Day 2, part 1 - City Tour

Until 6 pm that night, I was still on my own so I chose a 10 am free walking tour (CItyWalk, the #1 Tripadvisor thing to do in Rey.). I had a quick breakfast and scooted out to find the meeting point for the free walking tour. I did have to ask a few times to make sure I was going in the right direction but eventually found the little park in front of Parliament. The group was limited to 20 and run by college history majors who take a donation at the end.
The tour focuses on the history of Iceland, the evolution of Reykjavík as a town and Icelandic culture in general. Here is some history I learned. The Vikings were criminals who plundered, raped, etc. other lands. They found Iceland and then went to Ireland and Scotland to plunder and bring back women and others to be slaves/servants. So, when exploring Icelandic roots, scientists find Norse and Irish/Scotch backgrounds. This background does help to explain the accent that Icelanders have. Also of note is the factoid that the Viking helmet did not have horns. It is believed that a priest referred to the plundering Vikings as devils and someone then drew them with horns.
Politically, Iceland is quite progressive. Almost half of Parliament (one of the oldest in the world) is female and they got the right to vote before we did. The day after I left there was a big election because of a scandal with the prime minister who was tied to the Panama Papers and something about a pedophile. As a result, coalitions with different parties fell apart so that a majority voting block was not happening. On top of Parliament are the 4 symbols for the coat of arms (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Coat_of_arms_of_I…) The supporters are the four protectors of Iceland (landvættir) standing on a pahoehoe lava block, representing north, south, east and west. The protectors are bull, rock giant or eagle, a dragon, and a giant. Some believe that the four Evangelists, Luke (bull), Marc (lion, became dragon), John (eagle) and Matthew (man became giant).
Pictures: 1-Parliament;
2- Jon Sigurdsson statue: led the campaign for independence;
3-govt. building (yes, you can just walk right in);
4-Harpa concert hall (described later)
5-harbor
6: Statue of Viking Ingolfur ArnarsonViking who settled Iceland in 874.Read more