Reykyavik in autumn
When: September 2016 Weather: Cold 5-10C
Leica M240, monochrom, 35summilux, 15mmvoigtlander, Nikon P900
After our meeting in Copenhagen, it was a short 3hour flight to Reykyavik for a few days to see Iceland. The city of Reykyavik is dominated by the magnificent church which dominates the skyline and is visible from most parts of the city…
the church overlooking Reykyavik
colourful wooden houses
more colourful houses
One the oddest museums you will see anywhere in the world is the Icelandic Phallological Museum….where specimens of animal phalluses are displayed…here from a whale!
And to put man’s position into proper perspective…..
If you head westward along the main street Laugavalur, you will soon come to a junction at which a left turn brings you to the Tjornin Pond, where many water birds find their home….
Tjornin Pond
Beautiful flowers dotted the pavements
ducks on the pond
water bird
Lesser black winged gull
swan arriving
another identified waterbird
birds of Tjornin
A European Starling in the city
walking back to the church as the sun set bathing it in a warm orange glow
magnificent church in which a lift can be taken to the top…
an aerial view of the cookie cutter houses
and an Icelandic sunset from the church tower
and the moon rose over Reykyavik
Most visitors to Iceland from September to December desire to see the Northern Lights or Aurora Borealis and they together with the puffins were on my ‘see’ list. We were however early in the season and being in Reykyavik, were told that it was highly unlikely that we would see the northern lights. However, according to the people at the northern lights centre and the forecasting centre, the chances of seeing the northern lights that night was 3/10 which they said wasn’t bad for this time of year…. so I crawled out of bed at midnight and ventured into the freezing night air down to the waterfront …
on the waterfront near the Hotel Alda
At first it was only a faint wisp of green in the night air over the houses above me..
and then it brightened up into a deeper green, here better seen with an overexposed photograph…yes! the northern lights were visible from Reykyavik city!
and looking across the bay, more distant formations were visible…
So although Reykyavik itself was a small quiet city, it was interesting enough to spend a day among the colourful houses, the harbour, the church and being lucky enough to spot the northern lights (faint though they were) in Reykyavik itself was a huge bonus! Indeed over the next three nights in the country, there was no sign of the aurora borealis again….
The Natural Traveller 
Wow! How lucky you were to see the Northern Lights in the capital…!