaborative. I actually enjoyed the installation, which reminded me of underground comics.
There were other parts in the Museum but I am pressed by time so there is my best memory of Reykjavik so far:

Einar Jónsson Sculpture Garden. This Einar Jónsson was a great Christian sculptor and I enjoyed his sculptures more than anything else in the city. I highly recommend anyone visiting Reykjavik to pay a visit to the garden which is located near Hallgrims Church. I came back to the garden and visited the museum on Sunday (bonus: entrance was free on this day). Here is a picture of one of my favorite sculptures, The Crucible. The message it conveys seduces and inspires me. In the background you can see the museum and even the top of Hallgrims Church.

Sunday, 4th of October: evening at the Blue Lagoon
Along with a few other French-speaking gamers, I spent my last evening in Iceland in the hot (40° Celsius) waters of the Blue Lagoon. I took no pictures but eery is the word which springs to my mind when I try to describe the experience. I remember seeing naked heads emerge from some milky pool, surrounded by clouds of vapor, powerful spotlights checking on people from time to time, the starry night above and the frozen volcanic desert a few meters away. You would have believed yourself in some science-fiction movie, in a soup of clones waiting to escape or be reborn. It was physically enjoyable and the lagoon proved to be a fun place to socialize. I definitely recommend giving it a try.

Icelandic food
I had two or three good meals in Reykjavik. One of them was a catfish plus chocolate cake for dinner on Friday in an Icelandic restaurant (I unfortunately do not remember the name). The other one I keep in mind was my Sunday lunch at Café Loki, in front of Hallgrims Church. The Icelandic meat soup was good and so was the combo flatbread plus some local ham if I remember correctly.
Later on Friday, I also had had some horrific experiences related to rotten shark, the typical Icelandic dish. Just know that when you see this, you need to run!

Who am I kidding? I enjoyed every bit of rotten shark, like a Darsh in The Face, thanks to the local Güll beer!