Reykjavík Street Art

There is lots of street art in Reykjavík. Some is evident in the form of murals.

There is also graffiti...

...and interesting social commentary.

Reykjavík City Library

The other day I walked over to the main branch of the Reykjavík City Library (Borgarbókasafn Reykjavíkur).

It's an attractive place with an exhibition space and cafe downstairs and most of the books, audio books, CDs, DVDs, and periodicals upstairs. I was especially impressed by the room of foreign language books.

There were lots, perhaps thousands, of English-language books, along with those in other languages.

Membership costs 1600 ISK ($13.26 at today's exchange rate) per year. Definitely worth it!

Velkomin til Íslands (Welcome to Iceland)

We're settling into our new post, Reykjavík, Iceland. Best thing so far: our view. Here is the sunset on Aug. 21, taken from our living room.

On the far right, you can catch a glimpse of the luxurious yacht, Octopus, owned by billionaire Paul Allen. It went away for a few days, but now it's back. Perhaps it took a trip over to the West fjords? Or Greenland? Another great thing: festivals galore! We skipped the Bacon Festival yesterday in favor of the Melodica Acoustic Festival. Saw some great performers, including Rob Maddison of Spaceships are Cool and Hjalti Þorkelsson of Múgsefjun. The Melodica Festival continues today. Maybe we'll get a chance to hear some more good live music.