Atlantica - Iceland Review

The old fisherman’s huts on Aegissída, Reykjavík’s southern coast.
On sighting an icy land, Arnarson threw his
two ‘high-seat pillars’ into the sea, swearing to
the Norse gods that he would settle wherever
they came to rest.
He landed at Ingólfshöfdi in southeast Iceland
and ordered his two slaves, Vífill and Karli,
to walk west along the coast of Iceland until
they found the pillars. Three years later they
found them, washed ashore in a small bay. We
came across a stark monument, representing
the steaming pillars, after whizzing around the
corner.
The dark grey dolerite stone Parliament House
(Althingishúsid) adorns one of Reykjavík’s prettiest
squares, Austurvöllur or ‘east field’, located
by Kirkjustraeti and Pósthússtraeti, streets
named after the church and post office respectively.
On our late November morning, we
were blessed with glorious sunshine, but the
square was bare and watched over by a 1931
statue of national independence struggle hero,
Jón Siggurdson, by sculptor Einar Jónsson. “In
summer, this is Reykjavík’s greenest square and
everyone sits out here enjoying the sunshine
with a beer or an ice cream,” said Valsson.
The dinky Dómkirkjan, Iceland’s national
church, is known locally as ‘the cathedral’,
despite its modest size, and the famous Hotel
Borg can be seen at right angles to the church.
We stopped for our next break at Reykjavík’s
famous hot dog stand opposite the Kolaportid
(flea market) building and Valsson told the story
of how US president Bill Clinton accompanied
his wife Hillary when she visited Reykjavík on
diplomatic business. Clinton was at a loose end
and wandered along the street to the Baejarins
bestu (Town’s Best) hot dog stand and bought
one. “However, he didn’t order it in the traditional
way ‘with everything on it’, but only
chose mustard. He couldn’t add raw onions
because he had to meet people, and no fried
onions, ketchup or rémoulade because of his
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