My husband and I took a small ship cruise around part of Iceland through Tauck in 2016.  Due to multiple flight delays, we arrived in Reykjavik 24 hours later than what we had planned, but fortunately our tour was not starting until the next day.  We walked along the bay where there were lots of rocks, much of it lava rock.  We also saw a sculpture named the Sun Voyager.  It was designed by Jon Gunnar Arnason.  It commemorates the 200th anniversary of Iceland and is said to be a dreamboat.  Arnason wanted his sculpture to symbolize light and hope.

We then walked to the Hallgrímskirkja Lutheran Church which we saw again the next day with our tour group.  The church was designed to resemble basalt lava flows which is a typical part of Iceland’s landscape. The church is named after a 17th-century clergyman, Hallgrimur Petursson.  A statue of Leif Eriksson stands in front of the church.  It was a gift from the United States to commemorate the 1,000th year anniversary of the Alþingi, the parliament of Iceland.

The church has a beautiful organ which is the largest in Iceland.  It has over 5,000 pipes, the longest being over 30 feet.  The organ was financed by private gifts – people were offered the opportunity to purchase individual pipes. Their names are engraved on the pipes they donated.  When we went back with our tour group the next day, we were very fortunate to hear Haukur Gudlaugsson playing the organ.  He is now retired but was the music coordinator for the National Church of Iceland.

We took an elevator to a viewing deck in the tower of the church where we saw incredible views of Reykjavik.  Among the things we saw was the Perlan Restaurant where we would have lunch the next day.  The restaurant is surrounded by huge hot water tanks.  Geothermal energy powers the entire city of Reyjkavik.

This is the Perlan Restaurant where we enjoyed a wonderful lunch with our fellow travelers.  After lunch we had a little time to walk the grounds where we snapped a picture of the restaurant and surrounding hot water tanks.  There was also an observation deck where we had a nice view of Reyjkavik and the Hallgrímskirkja Lutheran Church.

Later that day, we boarded the L’Austral and began our cruise around Iceland.