Vestmannaeyjar is a good size town that once was almost obliterated by a volcano. It was January, 1973 when a volcano suddenly erupted on Heimaey Island. Several feet of volcanic ash immediately covered the entire town of Vestmannaeyjar (the only population center on Heimaey). Then the lava began pouring out at a remarkable speed. The entire town was evacuated as several hundred homes were incinerated. Sea water, with pumps donated from several countries, pumped over the lava which likely prevented the town from losing its harbor.

Today Vestmannaeyjar is a lovely town 45 minutes by ferry from the mainland of Iceland (with the ferry about forty-five minutes from Rejkavik). It is a small island with every road circling back to itself. They have puffins. Lots of puffins which nest on the cliffs surrounding the town. There also is a state of the art sea animal shelter which presently houses two beluga whales. Although presently in an aquarium, they spend approximately four months out of the year in a custom made outdoor pen which is a big upgrade from their previous digs in Shanghai.

There is a massive music festival coming to Vestmannaeyjar later this week. Crowd estimates varied from ten to twenty thousand concert goers. Supposedly every square inch of the island will be used for camping. For the two nights we were there, however, it was a very sleepy existence with us spending quite a lot of time in the communal kitchen area reading or playing cards. While there we met a cool politician from Rejkavik. A former kindergarten teacher she partially drew her inspiration to change career paths from following the exploits of the Chicago Teachers Union. She volunteered this immediately after hearing we were from Chicago. Amazing the people you meet away from home.