Day 2 in Reykjavik, Museum Visits
Much of our second day was spent sightseeing and going to museums. My partner ordered two 2 Day museum passes online and we collected the two cards at the National Museum. The said cards allowed us to visit as many museums as we could in the city during the stipulated time period. The price of the ticket, 7,700 ISK or USD $63.50 per person, was quite steep but we got our money's worth, way more.
The National Museum was the very first museum we visited in Reykjavik. It was close to the Bus Station we were dropped at coming from the airport two days earlier. We got there first thing in the morning of our second full day. We got there early. In fact, we were the first ones to arrive. We waited no more than 20 minutes before we were allowed to enter. I remember needing to piss but there was no place to go. You can just imagine how hard it was to hold everything in when in fact I was just about to explode. I was rather surprised at the size of the entire museum. Although the exhibits and galleries spanned several floors, the entire museum wasn't really big. We were done viewing everything within an hour.
The main reason why we were able to visit lots of museums during our stay was because Icelandic museums were not big at all. In fact, each one could be seen in an hour and that was even at leisure. To recap, we visited the National Museum first, the National Gallery of Iceland second, Reykjavik Art Museum third, and the National Maritime Museum last.
There was a wing devoted to the pictures taken by a famous Icelandic photographer. This picture was one of the many taken by this famous artist whose name I can no longer recall. He was a really gifted photographer.
Here's more beautiful pictures taken by the same Icelandic photographer.
There were lots of artifacts detailing life in Iceland over the years.
An Icelandic museum was not going to be complete without ships and boats.
One of the books inside the gift shop of the National Museum which caught my attention. I wanted to buy it but I was really worried about the weight. My backpack was already very heavy for me to carry.
It was the National Gallery of Iceland for us after visiting the National Museum. We just walked to get there and as far as I remember, it was a short walk. No more than half an hour. The gallery itself was only two floors and the exhibits were not extensive. The gallery's main exhibit was entitled, Fakes and Forgeries, and it highlighted the fact that many people to this day are duped into buying some art pieces believing they are original but are actually copies.
These were more of the paintings on exhibit about fakes and forgeries. Original art pieces were placed right next to the imitations. The exhibit showed how museums and their staff in Iceland authenticate the originals.
There was also a part of the exhibit which showed the works of an Iceland native who spent part of his life in the United States before returning years after to Reykjavik.
The Maritime Museum was the fourth and last museum we visited during our whirlwind tour of Icelandic museums in Reykjavik on the second day. This place too was not very big. We were there only an hour. Actually, we thought of visiting it in the afternoon of our first full day in the city. It turned out to be far from the city and it required a bus ride from the center. We tried getting there on foot only to give up half an hour later.
The ground floor of the Maritime Museum had lithographs of Icelandic citizens in various settings from different time periods.
Here's another lithograph showing Icelandic life in one seaside town back in the old days.
From inside the Maritime Museum
These were dried fish if I remember correctly.
Part of the exhibit inside the Maritime Museum
The last museum we visited on our second full day in Reykjavik was the Reykjavik Art Museum. We first caught a glimpse of the museum while we were walking in search of the Maritime Museum the day before. This particular shot shows the rear side of the museum.
This was one contemporary display of tiles pieced together on the floor of one room in the museum.
I have to say, this museum was my favorite of all the museums we visited on our second full day. Most of the paintings had a political theme to them. Some were easy to date too. The painting about the first man to land on the moon was from 1969, those with Chairman Mao of China were from the 1950s and 1960s. Those with Margaret Thatcher were from the 1980s.
This was a picture of Erro, the artist whose works were on display at the Reykjavik Art Museum.
There was an important exhibit by an Icelandic artist named Erro when we visited.