Camping along the Ring Road is a lousy way to meet Icelanders. Pretty much everyone, including those working at the campground, are from everywhere but Iceland. Not as many Americans here either. What you do have are a lot of cyclists, campervans (this is true everywhere in Iceland) and a few hitchhikers. People check in late at night and then crowd the inside communal area to cook feasts of processed sausages and noodles. We also now have night. Or at least something in-between twilight and dark. There are no stars out but town lights illuminate the sky. It is the first sign that summer is beginning to lose its grip.

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.

It is hard to figure out what exactly to get a newborn volcano. From what we can gather from movies, appropriate gifts usually involve some sort of human sacrifice (see Joe Versus The Volcano). But today’s woke world frowns upon capturing a person then forcefully throwing them into an erupting volcano. So this left us with either lugging up a bottle of wine (which would then immediately just boil in the lava) or an Amazon gift card. In the end we went with a $25 Etsy gift card. We hope Fagradalsfjall will use it to purchase something nice, like hand woven Peruvian mittens or something.

Feels good to be back on the same island as Henna. We are now resting up at an amazing Airbnb in Rejkavik (it has a solarium!) before we head off with Henna to tackle the Ring Road. This will begin the final chapter of our summer adventures. Sunset here in Iceland is now before eleven with the sky darkening to a definite twilight. Maybe we will be lucky enough to see an Icelandic star before we leave.

In Paris we stay at a super tiny studio apartment in the Montmartre neighborhood. A little bit above us is the Bascillica which is one of the most visited spots in Paris. But where we are, a few blocks from the Jules Joffrin stop (Metro Line 12) it is mostly local, almost entirely French speaking. But slowly over the past few days we have acclimated to the point where I only sometimes come back with hot chocolate instead of the cappuccino Corey requested. I actually no longer frequent that boulangerie (bakery). I now go to the closer boulangerie  where the nice woman greets me with an enthusiastic “Good morning!” before giving me what I want and not what I order.

Paris is quite simply the most beautiful city in the world (or at least the most beautiful city we have ever visited). It is also one of the happiest cities we have ever visited. At least that is what it seems like on the surface; our inability to speak French greatly limits our dive into the culture pool. But at cafes or at the cinema or wherever everyone is always so engaged with one another. Couples cuddle everywhere and even the smoking is done with affection. We have no idea what anyone is saying but we so do want to be part of the conversation.

One successful dive into the French pool of life was our fun day with local guides Kristine, Francoise and Pierre. Last year we gave them Covid. This year it was just bad jokes and a lot of questions about French history (both from me). They in turn showed off the charms of Saint Vincennes (it has a castle!). Mostly we drank and played cards within a fun outdoor space located within an ancient woods. Afterwards they escorted us through the woods (spooky) in time to catch the Metro back into the city. We got home close to midnight which in fifty year old time is actually 4 AM.

So this week in Paris is almost complete. Thank you Mom and Dad for the Museum Pass! And thank you Chad and Alex for the pass to the Rodin Museum! We actually saw the Rodin Museum over two days which was a great way to do it. Au revoir!

The cats of Reykjavik are everywhere. By your Airbnb. Inside coffee houses. Even inside museums. Henna went to a cat cafe (a small cafe that cared for a few stray cats) and saw a neighborhood cat wander through the door. The employees working there mistook the cat for a resident and he was stopped from leaving. Henna basically witnessed a cat kidnapping.

Why so many cats? One reason is that dogs were not allowed in Rejkavik until the late 1980s. Reykjavik categorized them as farm animals. So probably no sheep either. People then grew up with cats, not dogs, and they were always allowed to roam.

Cats kill birds. Sometimes they get lucky and catch a bird napping. Other times they do things like raid nests. Outdoor cats are an invasive species that will wreak havoc with birds as well as other indigenous animals. Keep your cats indoors.

In Iceland they launched campaigns to do just that. They also passed laws prohibiting cats from leaving their human home. People did not react well to such laws. Supposedly there were actual cat protests. Imagine dozens of cats holding signs and meowing loudly. How cute would that be?

The new compromise is a cat curfew. Seriously. In many towns throughout Iceland cats need to be off the street at a certain time or else….. Not sure what else. But people in Iceland generally follow the rules so I guess there are less cats out at night.

And that is my final thought on Iceland. For now. Bonjour!

Never smile at a stranger. They will think you are about to start a conversation and it will freak them out. This is from Henna who likes to pass as an Icelander when walking to and from class.

It is always hard to understand the nuances of a different culture. It is almost impossible to do so when unable to understand a single word from that culture. So we misread everything. The Icelandic families at the pool seemed unfriendly to us. They did not return our smiles unless they had something to say. Now we understand why.

The best part of returning to Reykjavik of course is seeing Henna. Henna loves the city. That she feels comfortable in St. Paul is one thing. That she also knows Reykjavik is impressive.

The third act of our summer trip begins tomorrow (Tetons, the Westfjords and other such places and soon Paris). It will be the first time the three of us will be separated by an ocean. Feels good though knowing Henna feels at home here in a small city where life thrives just below the Arctic Circle.

Don’t judge. The IKEA in Iceland offers up fresh food at a reasonable price. In a country where a bowl of soup for some reason costs over $15 (seriously I have no idea why soup here is so expensive; also it’s often the only thing on the menu), you can get a delicious order of plokkfiskur for about $10. What is plokkfiskur you ask? Cod fish and mashed potatoes mixed up into a delicious lumpy piece of heaven.

We also saw an active volcano today. Just a lot of puffs of smoke in the distance. But we will take what we can get. There is a six mile hike one can take to see the volcano up close. But you do so going into poisonous smoke. Some days I guess are safer to do this hike than others. Today for example the government shut down that trail due to secondary smoke from fires caused by the lava.

We did not meet the Prime Minister of Iceland today. Missed her by about five minutes. I guess Prime Minister Jakobsdottir and her family reached the summit of Mount Helgafell just a little bit before us and then chose to continue the slightly longer circle route (we rested a bit then turned around to go back to the car). The two hikers who did meet their Prime Minister were not at all surprised by their luck. In fact it is not uncommon at all to see prominent politicians as well as actors and musicians (like Bjork) out and about.

That’s all for now. Our Airbnb hosts have company over and they are getting a bit rowdy. So it is off for some FROYO.

After seven nights camping, colder weather and a sour stomach pushed us indoors. To be more precise we slept in an overturned barrel. Or at least that is what our lodging most resembles. it is a quite large wood barrel with a small kitchen, comfy bed, smart TV and a shower that floods not only the bathroom but half the kitchen as well. It is, in one word, paradise.

The barrel is located near Reykholt which is about an hour north of Reykjavik. Reykholt is the legendary home of Snori who was Iceland’s greatest medieval poet. He also preserved several of the sagas, built up an empire of sorts within Iceland, fathered dozens of children then went out GOT style after angering the King of Norway. The dude was badass. And his hot tub has been restored and sits in the open next to the Reykholt elementary school. You can also visit a nice museum housed in the basement of a church and wander into a restored nineteenth century church.

So we did that. And we saw some waterfalls. But mostly over the last two days we chilled in a barrel while watching so-so films on Netflix. Henna meanwhile witnessed a volcanic eruption from the safety of her dorm (just a puff of smoke in the horizon), rode out dozens of earthquakes and has made some great friends while at the same time learning the basic grammar rules of Icelandic.