Compliance
A Flexi-Selfie in the Ceiling at Harpa Concert Hall
Örfirisey
The other day we went sunset chasing out by Ægissíður, then took the long way home and drove out to the tip of historic Örfirisey where the oil tanks stand. Like most things in life, they look beautiful when lit up at twilight even though in the stark light of day they're definitely an industrial blight on the shorefront landscape.
Reykjavik's few tanks are nothing compared to the Richmond California oil refineries (which, as a kid, always fascinated me during night drives home from visiting Amma Steina and the family in Sacramento...lit up, they're absolutely gorgeous) but have definietly brought up the same concerns as the huge August 2012 fires in Richmond did: how realistic is it to continue to have such potentially dangerous materials so close to the encroaching city edge?
This 2006 report by Thorvaldur Helgi Auðunsson from the Department of Fire Safety Engineering at Lund University in Sweden takes a closer look at this issue, which looms over Reykjavik's near future, much like the equivalent dilemma that I wrote about in this post on the Hringrás reclamation center (I also mention Yoko's Imagine Peace memorial, which garnered worldwide attention with Lady Gaga's recent acceptance of the LennonOno Grant for Peace, as did our Awesome mayor Jón Gnarr's Jedi garb :)
As cities spread, industrial structures that used to be a safe-(ish) distance from the urban populace seem to suddenly appear on the doorsteps of city businesses and residents. A lot has happened in a grass-roots kind of fashion in this sector of the city, a pretty common development - as rents rise, urban populations push out into historically non-residential areas in search of affordable housing.
The city of Reykjavik has recently held a design competition to max the potential of Örfirisey and Granda, won by Erdem Architects, which includes a very cool indoor beach, the Warm Ice Paradise. I like this idea because back in the old days the folk of Reykjavik would cross the tidal isthmus out to what had always been known to be an elven-populated Örfirisey island for day swimming trips.
While searching for an English language history of the area I ran into a review of this awesome book I translated, 25 Beautiful Walks: Walking Trails of the Greater Reykjavik Area. Otherwise, here's a great source of info about Örfirisey from the official competition for the redesign of the Old Harbor region.
Space
Eric writes: It was a magical sunset ride into the night but it never got dark…
There they were, 4 tiny cyclists in the vast open space of Iceland, all alone together.
It was a journey of a lifetime, cycling 1400km into the wild, a journey of courage, bravery, endurance, hardship and most of all of pure pleasure and fun also a bit of a pain in the ass.
A journey to discover and explore the wildness of an isolated world apart, a journey of exploring isolation within and connecting with innerfeelings unimaginable before, becoming a part of nature without the possibility of escaping the challenging elements of life.
An everlasting connection with a Magical Place and Magical People, a place that is now my home far away from home.
Island, Takk Fyrir Mig.
P.s. In his photo, you can just spot Eric's cycling mates riding the road through the valley ~.~
Autumn
In other news, here's our mayor, Jón Gnarr, opening the Reykjavik International Film Festival on Thursday night. We like him. He's got Force ~°~
(Interesting tidbit: my father, Thor Roff, played Jón's father Roy Washington in the awesome movie, Bjarnfredarson, which you should definitely see.)
Have you tried Dynamic Viewing yet? Five new views in all. Use the blue tab at the top of the view page to check them all out : )
Vísir
I wish I had the time to translate this entire article about this shop and the historic building it's in, but suffice to say the building is 164 years old and has always housed some type of business, starting with a restaurant in 1848 that unfortunately didn't thrive as planned. The store Vísir was established in 1915, and ownership has stayed in the same family: according to the article, as of 2003 the grandson of one of the original owners still ran the store.
I remember back when I was a little one staying with my Amma, Frú Ásta Beck, on Óðinsgata just up the hill, that I loved going to Vísir where, since 1959, the owners have prided themselves on always having a supply of fresh fruit. (Across the street, at the corner of Skólavörðurstígur and Laugavegur, in the half-basement where the café Kofinn is now,* was a butcher's shop with all sorts of cuts hanging in the window, a total novelty for a California-raised kid like me.)
*In the yellow building to the left in the third photo down in the post linked to above ; )
Aurora
How stunning is this! This season's first amazing northern lights played and swayed in the skies over Reykjavik last week, granting a stunning display of plasmic green for anyone who bothered to look up into the midnight heavens.
The key elements of an auroral show - crisp weather, ionized solar wind and darkness (not available in the summer months, remember) - plus the gorgeous lighting of downtown Smoke City came together beautifully for Ernesto and his camera. Be sure to keep an eye out for them this weekend because, as SpaceWeather.com puts it, "The onset of northern autumn means it's aurora season. For reasons researchers don't fully understand, equinoxes are the best times to see Northern Lights," and today is the Autumn Equinox. In addition, a nice flow of solar wind is expected to hit Earth's magnetic field this weekend.
Ernesto is the caretaker of Our House, an award-winning hostel that I mentioned in a previous post. He takes consistently amazing photos of his adopted city, many of them from the balcony of the hostel. Go visit his Facebook Page, Rvk Pics, to see more of his great photography.
So, Gleðilega Haustjafndægur, everyone! May you find lovely balance in your life!!