Wednesday, August 16 - Reykjavik to Snaefellsnes

When we arrived in Reykjavik, this was the view from our room; pretty industrial. It was time to leave the ship, which had been our home for the last 2 weeks. We had a room service breakfast, then departed the ship. At that precise moment, it began raining cats and dogs! We got pretty wet running to the warehouse where our bags were waiting for us to claim.

We didn't know it at the time, but Brock was feeling very sick from COVID!

We were picked up at the port by our Arizona neighbors, Rabby and Kristjan Ragnarsson, who are natives of Iceland. They have a condominium in Reykjavik and a country home called Hnausar in Snaefellsnes. We did disclose to them immediately that Brock was not feeling well and suggested that we retreat to a hotel, but Rabby and Kris would hear nothing of that.

We first stopped by their contemporary condominium, which they have owned for 3 or 4 years. It is in a convenient location off the main drag in Reykjavik. Very sleek looking. But we would be traveling to stay at Hnausar today.

Some of Rabby's glass art work decorated the condominium.

There was a tremendous ocean view out the windows!

This was yet another cruise ship, not ours.

This view looks into town towards the Harpa Opera House.

Interesting lighting in the distance.

There's a great pedestrian path along the water.

This is an enclosed patio where I kept my bags the following night, because they wouldn't fit in the small guest bedroom.

We decided that the pedestrian path looked so inviting, it was time for a walk on it! Here we are outside with Kris and Rabby in the back of the building. His brother owns a unit there too.

In the front and side, there's a lot of construction going on.

This is Hofdi House, which was built in 1909; it was the former French Consulate. It was the site of the Reykjavik Summit held between Ronald Reagan and Mikhail Gorbachev October 11-12, 1986. The summit resulted in the 1987 Intermediate-Range Nuclear Forces Treaty between the U. S. and the Soviet Union, but we became close to the potential elimination of all nuclear weapons. The Summit was seen as the beginning of the end of the Cold War.

This bronze sculpture is entitled "Partnership" and commemorates the 50th anniversary of diplomatic relations between Iceland and the United States. The artist of the sculpture is Petur Bjarnason.

Kristjan was given a replica of the sculpture which he displays in his condominium.

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After our wonderful walk along the pedestrian walkway, we hopped into Rabby and Kris's car and began a long drive (1-1/2 hours) to Stykkisholmur in Snaefellsnes, which is where Rabby's art exhibit is. We made a special request to see her art exhibit.

First, we stopped in this cafe, "Narfeyrarstofa Local Food", for lunch. Both Brock and I had excellent Fish Soup, which was much appreciated!

Rabby's art exhibit was located in the Norwegian House, a very lovely historical building.

Here is the wonderful art exhibit, which occupied the entire first floor of the Norwegian House! Rabby intends to sell these as sets and not individually.

Brock was partial to the Ravens:

This Viking lamp has been sold!

Well done, Rabby! What a beautiful collection of art! She worked hard all winter to create it in her art studio at their home in Scottsdale. They brought it all to Iceland on their plane flight.

After seeing the art exhibit, we walked into this next building, a museum, which was used for the reception to kick off the art exhibit earlier this summer.

Then we drove on to Hnausar. This mountain was very distinctive.

Interesting lighting on this overcast day:

The area around Rabby and Kris's home is volcanic.

We stopped to open the gate to the property.

Brock was exhausted and hibernated to his bedroom, coming out only to enjoy a delicious meal of pork chops that Kris and Rabby prepared for us. Then we had a good night's sleep and continued our adventures the next morning at Hnausar.