Day 7 - Museum Day and Countryside

Today, we disembarked the boat, and Mr. S. had to say, "goodbye" to the National Geographic Explorer.  It was a lovely 3 days with the ship.  I was amazed that many of the staff remembered me - waiters, cleaning people, reception.  I am sad to leave them at this moment. 

Before getting to our hotel, we had a full day of scenic drives and touring of 3 museums in Reykjavik.  I am pleased that I am now able to spell the name of Iceland's capital city without looking at something!  I guess after a week, you can almost do anything.

Scenic Drives

Click and make this bigger. Can you see the little church?

Amazing silhouette of the mountains against the lava field.

Colorful boats against the hills of a harbor.

There are many photos that I have to share with out. Iceland is so beautiful - full of buildings with every color you can imagine.  I know I shared this with you in a previous post.  However, it goes without saying that it makes taking photos easy when you have the natural background of hardened volcanic seas and clouds dancing in the skies.

Always impressive skies over an island dock.

Historical Open Air Museum of Arbaejarsafn.

This was a first for Mr. S.  We were brought to an "open air" museum.  The purpose of this museum is to collect/conserve cultural objects from the settlement times of Reykjavik to present.  Houses at this museum crossed many time periods.  Some had live roofs with grass growing!  There were chickens, lambs and so much history at this museum.  You could almost imagine how people lived back hundreds of years ago.

More houses from the live museum.

Sheep in the live museum.

House from many years ago that had many additions added to it over the years. You could smell the green grasses growing on the inside.

Inside one of the house above with various objects used in daily life.

Yellow flowers always make everything okay!

National Museum of Iceland

Okay, Mr. S. has to tell you some truth!  I appreciate ALL that Iceland has to offer.  However, this museum is a REAL snoozer.  Our guide, Earling, was not allowed to talk.  Pictures were not allowed to be taken.  Frankly, the context of this history was limited for Mr. S.  I am borrowing some images to show here.  However, you can skip this one when you visit Iceland.  Or visit:  National Museum of Iceland for more information.

Boats, tapestries and such. Again, lost on Mr. S. My apologies.

This is an old door from a church years ago. There is a mythological story in the carvings on it. They "say" there is a third circle "somewhere." Perhaps the trolls have it?

The museum from the outside. Can you tell how small it is compared to our museums?

Saga Museum

Our last museum was down right freaky!  So, there is a rich history of struggle, fighting, social climbing and brutality in the early years of Iceland.  They have come a long way!  This museum has LIFE SIZED sculptures of hundreds of years of history of Iceland.  They give you a headset so you can listen to the recordings of the historical narratives.  The people LOOK ALIVE and VERY REAL. They even were tricky and have some of them move just a little bit - so the realness even makes you more uncomfortable.  The museum is not for the weak of heart.  While I can't say it is "adult" in nature, they really do capture of harsh realities of life so many years ago. A parent might need to help a child walk through this museum. To the right is a video giving you a glimpse of the museum. 

Parents, please view the video before your child to make sure it doesn't have anything you don't care for them to see. Kids, ASK MOM OR DAD FIRST!

Seriously, he looked so real to me!

Trolls versus Fairies - what is the deal?

So, you can have an Icelandic Troll

Or you can have a fairy....

They are very different.  From what I can best gather, the fairies are very small. I think they have wings - but I am no expert.  The trolls are much larger and stronger than humans.  As for now, I am getting more information from the local folk on the trolls.  Will keep asking about fairies though. 

Some Troll History

So, trolls were living alone and in total happiness in Iceland before the Vikings came.  When that happened, their world was turned upside down!  The Vikings were not very nice; they were very aggressive.  Because of this, the two groups (trolls and Vikings) were not really compatible island-mates. When the first trolls happened upon the new Viking settlers, they found weapons (axes, swords, etc.) that they never had a need.  Because the trolls are nocturnal, their initial meetings happened at night when they Vikings were around a camp fire in the dark of night.  You can imagine how frightening this was for the Vikings!  Their reactions to the trolls was less than peaceful.  This initial meeting and manner of interacting with the Vikings really resulted in the reluctance for trolls to come above ground ver much - if at all.  And, this remains to be the way in which they live to this very day, even though Vikings behaviors and methods are long gone.