Reykjavik is the capital and the biggest city of Iceland. On the first day, as usual, there was no tour because we all had different time of arrival. I had a few hours to see the city on my own. It happened to be the day for their Gay Pride Parade. The taxi driver told me Iceland was the first country to approve gay marriage fifteen years ago. The people have been very supportive too, so their annual gay parade is a public event for all ages. I had to take advantage of the sunlight, so I went to photograph Hallgrimskirkja Church first.

When I was in Norway, the tour guide already told my group that N America was not first discovered by Columbus, but by a Viking instead. There's no better confirmation than seeing the statue of Leif Ericson (Leifr Eiricsson), the Icelandic adventurer who landed on N America about 500 years before Columbus did. This statue was a gift from the U.S., erected in front of this magnificent church which was designed to symbolize the basalt columns, a unique rock formation in Iceland.

(All rights reserved)