Iceland's volcanoes, earthquakes, and glaciers keep it geologically young, making it spectacularly beautiful and the reason why so many tourists flock to the country. I hadn't realized, however, that land is created and destroyed here faster than anywhere else in the world. The country grows larger by two centimeters a year because of its straddling divergent tectonic plates, and the sea erodes the shoreline at about the same rate.
The powerful geological forces that affect our entire planet are more evident in Iceland than anywhere else. I've described in previous posts how molten lava flows just below the surface and volcanic eruptions create ash clouds blocking out the sky. In addition, subglacial eruptions generate meltwater floods larger than the Amazon River, and earthquakes shake the ground with explosive force. New lakes and islands reshape the landscape from eruptions and lava flows.
At the towering recreation of a seabird wall in the Westfjords, we read that the steep cliffs and deep fjords along the country's 6,000 kilometers of coastline provide habitat for large populations of seabirds and marine species. The coastline, shaped by geological climate forces, has helped make Iceland a global hub for fishing, tourism, and scientific research. Most of Iceland's population lives near the water, an indication of their close connection to the sea.
There was a long wait to enter the world's first indoor Ice Cave, which was described as Real Ice, Real Snow, and Real Cold! The temperature was indeed cold at just -15°C, or 5°F, in the 300-foot-long cave that was built with 350 tons of snow from the Blue Mountains.
The stripes of ash from various volcanic eruptions were designed to teach visitors how glaciers hold clues to a thousand years of history.
This was the last chunk of ice from the Okjökull Glacier that was declared 'dead' in 2014 after it was too thin to move. Okjökull was the first of Iceland's major glaciers to be lost to climate change. A memorial was held five years later to mark the complete disappearance of a once-great glacier. Think of the plaque's inscription as a "Letter to the Future," acknowledging the threat of climate change to other glaciers.
Glacier and climate change: The international scientific community agrees that the current climate change is the result of increases in atmospheric greenhouse gases, particularly carbon dioxide, which is directly attributed to human activity. The most substantial contributors are the burning of fossil fuels and deforestation. Increasing levels of methane from cattle and melting permafrost also aggravate the crisis.
The most alarming evidence of climate change is the rapid retreat of Earth's glaciers. That is deeply felt in Iceland, where scientists are predicting that "the land of fire and ice" will not have any glaciers in 150 to 200 years. Iceland, lying just below the Arctic Circle, is one of the planet's fastest-warming places. I can't comprehend what will happen when all glaciers release their tons of water that have been stored as ice. When will each of us wake up to the dangers that are facing the generations to come?
Some scientists believe that as the enormous glaciers die and land rebounds around the world, there might be volcanic events in areas now covered by glaciers. This is especially alarming for the Icelandic people, who regularly experience volcanic activity where many large ice caps sit on top of active volcanoes along the country's tectonic rift lines.
Steven and I were fortunate that Perlan had just opened a 3D experience where visitors were invited to journey to the inside of the bottom of a volcano. Its temperature was 2012°F! A few moments later, we could all feel the volcano erupt as it surged upwards and exploded. The experience was so lifelike that it was not recommended for people who suffer from motion sickness. No pictures were allowed in the theater.
Another theater showed a short film of the aurora borealis dancing in the sky. I'd give my eyeteeth to see it sometime, but it's no easy task to predict when it may occur! Aurora was referred to as the forgotten goddess of the Northern Lights and the goddess of dawn.
As we stepped into the grand entry hall, we came face to face with one of Jónsson's breakthrough works, completed in 1901 when he was a student in Denmark. Outlaws tells the story of a convicted man who takes his wife's lifeless body to a cemetery before escaping with his child to the mountains. With many of Iceland's original settlers themselves being outlaws who had been exiled from Norway, this depiction was particularly poignant. When the work was exhibited in the Charlottenburg Gallery in Copenhagen in 1901, it marked the first work by an Icelandic artist acquired by the National Gallery of Iceland.
In the same gallery was Dawn, which illustrated an Icelandic folk tale. After a girl tricked a troll by keeping him talking until the sun rose, he swept her up in his arm at the exact moment the sun froze him to stone, shaking his fist defiantly!
Downstairs was a series of colored rooms. In one, Protection, a maternal throne cradles a relaxed child in her protected embrace. It's easy to see affection, motherly love, and security in the piece, but some perceive the work as safeguarding and supporting artists and their work.
In 1927, Jónsson's The Spell Broken was a work that evoked the legend of St. George, who saves a damsel by slaying a dragon. The townspeople are so thankful that they adopt Christianity.
I don't recall seeing a work of art on a windowsill in a museum before, do you? It was the only self-portrait of Jónsson, 1874-1954.
One of my favorite pieces was the Monument to Hallgrímur Pétursson that Jónsson created between 1914 and 1922. Pétursson, 1614-74, is the Icelandic poet and minister for whom Iceland's most celebrated church is named. His Passion Hymns have been read and sung in Iceland during Lent for centuries. According to a description of the piece, the "work juxtaposes the physical suffering of man and the spiritual strength of the poet." Behind the poet holding a cross in one hand and a harp in the other are rows of people and the outline of the country.
