The Traveling Widower

Tag: Perlan museum

  • Back to Reykjavik – The Very Last Stop

    A vibrant display of the Northern Lights (aurora borealis) illuminating the night sky with shades of green and purple over snow-capped mountains and a calm water surface.
    Not a real picture….read on

    July 2nd, 2026

    This has been the trip that never stops giving, in a good way. On most every trip, the last day consists of a bus ride to the airport and then endless hours waiting in a lounge, or at the gate. On the return trip from Antarctica, I think there was an 8 hour gap between flights back to the US. Talk about boring. I was lucky to find a private club which let you in for a reasonable fee. Boredom was not an option on this trip, not even for the last day.

    Today, we started out on a short flight from Akureyri to the small commuter airport in Reykjavik, From there, we headed over to this pretty amazing museum, the Perlan, which is a domed museum (of sorts) built over what used to be the main hot water tanks for the city. The facility focuses on the wonders of Iceland, and the place is pretty wonderous on its own.

    Entrance of Perlan, a museum in Iceland, featuring modern architecture and signage that reads 'Perlan Wonders of Iceland'.
    Interior view of a modern building showcasing a large glass dome ceiling, with artistic displays of whales around Iceland on the wall and visitors observing from the balcony above.
    A rocky cliff face populated by numerous birds, with some standing and others sitting on various levels of the rocky texture.

    We started out with one of those immersive displays in a domed theater, of the Aurora Borealis which you can see in the winter. The seats are all reclined, you get the full 360 degree view by just looking up. An incredible video display. You are not allowed to photograph or video the show, but you can take pictures before it starts of the aurora displays they show as you settle in. The film was a journey of aurora’s across the solar system – hard to describe without seeing it. Amazing stuff.

    A vibrant display of green and purple auroras swirling across a night sky, creating a sense of motion and depth.
    A vibrant display of the aurora borealis with swirling green and purple lights against a starry night sky.
    A vibrant aurora borealis lighting up the night sky over a snowy mountain landscape, with swirling green and purple lights and a star-filled background.

    From there, we wandered through some of the history and geology displays (we did not have a lot of time), and then went to the volcano display. This one was a lot like something you’d see at a  Disney or Universal Studios park. They warned you first about motion sickness – I understood why after about a minute into the show.  You sit on a stool in a glass enclosed area, and the film moves all around you as you slide across a volcanic field, fall down a rift zone and then go underwater until you enter a volcano crater. You then fall down the volcano magma chamber, (which I’ve already done for real but without the lava), and are eventually blown out in an eruption. The floor vibrates during the eruption. You really do feel like you are on an amazing ride. I thought I was in Mordor from Lord of the Rings, looking for Sauron to appear. Wow. 

    There was another short video afterwards on more recent eruptions, then a walk through an ice cave. I could have lived without that – I felt like I was walking through a freezer that really needed to be defrosted. No old frost-bitten food though.

    Close-up view of textured blue ice formations inside a glacier.
    People walking through a snow tunnel with icy walls, featuring a person in a red jacket and hat in the foreground.

    That was the end of the tour for us – we were on a tight schedule since we had lunch reservations, and then had to drop some of the group at a hotel before dropping a few of us off at the airport (myself included). We had the opportunity to take in a great view of Reykjavík from the top of the building, but it was incredibly windy, so I passed on the opportunity, and headed back to the bus.

    Our last lunch together at a great restaurant in a Hilton hotel, where I probably added another pound or two of gut from the deserts (Tiramisu!!!), and then made it to the airport with plenty of time to spare. A great end to a fantastic trip. We had such a good group of people, a fearless and excellent bus driver, a wonderful naturalist from National Geographic, and the perfect trip leader, a native of Iceland who has incredible knowledge of the culture and history of this incredible place. He kept us entertained and educated with stories of Icelandic history and folk lore, interspersed with his own personal family background. He should write a book or two. Maybe three – he has a lot of stories to tell.

    I’m fortunate to have scheduled a return trip to Iceland next year – a photographic tour of the less traveled areas. I can hardly wait. I have a feeling there will be at least one more trip after that in the future. Maybe a summer home in Iceland?

    This is not quite the last post from this trip – once I get around to curating the RAW photos from the Sony and GoPro, I will add a few more to the page I published during the trip, and might do a brief trip summary if I have any thoughts worth publishing. Right now, I’m really looking forward to my last flight home (Seattle->SMF) and to doing nothing for a few days. 

    Peace