I was going to write “City of Stone,” but it’s not really accurate. Better “City of Concrete,” though that sounds so ugly.

At any rate, it is a city with buildings mostly of concrete. Not a particularly pretty city, but not an unattractive one either. There are a few wood buildings, but I guess Icelanders cut down the vast majority of their trees a century or two ago so it makes more sense to build out of stone or concrete. Too bad you can’t build out of lava rocks.

That building is the Parliament building, which is surprisingly small.

It was a stunning day. Crisp like a September afternoon, with bright sun and high whispy clouds.

I spent most of the day walking. But I also managed to have a lunch of fresh cod with tartar sauce made out of skyr, Icelandic yogurt. I paid a visit to the Settlement Museum where a Viking longhouse has been excavated and preserved. And I went swimming in one of Reykjavik’s 7 public swimming pools warmed with geothermal energy.

Tomorrow I’m off to see geysers and waterfalls and the ancient seat of power.

A few stray observations:

Some of the people who work at Keflavik airport get around the terminals on razor scooters.

These are not a smiling people on the street. My New England tendency to make eye contact is falling on blind eyes.

There are a LOT of tourists in Reykjavik.

A few photos:

(Two Icelandic cliches in one–a Viking troll!)

(Sunbathing in the middle of town–while wearing lots of clothes))

(The scale model of Iceland)

(The fashion is…challenging. But I can’t tell whether it caters to tourists or locals. I have yet to see anyone in tights like that. But I’ve seen half a dozen similar window displays.)

(Okay.)

(At 10pm it was a little cloudy, but definitely not dark.)