Driving from the International airport at Keflavik to Reykjavik you get a taste of the barren, mythical, beautiful landscapes of Iceland. I visited in the late nineties and wanted to return ever since. Now, more than ten years later I finally returned to the saga island.
Being 66 degrees north (6 degrees farther north than Oslo) the air had a chill I’m used to feel in the end of September. We were very lucky with the weather. The sun was out and on the second day the sea was still as a mirror. Looking across the bay into the valley behind I wanted to get one of the big ass arctic trucks and just drive into the wilderness.
But, I was on the island for a few business meetings. My second visit was, as the first, way too short. Had the airline provided a decent time schedule I would have stayed longer. Instead I gave myself a quick, “around Reykjavik in two hours”, speed walk in the afternoon. The economic crisis is very apparent in the city. Unfinished high rises planned in a different time skeleton reminders. Once being one of the expensive cities to visit is turned into a low-price shopping mecca and curse for the local retail margins. After my short urban photo safari we had a very nice dinner, which was followed by crashing the opening party at the annual Jazz festival – learned the day after it was by invitation only, for the artists and benefactors. We had fun!
Everything was in place for a great weekend in Iceland, but we had to leave. I count the third time to be the charm with plenty of time to get to travel around capturing the magic landscapes with my camera.