Pride

Repost from 2008: Happy Gay Day to all! Here's Rósa and her band Sometime having a glittering blast on wheels during today's Gay Pride parade. Tonight the town belongs to the Rainbow and anyone and everyone who's ready to party on til dawn...

In honor of our annual Gay Pride festival I've changed the colors of our title to reflect this weekend's festivities : ) We'll be out and about again this year, enjoying the rainbow colors and overall happy vibes that fill Reykjavik during this weekend's celebrations. The parade route has been changed this year because Laugavegur just can't handle the ten of thousands who gather to take part anymore. A happy problem! Hopefully we'll get another colorful photo from today's festivities to share with you all. For now, listen to the Gay Pride song for 2011, by Icelandic diva Hera Björk.

Side note: Takk innilega for all your support! We've gone over the six-digit mark for views, and it looks like about half are return visitors, half new. View count numbers don't take into account reader/rss traffic, so we can be sure that Iceland Eyes has many more visitors than those that show. Keep coming back, and be sure to let me know if you have a photo, story or video of Iceland that you'd like to share with the world (you can contact me at icelandeyes@gmail.com : ) Hope you all have a Wonderful weekend...be sure to hug the ones you're with!

Kick

It's been a rainy Verslunarmannahelgi all around the country but that didn't stop us from enjoying a casual game of Soccer Pool at Reykjavik's Faktory pub/club.

If it's real pool you want Bar 46 is the best place downtown to shoot. It's warm and clean and doubles as an art gallery, giving your game that little added touch of culture.

Have you tried Dynamic Viewing yet? Five new views in all. 

Cozy

A charming weekend tableau at Tíu Dropar café : )

Midnight

Reposted from July 2008: An odd and deep fog is settling over Reykjavik this evening, muffling sounds and blocking the lovely midnight sunset from sight. That reminds me of something my Amma Ásta once said to me, "I don't understand it when people say the sun has finally come out; the sun is always there. It's the clouds that come and go."

So the sun is glowing warm and bright behind the evening's fog, as it was around midnight last week when I spotted this group of teenage visitors walking the path along the bay, enjoying the last rays of the day.

No fog for us these days except possibly regarding, once again, the future of Iceland on the international front. If you haven't already, go check out our facebook page for some idea of a few of the issues now on the table for our little mighty island.

Flight

GUEST PHOTOGRAPHER: Árni Grétar

On a weekend of loss and chaos a Kría, or Arctic Tern, soaring through the heavens seems a thing of purity and grace. This tiny bird may fly, in it's 30 year life span, nearly 1.5 million miles, an example of constancy that seems lacking in our mortal lives. As our world grow more complex we do right to look to the skies and marvel at the beautiful wonders that have for millennia inspired us to dream of flight. Ethereal, impossible, perfect, a bird symbolizes what we can be when we allow ourselves to believe that there is more to this existence than our earth-bound hurts and trials. Peace to the souls lost during these maddening times, and may their spirits fly high for us all.

This shot, taken near Árni Grétar's hometown of Tálknafjörður is an essay in simplicity, and as evocative as the gorgeous ambient music he composes as Futuregrapher. Co-founder of Möller Records, he plays an integral part in advancing the ambient and electronic movement here in Iceland and abroad. Breathe deep, press play, and let his music help your own soul take flight.

One love

For more photos by Árni Grétar, search and follow "Futuregrapher" with the Instagram app.

Metal

As in any city in the world, big or small, some of us metro types forget that there's views worth discovering in those drive-through-on-the-way-to-the-airport suburbs surrounding our glamorous urban lifestyles. Though this might cause me hassle, I'm going to admit that Kópavogur is that kind of place for me, though they do have a new and really cool swimming pool/gym and will soon have a full-blown amusement park in the Smáralind Mall (here you can read Alda's opinion on it's very dubious arial footprint) though I'm having a hard time finding links to back that fact up.

For now, we'll let this picture do, of a metal shop with a very creative owner in the old west bank industrial/harbor area, right across the waters from our lovely beach at Nauthólsvík.

Have you tried Dynamic Viewing yet? Five new views in all. Use the blue tab at the top of the view page to check them all out

Dedicated

Note: technical difficulties! Some of our photos are dropping out, which makes me sad (I'll not point fingers, but it might be a Picasa issue...) I'm fixing it as we speak.
We'll leave our armchair-architectural opinions at the door and just note that many of you who have taken the trip to Geysir and Gullfoss (live webcam!) via Laugarvatn have passed by this church at Úthlíð. It was consecrated in 2006 in memory of Ágústa Ólafsdóttir by her husband Björn Sigurðsson and as such has charming sentimental value that may make up for its (for me) shockingly out of place appearance in the heart of Iceland's historical Saga territory.