Another disturbing work was Remorse, which Jónsson created between 1911 and 1947. Almost two months after seeing it, the sculpture still gives me shivers as I look at the man tormented by tiny, conscience-like beings. One of them is holding his eyes open while another recites a litany of wrongdoings into his ear! I wonder what Freud would make of this! Why did it take Jónsson 36 years to sculpt Remorse? What angst did he suffer that he perhaps wanted to expunge?
A narrow winding staircase took me to the charming apartment on the top floor that Einar shared with his wife Anna, which they moved into on the day the Einar Jónsson Museum opened in 1923. Iceland's first art museum was the first to open to the public.
Einar made the painted glass windows in Copenhagen before 1920.
Off the rooms were two niches with enclosed beds. In later years, when they no longer were able to walk up and down the forty spiral steps, they slept downstairs before moving into a small house in the garden out back, where Steven was.
Outside the 360° windows were glorious views of Hallgrimskirkja and the city.
After studying sculpture in Copenhagen and Rome, and making his name working in some big European capitals and half a lifetime of living abroad, Einar felt drawn to return to his homeland in 1909. He struck a deal with the Alþingi, the Icelandic parliament, that he would return to Reykjavik and bequeath his collection to the city if they built him a mansion and studio. When this was a largely uninhabited hilltop, he designed and built his home.
Before joining Steven in the free Einar Jónsson Sculpture Garden out back, there was a small mound where Einar buried pieces that he wasn't satisfied with! The museum had chosen to leave them be. The sculpture garden opened in 1984, about four decades later than the museum building.
The 26 bronze works in the garden included Protection, which I had just viewed inside the museum. The woman's face was modeled after Einar's wife, Anna. Notice the church peeking out behind the museum!
This beautiful outdoor space provided a tranquil getaway in the city center with trees, flowers, and ponds surrounding the bronze casts of Jonsson's sculptures.
Prayer was created in 1939.
A bronze of my favorite sculpture:
I strongly recommend that any visitor to Reykjavik take some time to enjoy some spectacular sculptures by one of Iceland's most important artists. I was so relieved that even though we left the visit to our last few hours in the country, we hadn't missed stopping! Even if you're not a fan of sculpture, the garden is a welcome escape from the throngs of people visiting Hallgrimskirkja.
A protest affirming the rights of sex workers was taking place in front of the cathedral. Both men and women held signs declaring, "My Body, My Choice" before continuing their peaceful march. The protest explained why we had such difficulty driving close to the Jónsson museum earlier.
En route to the airport, we passed a sculpture by Grímur Marinó that was placed in the lava in Hafnarfjörður. After two intense and fascinating weeks in Iceland, touring almost the entire island, we were sad to bid it farewell, but also excited for what was coming next in Greenland.
The flight from Reykjavik to Narsarsuaq, a settlement in the Kujalleq municipality in southern Greenland, lasted for about 2.5 hours. Steven and I were so excited about what the next three weeks would bring for us, even after the unwelcome and very negative publicity from Trump.
For the last twenty minutes of the flight, all 36 passengers had their window shades open, their eyes peeled, and their cameras whirring at the breathtaking sights below us!
We landed safely, only to have the pilot do a U-turn at the end of the runway and return to the terminal, an important World War 2 Allied air base.
Steven and I had loaded up on some fruit and snacks at a large grocery store near the airport, knowing the price of food was outrageous in Greenland and that we hadn't signed up for any meals on our upcoming four-day ferry trip on the island's west coast.
Except for a couple of Air B&B's, Hotel Narsarsuaq was the only accommodation in the village of 120 people. It reminded us of many hostels we'd stayed in during our earlier traveling days, nothing like a place the eye-watering price would suggest.
As dining options were extremely limited in Narsasauk, we chose the hotel's restaurant. We were quite frankly amazed at how exquisitely prepared our meals were, having had low hopes in such a small community, and in Greenland, too. The meals were a feast for our eyes! As I'm sure you must know by now, Steven and I are anything but foodies. But the indifferent meals we had throughout Iceland had been disheartening.
The 'service' at the restaurant was an inauspicious start, with a barrier across the entrance forbidding anyone from entering until they were escorted to a table, and a sign saying that the staff would only be nice to guests if they were polite to staff. The Danish restaurant manager got noticeably upset with Steven when he told her that he was allergic to the nuts in his salad. She said she wasn't sure he could have anything else because the kitchen would be closing soon. Her attitude plummeted further when we asked for additional rolls, as the initial two hadn't been enough! Steven later received a plate of scallops, so he didn't go to bed hungry.
Later, we walked toward the shoreline about a mile away to look at the icebergs we'd noticed on our approach. The wildflowers were as beautiful as they had been in Iceland.
Another surprise - the temperature was a relatively balmy 60, which made it warmer than almost any place we'd been to in Iceland.
When I saw this 'duck,' I immediately thought of our eldest, Nina, as she used to love rubber duckies.
Did this look like a whale's tail, or was it just my vivid imagination?!
The airstrip ended within a few feet of the Tunulliarfik Fjord.
Next post: Iceland's Impressions.
Posted on September 15th, 2025, from our home near Denver's Foothills, where the leaves are slowly changing color to a mellow yellow. Please take care of yourself and your loved ones.
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