AS GOOD AS IT GETS
After we have booked our whale watching trip,
we spend the afternoon at Yoko Ono’s
‘Imagine Peace’ in the Hafnarhús
gallery, where we put peace stickers
on maps of the world and our grand daughter
writes on her label to hang on the peace tree
‘I wish I could have lovelyness for ever
and ever and ever and ever’ – then she
and I play the war game chess. Later
we have fish and chips – battered in spelt
and oven roasted respectively –
with Skyr dips, then visit the Volcano House
next door with its array of lava
jewellery and volcanic ash soap.
I watch her wondering, processing.
When we leave it is raining heavily.
We make our way up Bankastræti,
where the public loos have been transformed
into The Icelandic Punk Museum.
The motliest of queues waits in the rain
for Johnny Rotten to cut the tape.
We stop for a wee in Dunkin Donuts
on Laugavegur, then she and I
shelter under an awning waiting
for her parents and grandma window shopping
despite the downpour. We hold wet hands –
an old man and a child.
Sarah Selzer
December 30, 2017Wonderfully evocative as always! Looking forward to the creations from our family adventure to Bratislava and Vienna! xx
Kate Harrison
December 30, 2017Emily and I went in March 2017 and stayed on Laugavegur. We loved our trip and we had both sunshine and aurora! No whale watching but definitely will do that next time.