Iceland is stunning. STUNNING, I tell you. It’s picture perfect and I am constantly wowed at all. That. Green. And blue sky and water.
Being a long time Beatles fan (thanks mom + dad for raising me right!), there was no doubt that I had to make a day trip out to Viðey Island. Besides being a beautiful and idyllic getaway, it is home to Yoko Ono’s love monument to John Lennon.
It was a short ferry ride from the Ægisgarður pier in the old harbour to Viðey Island, which is situated in Kollfjörður, just off the coast of Reykjavík. When we arrived 20 mins later, I started walking around the island of green. Stunning views wherever you are on the island.
And it’s not too big too. Map or no map, you’ll soon come across the Imagine Peace Tower. Ono’s tower was conceived as a beacon to world peace. The work is in the form of a wishing well from which a strong and tall tower of light emerges. The words ‘Imagine Peace’ are inscribed on the well in 24 languages.
Out of the well emerges a strong, tall tower of light that is composed of a number of individual lights that join together to form a single beam. Six of the lights travel through corridors across a platform that surrounds the well and are reflected upwards to the sky with mirrors. The platform is faced with three types of native Icelandic stone in reddish ochre, light grey and bluish grey.
The Imagine PeaceTtower was dedicated to the memory of John Lennon on October 9, 2007. And very year, the tower is lit from October 9, Lennon’s birthday to December 8, the day of his death.
The tower also lights up during winter solstice, New Year’s Eve and during the first week of spring. The electricity for the light comes entirely from Reykjavik energy and is generated from geothermal power.
Viðey Island is also home to Viðey House, one of the oldest buildings in Iceland and the first building constructed of stone. It was built in 1752-1755 and designed in the rococo style. Viðey Church is also one of Iceland’s oldest churches and still has its original interior fittings.
Plus there’s also a Viðeyjarnaust cabin which can be rented for private functions during the summertime. Purr-fect for intimate weddings. Your own, almost private, island.
View more photos of my trip on my Flickr album.
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