Iceland Part II: Reykjavik
My Journey: Kuku Camper, Viking World, Norse/Viking Museums and Sights around Reykjavik.
4/26/2024 Friday
Bifrost Glass Art Installation
Kuku Camper picked us up at the airport and took us to the Kuku Camper location near the airport to pick up our camper. Kuku Camper is known for its quirkiness and after checking in, I can say they are not known for their customer service. The person checking us in struggled to show us how to properly use the gas stove, was confused as to how to work the overnight interior heater without killing the van battery and had to be reminded to get the water jug we rented. The camper’s back door provided access to the kitchen supplies and the side door to the under bed storage. There was plenty of room for our 2 suitcases, 2 backpacks and personal items. We brought a 12v inverter to keep our gear charged and plugged that into the front seat power outlet.
My partner was not up to driving after the flight so I did the driving on the first half of the day. This was my first time driving a Renault. Our first destination was Viking World Museum that is located on the outskirts of the airport in Njarðvík.
This museum visit is kind of a blur as we were still recovering from the flight. It was still early in the day and we were almost the only visitors at the museum.
Me at Viking World
Like pretty much all the museums we visited in Iceland, there is a hands on area where things can be picked up. There are also a fair number of reproductions on display. The museum has three exhibits.
The first is the THE SETTLEMENT OF ICELAND with a focus on the Norse history of Iceland. The museum objects were not as well labeled as I would have liked. There was a small collection of objects representing Norse material culture but the presentation is lacking clarity.
The real star of the museum is the 22.5 m long reproduction ship “THE ICELANDER (Íslendingur), which was sailed to New York in the year 2000 to “commemorate Leifur Eiríksson’s journey to the New World a thousand years earlier” (Viking Museum).
The final exhibit is VIKINGS OF THE NORTH ATLANTIC which focuses on the settlements in Greenland and North America.
The museum does a good job of tying all of this together under the umbrella of Norse expansion. My only real complaint is the lack of clear labels. The boat alone was worth the time.
Dez and I on the Icelander
On the way back to the main road, you pass by this giant statue of a Norse Sword. I missed the picture the first time so we drove by on the last day on the way to drop off the camper van to take a picture. It is in the middle of a roundabout. There are lots of roundabouts in Iceland.
Sword Statue [Note: picture from last day of trip]
Our next stop was the Hofsstaðir Viking Longhouse Historic Park, it is an outdoor location with easy parking. There is not much to see but the outline of the structure. At this point, we where running way ahead of schedule so we pushed to knock out some museums on tomorrow’s itinerary.
Hofsstaðir Viking Longhouse Historic Park
So, we left the Hafnarfjörður area to head in to Reykjavik to do some museums and would head back to Hafnarfjörður later in the day to check into our hotel.
Still Me Doing the Driving
Our next destination was the The Settlement Exhibition. This museum is under the city of Reykjavik and is built around the remains of a 900’s Norse longhouse. The museum features a small collection of objects displayed in a ring around the ruins and ends in a tunnel leading to the exit that tells the story of Reykjavik’s growth from settlement to modern city. While there is not a lot to look at, what is on display is well presented. You can see the ruins from the surface through a skylight, which also helps to light the exhibit.
There is also a collection of games on display including Fox and Lambs and Hneflafl, (Kings Tables).
As we moved from one museum to another, we took in the sites. It is a modern city full of modern architecture surrounding old historic buildings, and many buildings with a Norse theme to attract tourists. The downtown area is very walkable, and with the day’s portion of Norse museums taken care of, we were off on some gay adventures.
One of Many Norse Themed Buildings
This is one the Viking Chess Sets that I have made this one was made right before out trip. The bored is fused glass and the piece are lamp worked.
Lessons Learned and Tips:
We were tired going though these museums so we may not have given documenting our visits the attention they deserve.
In roundabouts, the inside lane has the right of way.
