Art, artists and more

So much to see in Reykjavík - and surprises everywhere!

After we had enjoyed some ice cream from the recently opened and very popular Valdís Ice Cream Parlor at Grandagarður, we took a look at galleries and workshops along the street. Suddenly I saw a person I recognized inside one of the workshops! There was Valgarður Bragason, a friend of my husband from college! His girlfriend, Hulda Vilhjálmsdóttir, is a talented artist and they told us they've had this workshop open for three years. Her paintings and artwork are very interesting, see examples: 1 + 2 + 3. They've also done some performing art together, see example on Youtube. Very nice to meet them and have a little coffee-chat to catch up since we haven't met him for a few years now.

The rest of the day was spent in the garden at Hnitbjörg, in the tower of Hallgrímskirkja and walking around Þingholtin, Tjörnin and Grjótaþorp (literally Rocks' Village, this is one of the oldest neighbourhoods in Reykjavík. The name does not refer to the building material, as the houses there are mostly timber houses, but to a small farm which used to be located there, called Grjóti, or Rock).