Iceland 1

We arrived in Reykjavik (Iceland) Airport in the start of winter we knew it was going to be cold but we were still very excited!

We wanted to get stuck in straight away so we went to Askja a volcano in a remote part of the central highlands of Iceland. Öskjuvatn is a large lake that fills much of the smaller caldera resulting from the 1875 eruption. When the lake originally formed it was warm, but today it is frozen over for most of the year. Víti is a smaller explosion crater on the north east shore of Öskjuvatn. It contains a geothermal lake of mineral-rich, sulfurous, opaque blue water, which is suitable for swimming even though its not a good idea to swim in the craters. It was also formed in the eruption of 1875. It is a gorgeous scenic site and it was a great way to start our trip in  Iceland.

That evening we went to the National Gallery of Iceland as we were feeling tired and wanted to go somewhere near our hostel Reykjavík Hostel Village. It is located in Reykjavík, and contains a collection of Icelandic art which features artwork of famous Icelandic artists and artwork that helps explain the traditional Icelandic culture. It holds rotating exhibitions that reflect its collection or display work by individual artists, Icelandic as well as foreign ones. The NG’s buildings at Fríkirkjuvegur 7 houses several exhibition halls on three floors, an art store and a café. It also has a restoration laboratory and a specialist library, containing archives, documentation, and photographs to the preservation and the dissemination of material that relates to the research field of the institution, i.e. Icelandic art. Personally my favourite exhibition was TREASURES - Beasts in Cages in Room 4. It's a selected modern and contemporary works from the collection based on several master works of the pioneers of Icelandic contemporary art Jóhann Eyfells (1923), Magnús Pálsson (1929) and Dieter Roth (1930–1998) with the addition of works by the generations who followed in their footsteps. I love art so seeing this was a perfect end to my day.