There's no sunshine in Reykjavik

View of Reykjavik from the Hallgrímskirkja church

I came to Iceland well prepared. I knew it was going to be cold so I packed plenty of warm clothes. What I didn't plan for was the constant wind and rain. An umbrella is completely useless in such weather and the wind ensures that I'm sprayed with a thin layer of moisture from the rain evenly all over. I don't even know how it feels to be dry any more.

Hallgrímskirkja church

Looking at all those tourist brochures about Iceland that depict the summer with blue skies and shining sun I wonder where they get those photographs. There really is no sun, only rain for days on end. Occasionally, when I'm most miserable in the awful weather, I half suspect that the sun is just photoshopped on tourist brochures.

While strolling around Reykjavik – and yes, Marko and I do stroll around, even in the rain as it would be pointless to sit inside and wait for the rain to stop as if that would ever happen – I notice that restaurants and coffee shops have outdoor seating areas. Tourist brochures explain that Icelanders love to catch the sun during their summer. So there is sun after all? I guess it probably sneaks up on them unexpectedly and when it does, everyone jumps quickly to enjoy it while it lasts.

Statue of a man sitting on a park bench

There is a park bench with a statue of a man sitting on it. Sure, who would want to sit on a bench when it rains all the time? I guess they put the statue there so it wouldn't look so deserted. The local people do, however, ride their bicycles. It seems the rain doesn't bother them so much.

But bad weather aside, Reykjavik is a very pleasant city. It's small and easy to navigate. All indoor places such as hotels, restaurants, museums as well as the famous Hallgrímskirkja church are heated inside. So it's not too much trouble to walk outside in the rain for a while and then go inside to warm up.

Open air shipwreck museum

We chanced upon an interesting open air museum that displays maps with historical shipwreck sites along the Iceland coast. There sure were many of those in Iceland's history.