I jumped out of our car to take a picture while Óðinn, being an inquisitive five year old, decided, against my strict council, to see if he could take a run around the interior (literally.) Before I knew it I had followed him in and was actually comforted by how warm and comfortable the church is, with a large portrait of Ágústa on the south wall and a colorful modern tableau of Mary, Baby Jesus and a content-looking cow above the altar (painted by the architect, Gísli Sigurðsson, former journalist and brother of Björn) all framed with that natural wood so common in summer houses around the countryside. Before my little klifurmús could climb the final ladder up the bell tower, I was able to snap a few more pictures, have a short moment of silence, and gather him back out into the car. I'm glad he dared to try the door and entreat me to join him inside. Now I have much more respect for a building I would have simply written off as a roadside oddity otherwise.

Macro

Once again, the secret world of our often very barren island shows through in macro. Here, an incredibly well-designed creature, only a centimeter in size, rests on a tiny bloom. This close to the arctic, far from the giant sequoias of California and the lush tropical flora of more southerly volcanic islands (which, beneath their foliage are surprisingly similar to ours) it's small things that hint at Nature's tenacity. Sit, while here, and let your eyes begin to decipher the seemingly endless expanses of low growth that just greens the hillsides of Iceland. You'll soon discover that, almost fractally, what you see is a microcosm of diversity, though sometimes mere millimeters in size.

Arrival

Like a dream come true, Iceland Eyes has made it to the Big Time: printed and bound in a pretty book called Reykjavík, one of two volumes in the Iceland Cool and Crisp series published by Veröld, with more to come.

All the photos in the book are from this blog, though I created the accompanying text to suit the form and intent of the book: something bright and pretty, informative and creative for travelers to take home with them for a decent price. Their editor, Bjarni Þorsteinsson, did a fantastic job of manifesting into physical form two hard-cover excursions into the visitor's Iceland. Kudos to him!

And I have to thank my parents, Þórir and Ásthildur Roff (Thor and Asta) for prompting me often, especially when they were still out in California, to post another photo, to keep on with the blog. Likewise, the steady stream of compliments and comments from around the world, from strangers who believe in and like what Iceland Eyes has to offer, keep me encouraged and inspired to find those sweet visual moments in the bustle of the busy world. Faithful visitors, you know who you are: Many Many Thanks !!! And to my children Valentína and Óðinn: your patience with me as I post is invaluable. When the urge to write takes over and I shush you as I fall into a spell of words, you give me the time to let it happen, even if it means dinner is late. Love and love and love ~.~

Reflect

Painted rainbows and flowers defy the onslaught of frosty arctic winds at the Freyjugata playground near our home. Once again, though, this snow didn't last longer than a day and a night, and has since melted away under drizzly rains.

It is dark in the mornings and evenings, though, and I'm going to offer a little psa* here by highly encouraging visitors in the dimmer seasons to have some kind of reflective item on them while walking about. It may seem nerdy to have a dangling plastic reflector badge pinned to your fancy coat, but it's better than getting hit by a car. Period. Go to a bike store and get something like the stuff seen here and remember to look both ways while crossing, especially at the t-intersection just in front of Hallgrímskirkja. As can be seen in that photo, drivers seriously cut the turn there and we don't want any injured visitors, now do we?

*public service announcement

Lights

The darkness and rains beautifully enhance the winter lights draped among the bare trees of the city. Every year there seems to be more of them, helping to ease us through the season, especially as the snows, with their soft white glow, come less and less frequently.

Skyline Rvk

Good things come in small packages. This definitely fits for the itsy-bitsy city of Reykjavik (expanding suburbs exempt).

After a long weekend in sprawling Paris with its Napoleon III tracts of Hausmann housing running for miles, I'm glad to be back in the heart of a compact metropolis, richer for the experience.

Evening

Out in Grafarvogur, or Grave Valley, a twenty minute drive from downtown Reykjavik, is this little downtownish shopping complex wrapped conveniently around a decent sized parking lot. Its called Spöngin, and surprisingly it's very lively for a suburban mini-mall. It's become what mini-mall designers hope their malls will become: a place to gather, shop and greet. It helps that there's a college, Borgarholtsskóli, a stone's throw away, and a good set of core stores. There's even a gym, filled to the brim on any given Tuesday with the healthy and fit, as seen through the World Class window above.

