Making Good Use: (N)Iceland

So, where to begin with our trip to Iceland. Well, we were both highly amused to see that the Icelandair plane taking us to Keflavik Airport was called 'Eyjafjallajökull' First of all we thought this must be some massive wind-up by Icelandair but, no, apparently all their planes are called after various volcanoes and glaciers - we just got lucky that the one we travelled in was named after THE most notrious volcano in the Northern hemisphere.

The apartment we rented was in a lovely quite back street yet was only a few minutes walk (or hobble in my case, with my dodgy hip) to the centre of Reykjavik. It was beautiful and had three balconies which gave wonderful panoramic views over the city.

The living space was on the top floor with the bedrooms on the floor below so you could really enjoy the views whilst having breakfast or an evening meal. Everything in the apartment had come from Ikea and we felt right at home when we saw the exact same shoe rack in the hall as we've got in our house.

Here's P enjoying the view from the living room balcony on our first evening. We were both wondering when on earth the sun was going to set and this photo was taken at about 11.00pm. Turns out the sun doesn't set until just after midnight (and reappears shortly afterwards) so I never got to see it as I was always tucked up in bed by that time.

One of the highlights of the trip for me was an afternoon bus tour of Reykjavik and it environs - even though the tour guide described me as 'handicapped' (I was using a walking stick) and so we could park in the handicapped bay!! I'm sure something got lost in the translation there!!!!

The tour included a trip to The Pearl which gives panoramic view of the city and beyond. The actual 'Pearl' bit is a large viewing area and revolving restaurant set atop four huge geothermally heated hot water tanks which supply the city with hot water.

The views from up there were stunning as the air was so clean and clear.

We also got taken out to Seltjarnarnes which is not far outside the city centre at all but which has this wonderful Edward Hopper-esque lighthouse. There were some beautiful houses out this way with stunning sea views.

Of course, no tour of Reykjavik would be complete without a visit to the harbour, and these are some of the whaling vessels berthed there. They haven't been used for forty years apparently and it seems that whale-watching tours are much more commercially viable for the Icelandic than hunting whale these days.

Across from the harbour is the stunning new concert and conference centre - Harpa. This was started in the boom years of the Icelandic banking industry with private funds and is a building of huge excess - 500 different shaped window panes and a £12 million a year bill just to keep the glass clean. As we all know what happened to Icelandic banks in 2008, the citizens of Reyjavik have had to dig deep in their pockets in order to get the building completed.

But it really is something else and something they should be very proud of. It's still not fully completed but it is amazing inside.

I'll be back with (yet) more tales of Reykjavik tomorrow - it's just too disgustingly hot and sticky to concentrate any more today. Phew, I'll be glad when this hideous heatwave breaks overnight.