European Odyssey
- A 1-Hour Zodiac Boat Tour of Jökulsárlón Glacier Lagoon
- Exploring Breiðamerkursandur (Diamond Beach)
- A walk to Svartifoss in the Skaftafell Nature Reserve
- A brief visit to Vík and the Reynisdrangar basalt stacks
- Ending the day with a great meal in the town of Selfoss and a night in the Guesthouse Lambastadir which had a great view.
25 May 2024: Iona – A Thin Place
Celtic Spirituality and Ancient Christianity
Iona is often described as a ‘thin place’, a concept from Celtic spirituality.
A thin place is a location where the veil between the physical and the spiritual realms is particularly thin. In such places you get a heightened sense of spiritual awareness and connection. This is part of the great appeal of Iona, in addition to the sheer physical beauty of the place.
St Columba established a monastery on Iona in the 6th century. It became a centre for the spread of Christianity throughout Scotland and beyond.
Today, Iona Abbey is the spiritual home of the Iona Community, an ecumenical Christian religious order, whose headquarters are in Glasgow.
The Abbey is a popular site of Christian pilgrimage.
23 May 2024: Hallgrímur’s Church and Harpa Concert Hall
Exploring Reykjavik
We started the day early with a visit to Hallgrímur’s Church. Cathy had missed out on our first day in Reykjavik due to Covid. We especially wanted to go up the tower to see the views over Reykjavik.
The plan was then to walk down the hill to the Old Town and on to meet our harpist friend Élisabet at the Harpa Concert Hall.
On the way we:
• Discovered some rather good street art.
• Visited two of Iceland’s national galleries.
23 May 2024: Reykjavik Street Art
Not All Good Art Lives Indoors
We started the day visiting Hallgrímur’s Church because Cathy had missed out on our first day in Reykjavik recovering from Covid.
As we walked down the hill towards Old Reykjavik to visit a few galleries and then meet up with our friend Élisabet at the Harpa concert hall, we noticed there was a lot of rather good street art.
23 May 2024: Reykjavik Galleries
Iceland’s National Galleries
We decided to wander around and see what we could find before meeting up with our friend Élisabet at the Harpa Concert Hall in the afternoon.
We did a lot, so there will be a few posts.
This post is about our visit to two of Iceland’s national galleries:
Listasafn Íslands (National Gallery of Island)
Safnahúsið (The House of Collections)
There is some excellent art on display with an Icelandic feel.
22 May 2024: Old Reykjavik, Blue Lagoon & a Harp Recital
Vikings, Silica and a Harp
Today we explored Old Reykjavik and made some wonderful discoveries.
In the late afternoon we went to the Blue Lagoon and in the evening we heard a lovely recital of harp music.
21 May 2024: The Golden Circle
Kerið - Gullfoss - Geysir Strokkur - Þingvellir
The Golden Circle is a popular scenic route, within a day’s drive from Reykjavik, that features several major sites including the Gullfoss waterfall, the Haukadalur geothermal area with the erupting Strokkur geyser and Þingvellir National Park.
👍 Today we discovered what is now my favourite waterfall: Bruarfoss.
We started the day with a visit to Bobby Fischer’s grave, followed by the Kerid Crater.
We ended the day back in Reykjavik.
20 May 2024: Jökulsárlón & Svartifoss (South Iceland)
Jökulsárlón Glacier Lagoon – Diamond Beach – Svartifoss – Vík – Selfoss
This was a huge day. 👍
19 May 2024: Egilsstaðir to Höfn (Southeast Iceland)
We Took a Punt
To avoid driving back Egilsstaðir to use Highway 1, we took a short cut through the mountains. It turned out to be quite an adventure and we got a great close up view of the landscape.
The weather continued to be overcast and snowy. It was pretty miserable with poor visibility, so after lunch in Höfn we headed to our accomodation.
18 May 2024: North to East Iceland
Snow, Waterfalls and Mud Pools
A day of snow, waterfalls, a beautiful lake, mud pools and fumaroles, and hot baths.
The forecast was for 2° C and the possibility of snow. Well, they got that right.