Read this little article to get a cool view of literary culture surging out of this largest of Reykjavik's many, ever-spreading suburbs. The writers in this Gravarvogur Writers Club prove that explosive things can come out of even the quietest of places.

Net

Just a little eye candy...

This is not the Icelandic national hairdo, but just a fancy net job for a young gymnastics competitor who performed very nicely in her events. Psychologically, the hairdo helps!

Ferry

The Westman Islands, Vestmannaeyjar, are these fanatastic volcanic sculptures rising from the Atlantic just south of Iceland. They are a mere ten to twenty thousand years young, basically the tops of massive magma cones jutting vigorously out of the cold arctic waters at that seam in the earth's crust we call the Reykjanes Ridge.

Getting ready for our retreat from the big island of Heimaey on Sunday after Valentina's (and her team Ármann's) excellent victory in gymnastics, I thought I was all set to discourage anyone and everyone from traveling to Vestmannaeyjar by sea on the ferry Herjólfur. After all, the waters between Iceland proper and the Wetsmans are notoriously unsettling at best and our trip over with two hundred little gymnasts on Friday night had been a gut-wrenching experience. But as the ship left dock we passed through the amazing strait shown above and I changed my mind. The five minute sail past eerie rock faces through calm deep turquoise waters somehow made the impending three hours of probable seasickness seem worth it.

I myself will fly next time I go, and I will go to the islands again. I'd say a flight over then a tour of the archipelago with one of the local boat companies is the way to experience the absolute magic of the Westman Islands in the best possible health. I'm sure the other hundreds of nauseous travelers with me on the ferry rides would agree. Of course if you have to do the ferry, take lots of warm clothing and stand at the rails, taking in the awsome power of the ocean. It kept me fresh and absolutely magnified my respect for those who brave the open seas.



(Here also is an interesting site on techtonic movement. Enjoy!)

Rainbow

A Sunday afternoon scene from the Westman Islands, or Vestmannareyjar, off of Iceland's south coast. I'll go more into detail later on the hows and whys Valentina and I were there this past weekend later, but for now take in the photos at Nick's and Bard's sites and read about these natural gems of the sea at the very attractive Visit Westman Islands site.

Fönn

I've added a hit counter there to the left and the number I chose is not random but an actual Google Analytics assements of visits to my site over the past year. Thanks to all who've dropped by ... 33,000+ visitors in twelve months is definitely not too shabby!

Dusting

We got a light dusting of snow over the weekend, just enough to ensure that everyone not equipped with winter tires slides around a bit while braking and has a hard time of it on inclines. I saw a slow-mo collision on Skólavördurstígur today that was exactly due to this half a centimeter of snow we've gotten, and even though it can be a pain, I'm assuming I'm not the only person in town to hope we get a good meter or two more of the white stuff this year, just like it used to be in the old days.

Dragon

This shop is called Drekinn, or The Dragon, and my dad says it's the new best hot dog place in town. The hip cats who grace the ads on the side of the building are actually the owners and they've done a decent job of sprucing the place up and adding a measure of coolness that most corner shops lack. I still joke with Valentina that she's not allowed to hang out there though, no matter how nice the owners are. I dread the idea of some future her lurking around in front of any shop, smoking cigarettes and drinking half-liter cans of Coke. Thankfully it's not an image that sounds at all enticing to her, either!

I actually initially tok this shot because I thought it was kind of cool that the bakery had left seven boxes of buns and some other vendor a box of something else there on the doorstep on a Saturday morning, and that it was all still intact and undisturbed. I'm t hinking if we had more homeless, poor and starving here those boxes would have disappeared long before I walked by at 9 am.

Happy

Here's a happy Valentina and Marsibil at a fall meeting of the girls who went to the YWCA summer camp Vindáshlíð. I've always thought it unfortunate that the acronym for the Young Women's Christian Society here in Iceland is KFUK (if you can give me the full name I'll give you a gold star!) There used to be an office for the society downtown on Austurstræti when I was a kid visiting my amma, and I was always a little shocked because I wasn't sure if the people who worked there knew what the name looked like to an English speaker. To this day it doesn't sit right with me, though the society itself is a wonderful thing and my daughter certainly enjoyed her stay at their camp this summer.