On our first official day in Iceland, we went on a city walk tour and made a visit to the popular Hallgrímskirkja church. Our tour guide, Eric, walked us through downtown stopping at various points to teach us about the history of the island. First, we learned about the architecture. A few years ago, there was a city wide fire and since most all of the houses and buildings were built out of wood, most of the city burned down. Today, you can find most houses rebuilt out of concrete or metal siding to protect them from deterioration which is something that the tour guide pointed out as a prominent change to their city’s architecture. We made a stop at the cities previous prison where we learned about the prison system in Reykjavik. The prison only held 12 inmates and it wasn’t until 2016 until the facility was moved outside of the city and added more rooms to make up a grand total of 32 cells. Eric explained that many people sentenced to prison are on a waiting list since there are so few rooms due to such little crime. The most prevalent crime is tax fraud and murder is extremely uncommon. After the prison, we made our way to the town hall. Here we observed an impressive three dimensional map of the island. It was amazing to see how small Reykjavík was compared to the size of the island. The city houses 85% of the population and the rest of the Icelandic population live in small towns along the coast line. In order for a town to be recognized on the map, there must be at least 100 people living in that area and anywhere inland of the coast is completely inhabitable due to Icelands vast glaciers. Our final stop was at the Hallgrímskirkja church. This church is major tourist attraction due to its size, structure, and incredible view from the top. Taking over 40 years to build, its structure mimics a geyser and stands 244 feet tall. The church stands as a major landmark and the overlook provides a 360 degree view of the city and all of its colorful roofs.
A broad to specific understanding 