Day 116 - Reykjavik, Iceland (Day 1)

 Our first of 2 full days in Reykjavik, Iceland. It is the capital of Iceland. The city has a population of about 138,000 and the Metro rea has 250,000.

We had to go through immigration as this was out last port in Europe. We had to go aff the ship to 2 vans on the pier which had 4 immigration officers. After that we could either stay off the ship  or get back on. They called us in groups but it was very chaotic on the ship. We had no excursion today so we took the shuttle to the downtown area and did some walking around.

The Captain announced early in the day  that we would be staying overnight the second day and leaving early the next day because a o low pressure area near Greenland where we are headed next, He want to let some of the bad weather pass before we got there. That gave us a second evening in town. I choose todto a 3 hour whale watching tour out of the old harbor. 

The iconic Reykjavik Church tower stands out above the city

Going through and immigration check on the pier

View from the front deck of the ship. 

Opera House and Convention Center. This is where the shuttle let up off.

At the old harbor where ships used to dock

On our walk up to the church. This street is called the Rainbow Street. 

At the Reykjavik Church

Statue of Lief Ericson. His father founded the first Norse settlement in Greenland. Lief is deamed to be the first European to set foot on North America  (Newfoundland which he called Vinland). He was exiled from Iceland for murdering 2 people.

The back ot the Lief Eriksen Statue

The building where  Mikhail Gorbachev and Ronald Reagan had their Reykjavik Summit in Oct 1986 

The Sun Voyager monument on the waterfront

Great pedestrian an bike paths along the waterfront

I stopped for a local beer

One of the original buildings.

An another local beer once I got back to the harbor.

The first settler in Reykjavik

Dandelions blooming everywhere here in Iceland this time of year

This cargo ship tried to block my view of the sun