Iceland Day 13: Reykjavik

The last day walking the streets of Reykjavik included a trip to the Museum of Photography and Hafnarhús. It was very difficult to reconcile the city experience versus the Ring Road and I failed miserably in my desire to see contemporary art. Next time, I would start with Reykjavik, returning to the US fresh from the road. I valued the landscape over the city and wanted to appreciate Europe's northernmost capital more than I did.

The water, however, continued to taste delicious and I filled a plastic bottle from this restaurant, packed it in my bag and drank it two months later on the first day of school.

The light continued to creep through the blinds while we slept. Two weeks in Iceland and the thought of the night sky turning black was suddenly a strange phenomenon. I had grown used to this and could not imagine what the world would look like dark.

There are circumstances in my life where I refuse to conform and visiting the most popular tourist destination in the country proved to be one. I had no interest in spending my time in a pool filled with a geothermal plant's waste water (especially after visiting Mývatn) even though I was in Iceland to collect documentation for a project with the central theme of water. I bought a postcard and photographed it in the hotel room while packing. This is the closest I got to the Blue Lagoon and I left the country on good terms with that decision.

 [Photograph by Hannah Barnes upon the arrival of the postcard in her mailbox.]

In the months since my return, I have delved into the subject of the Drowning Pool (producing a submission for the Postcard Collective as a "thinking piece" as seen above and below).

I have visited numerous hardware stores where I spend time "reading paint samples", collecting the names that coincide with Scandinavia and will soon produce my own. I have nearly finalized the meltwater diptych featuring a comparison study between Lake Louise and the glacial lagoons.

Iceland will remain a vivid memory for quite some time and the moment it starts to fade will be marked with the return trip purchase of an airline ticket. I will not be so quick to let it go.