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Solfar and the Aurora

·121 words·1 min
Author
Samer Farha
bon vivant | íslandsvinur

September 2024

A ship sculpture sits on a circular stone platform under a starry sky with green auroras.
Sólfar, a sculpture of a Viking ship, sits illuminated while green aurora are overhead.

I’d been after this shot for a decade or more. I’ve always liked Sólfar, and had hoped to one day see the northern lights dancing above it. One weekend in September of 2024, I was at Microbar when a few tourists came in excited to have just seen the aurora. I stepped outside, but saw nothing. Later in the evening, I decided to walk home via Sæbraut instead of down Laugavegur. It was around 1a when I saw this. I think I took 90-something pictures. It was cold, I was carrying my leftover food, and a bit tipsy. Just a few pictures were in focus.