A Day in Reykjavik, Iceland4 min read time

The Icelandic coast is beautiful for sure, but the European City of Reykjavik has many treasures to be explored, the Solfar Sun Voyager sits right on the city waterfront, making the spot where Vikings claim to have discovered and claimed Iceland for their own.

It’s the middle of August, hot as hell back home in Boston, a trip to Reykjavik, Iceland seemed like the perfect place to cool off. Boy, was I wrong; 75 degrees in the shade and in fact, the day I arrived we landed right in the middle of The Marathon, all the streets are closed and it was also Culture Night. I never saw so many people in the city, this was my 7th time visiting. Truthfully, I love Reykjavik and I will visit again and again, but NEVER in the summer.

Reykjavik City Center mobbed with visitors on August 20, 2016. At this time of year, it’s light out past 10:00 pm.

The next morning, it was back to one of the most beautiful churches in the world; The Hallgrimskirkja Church towers over the city watching over the Icelanders and keeping them safe. This time, I journeyed up the tower to the top of the tower.

Then, back down the elevator, I returned to the main chapel, where I made a photograph inside the church, different from any other time I had been there.

It was a fun morning using my widest lens to take that photo of the church organ; The Sigma 15mm Horizontal Fisheye which was adapted for the Sony A7rII camera with the Sony LA-EA4 Sony A Lens to Sony E Mount Adapter, which allows fully automatic use. That’s the beauty of the Sony A7 system, it can be used with almost any lens from any manufacturer.

I left just after this last photo was taken and was done with the church for now. It was a cloudy day, cooler than the day before, so it was an easy walk around town. I still had my tripod with me and I heard there was yet another smaller church down the street; The Cathedral of Christ the King. A striking, rectangular building which pales in comparison to Hallgrimskirkja, but is beautiful none the less.

Luckily for me, it wasn’t crowded at all which make having an open tripod much more convenient. I did get a very distinct feeling of peace inside, a lovely cathedral after all. The grounds were delightful to explore, a small statue made of metal and glass adorn the courtyard and guard the entrance like an ancient Sentry warning predators to stay away.

It wasn’t late but it was time to head back to the hotel, dinner was soon to come. In this time of year, while it’s light out late into the night, it takes some getting used to. When I come in the winter with my little travel group we have to deal with darkness at 5:00 pm or earlier, so this is welcome and eerie all the same.

Would you like to visit Reykjavik?