Time to go home — An Elegant Sufficiency

After so long away from home, we were both quite happy to think that we would be sleeping in our own bed again! Not only that, but we’d seen photos of building progress and looked forward to seeing that for ourselves too. Spectacular views like the one above made it hard to leave though.

We had booked a half day tour of the city en route to the airport, for our flight didn’t leave until late afternoon. For the last time in a while then, we jumped in a coach having checked our luggage was there as well and joined a familiar figure in a yellow oilskin on the drive to Perlan, our first stop.

Situated on the top of a hill in a city suburb, Perlan is an interactive centre focused on the natural history of Iceland. Best of all, it makes excellent use of the space created by four vast hot water tanks which are part of the geothermal power project we’d already seen in part.

Perlan proved to be a grand place to visit in these circumstances, offering an overview of the country as a whole and an opportunity to find out more about some of the things about which we’d heard during the last few days. Julius gave clear guidance about what to see and where we would meet later, so we followed him inside and looked forward to a fascinating couple of hours.

What we didn’t take into account was the vast number of people who would be following a similar path this morning. The place was full of tour groups, making it difficult - impossible - to see everything in the limited time we had available.

So I didn’t get to see the ice cave, though I enjoyed my encounter with one of the stars of the show!

And though this wall of birds still gave me the creeps, the fact they were not real ensured that I was able to avoid too much anxiety whilst viewing something our friends had described so enthusiastically.

On a morning like this though, the obvious place to avoid the crowds was the place Julius had described as a must-see: the viewing platform on the top of the tanks.

From here, we could see for miles. The steamy plumes were to be seen all over the place and the urban landscape was a huge contrast to the scenes we will remember from Greenland. Not only that but this city was remarkably different and far more developed than the one we remembered from our last visit here some twenty or so years ago.

It was fun to spot a few familiar landmarks, like the Cathedral, of course.

Julius appeared at exactly the right moment to confirm the sight of a snow-capped volcano on the horizon. It was indeed Snæfellsjökull , familiar from our visit there with him a couple of days previously. His appearance was a reminder of the time too - making our way downstairs might take a while given the crowds and we didn’t want to be late.

Our drive through the city took us past a few central landmarks and out into the more chi-chi, waterside suburbs which looked especially lovely on this beautiful morning.

Cities by the water are always attractive and having such beautiful countryside on the doorstep as well must be a real bonus.

We drove past the Sun Voyager sculpture, where I managed somehow to squeak a snap in between all the parked cars!

And passed by the little yellow lighthouse we’d spotted as we sailed in yesterday afternoon.

Our destination however, was this small group of buildings on the peninsula opposite. A residence of the Icelandic President, we learned of the minimal security needed in this very safe country where people are respectful and remain at a distance from this private space.

The final stop on our journey to the airport, in no time at all we were back in the routine; checking in, dropping off bags and “relaxing” in the comfort of the Icelandair Saga Lounge awaiting our flight home.

A short flight offered time to sample just one of the many varieties of gin on offer - I chose to try the Glacier Gin - and watched one of the inflight films about Kaleo, the band led by guide Julius’ son.