This museum is an absolutely unbelievable gem – Ísafjörður Museum of Everyday Life
Nestled away in the little Icelandic port of Ísafjörður, one could be excused for walking right by without noticing. But when you do notice – you notice. Maybe that’s why there were only a handful of visitors when we arrived or does that say something about the clientele of the cruise we were on?
Best to look at their website to get a really good feel for what this original place is all about. Here it is – just click on the link …
We loved the shoe and boot stories. The original owners could be heard telling stories of their experiences with their shoes and boots on display. From young people to fisherfolk, all had their real stories to tell. Just think about what tales your footwear could tell.
The mind boggles. It might be worth thinking about painting a picture of one of my old boots and presenting it to next year’s RA Summer Exhibition – might be a better bet that the media’s oft quoted ‘mediocrity’ of this year’s showings.
A little cinema theatre was showing films of the winter in this town. Unbelievable for us English southerners. How people live in such harsh conditions beggars belief, but they do of course, and they thrive. It must be something to do with that Viking resilience and determination.
The Northern Lights movie reveals how the locals simply take the stunning sights for granted and have to think twice when visitors marvel at their skies… ‘oh but I’ve lived with it all my life ‘ it’s just there…’ is a typical overlaid quote.
Smells – jars containing all sorts of smelly things – like seaweed, soap and other everyday stuff. The strap line said it all – the memories and situations that smells bring to us.
A remarkable little museum. Well worth the visit without doubt and good luck to the warm and friendly people running it.
And … you can even paint your own little picture to leave for posterity.
