Iceland

When we were on a day tour to Vik in April 2015, we saw tons of beautiful waterfalls along the road, any of which would be a destination site here in the states. But we were on a tour, so we just drove on past. However, we planned to stop at Skogafoss and Seljalandsfoss, below. You can walk behind the falls at Seljalandsfoss, as ;long as you have some rain gear. The worst part? Being on a day tour, we could only stay at each for a short while. If I were to do it again, I’d rent a car and a beach chair and just take it all in for as long as the light was there.

One of our favorite discoveries was the way in which Icelandic architecture integrated the topography of the island with its most iconic building, the Harpa Concert Hall. Notice how the glass window modules have a similar structure as one of the caves on the beach at Vik, particularly as you look upwards in both sites: The multi-sided geometrical shapes are mimicked almost perfectly in the Harpa’s vaulted open area, even including Icelandic seagulls.