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Statue

It's late, so I think I'll let everyone else write the details on this photo:
What building is shown?
Who is the nearer statue of?
Who is the farther statue of?
What street is this taken on?
What are the cranes in the backround building?
And, where do the stairs from the sidewalk lead to?

I look very forward to seeing comments from you, my astute readers... (and locals, be nice and try not to ruin the fun for Reykjavik trivia buffs who might want to try to answer! As a matter of fact, locals might try giving hints to help out!)

11 comments:

Anonymous said...

is it government house?
no clue on the statues.
going to guess that it was taken on bankastraeti?
and are the cranes building a new opera house?

kinda wished that id done more of the tourist thing when i visted in nov.then id probly know more.

Ogie said...

Fun game exspecially since I have never been to Reykjavik. But I was able to find out that the building is the Prime Minister's Building. So from that I will guess that the statues are of past Prime Ministers. I did find a better picture of the farther statue and it looks like he is either holding a gun or pointing his hand. These are just guesses though.

I did read something that the building was used as a prison in the 1700's. Is that correct??

Anonymous said...

For me the easier question is to answer about the stairs. They're goint to a public toilets which I've never used. The street is Bankastraeti and the building is The Government House. No idea about the statues.

About the street I've never understood why the street change somewhere there is not intersection. Many times I had to show friends the point where Laugavegur starts.

Unknown said...

only because i just came back from reykjavik would i know...the cranes are at the harbor's edge. they are expanding and updating the port. very exciting!

Iceland Eyes said...

Good start! Anyone else want to take a shot...?

christa9198 said...

Ok - I did some digging. If this is the right building, it's the Governement House located at the bottom of Bankastræti. Sounds like it used to be a prison way back when (1700's). The statue farthest away might be Ingólfur Arnarson, the first settler of Reykjavik, strategically placed to look out over the ocean that brought him there. :) This was fun. Can't wait to see how close I got! I've never visited Iceland but your blog always makes me feel so much closer.

Anonymous said...

Is the first statue the king of denmark christian vilhelm handing the constitution to the the first icelandic prime minister?
Jón Magnússon?
recognizing Iceland as a fully sovereign state?

Darien Fisher-Duke said...

Stjórnarraðið: Government House; Hannes Petuesson Hafstein (First Prime Minister); Ingólfur Arnarson (First Settler); cranes are at work building replicas of the two old wooden houses that burned May '07; and stairs lead to the Tourist Information Center on Bankastræti (ok, I'm guessing on this one!). Phew! Now I can go to bed in peace! Thanks for the fun, Maria Alva!

Darien Fisher-Duke said...

Oops, sorry. Hannes Pétursson
Hafstein.

Darien Fisher-Duke said...

Double oops. Left out the street:
Lækjargata

thulsen said...

The further statue is of King Christian IX of Denmark