17 May 2024: West to North Iceland
Lava Cave and on to Akureyri
Although not fully recovered from Covid, we set out from Reykjavik in high spirits.
We had booked an activity: visiting Iceland’s largest lava cave at Viðgelmir. It was a 2-hour drive (137 km) from Reykjavik so we got to see a lot of stunning Icelandic landscape.
After Viðgelmir we had a 4-hour drive on Highway 1 to Akureyri in the north of Iceland. Even more stunning landscape.
15 May 2024: Hallgrímur’s Church (Reykjavik, Iceland)
A Church Like No Other
We arrived in Iceland in the afternoon on Tuesday 14 May. We had booked a hire car and drove to our Airbnb in Reykjavik.
On Wednesday Cathy stayed in bed while recovering from Covid. We were meant to have dinner with Cathy’s friend Élisabet (an Icelandic harp player) from 40 year ago in Holland, but we had to cancel. We did catch up with her after our circumnavigation of Iceland.
In the late morning I headed up to the Hallgrímskirkja (Hallgrímur’s Church) and was delighted to learn there was an organ recital at 12:00pm. I recorded the performance on my iPhone and the result is not too bad (links to the recording at the end of this post).
13 May 2024: The National Gallery
A National Treasure
After The Last Caravaggio exhibition we decided to explore the rest of the gallery.
It turned out to be a great idea.
13 May 2024: The Last Caravaggio
An Enduring Storyteller
National Gallery - The Last Caravaggio
We queued up in stages to finally enter a small darkened room with just two paintings and a manuscript. The number of people in the room at any one time was carefully monitored, which made the waiting and queuing worthwhile.
The wall texts tell the story of the sad end of Caravaggio’s life. This passage really struck home for me:
Like his life, Caravaggio’s final painting is characterised by darkness and violence, but it bears witness to the enduring power of his storytelling.
12 May 2024: Oxford - A City of Colleges and Churches
Around Oxford with a Don
The weather was excellent. The excitement was high. We set off early to Paddington Station to catch the train to Oxford.
We met up with Josh Getzler, an ex-student of mine, who had agreed to show us around. We were also going to play some duets in one of the college chapels. I am always keen to try out new acoustics.
As an Oxford law don, Josh was able to talk our way in to some colleges usually denied to tourists.
We also had tickets for a chamber music concert at the historic Hollywell Music Room at 3:00pm, followed by a 6:00pm Evensong at Magdalen College.
A big day out.
11 May 2024: Legion – Life in the Roman Army
A Great Exhibition
After the Michelangelo exhibition at the British Museum we grabbed a quick bite to eat and decided to go to the other special exhibition — Legion: Life in the Roman Army.
I wondered what Cathy would think of a military-based exhibition. It turns out she was as fascinated as I was.
The dome over the courtyard is always impressive.
11 May 2024: Michelangelo: The Last Decades
A Man of Many Parts
Michelangelo di Lodovico Buonarroti Simoni (6 March 1475 – 18 February 1564)
Michelangelo (wikipedia)
I’m so glad we were able to see this beautiful exhibition.
Michelangelo worked in several art forms. I knew about his sculptures (David and Pietà) and painting (Sistine Chapel Ceiling and The Last Judgement).
I learned from this exhibition that later in life he also turned to architecture (he played a key role in the design of St. Peter’s Basilica) and wrote poetry on art, love, and spirituality (the exhibition includes some manuscripts).
He also did many drawings, especially sketches for his larger works.
9 May 2024: The British Museum
Ancient Faces and Timeless Gazes
I have an abiding interest in Classical Antiquity and earlier, so the British Museum is my sort of museum. I always visit it a few times when in London as it’s only a 10 minute walk from the Cameron flat.
8 May 2024: St Martin-in-the-Fields (London)
An Evensong to Remember
After a pleasant flight from Dubai, we touched down at Heathrow at 7:00 am. Customs was a breeze, and soon we were on the Tube, heading to Covent Garden and the Cameron London flat.
The afternoon was sunny so we decided to have a wander around to see what was happening at the historic St Martin-in-the-Fields (an easy 12 minute walk from the flat).
We were in luck: a Choral Evensong was scheduled to be broadcast live on BBC 3 at 3:00 pm.