No I haven't changed my mind!

With all the news about Iceland many have asked me if I have changed my mind in wanting to live there. Well the answer is no....it hasn't entered my mind to not go...I am captivated by the place and can't wait until I can return. I tend not to worry about those sorts of things...I could be killed in a car accident tomorrow...who knows what is in store and I don't think it matters where you live if something bad is going to happen to you, it will happen where ever you are! Iceland bewitches me, the landscape is incredible and reminds me exactly where we fit as humans in the scheme of things....I am drawn to the place and want to get to know it more intimately.

This picture is of a summer house in Reykir where my son and daughter-inlaw Ross and Olga held their wedding reception last year (remember it was about 22hrs daylight), most of the night we were outside

and this image on that night, with the summer house in the foreground, taken by my sister Kerry, probably best describes the feeling I get from the place.

The photographs that are around at the moment of the eruption still show that Iceland is stunning...there is something about that place and I urge you all wholeheartedly if you ever get the chance to visit...go, go, go!

Here are a few more breathtaking images of the eruption...can't have a blog post without lots of pictures.

Thick drifts of volcanic ash blanketed parts of rural Iceland on Friday as a vast, invisible plume of grit drifted over Europe, emptying the skies of planes and sending hundreds of thousands in search of hotel rooms, train tickets or rental cars. (AP Photo/Brynjar Gauti) #

Long lens view of farm near the Eyjafjallajokull volcano as it continues to billow smoke and ash during an eruption late on April 17, 2010. (HALLDOR KOLBEINS/AFP/Getty Images) #

Whilst most Icelanders go about their day to day activity as before and are relatively unscathed by the events of the last few days, spare a thought for the farmers in the vicinity of the volcano who have had to deal with the worst of the eruption. Fortunately Icelandic farmers have large barns where they keep their animals over the winter and have been able to round them up and get most out of immediate danger but the long term effect on agriculture is at this stage unknown.

Farmer Thorarinn Olafsson tries to lure his horse back to the stable as a cloud of black ash looms overhead in Drangshlid at Eyjafjoll on April 17, 2010. (REUTERS/Ingolfur Juliusson) #

Farmers team up to rescue cattle from exposure to the toxic volcanic ash at a farm in Nupur, Iceland, as the volcano in southern Iceland's Eyjafjallajokull glacier sends ash into the air Saturday, April 17, 2010. (AP Photo/Brynjar Gauti) #

This aerial image shows the crater spewing ash and plumes of grit at the summit of the volcano in southern Iceland's Eyjafjallajokull glacier Saturday April 17, 2010. (AP Photo/Arnar Thorisson/Helicopter.is) #

The first of 3 photos by Olivier Vandeginste, taken 10 km east of Hvolsvollur at a distance 25 km from the Eyjafjallajokull craters on April 18th, 2010. Lightning and motion-blurred ash appear in this 15-second exposure. (© Olivier Vandeginste) #

More of these spectacular images can be found at Boston.com

And if you want to know more about volcanoes and their eruptions listen to David Attenborough in Iceland talking about this very subject...some amazing footage on lava flow, Basaltic rock formations and underwater eruptions.

Holar and Hofsos

This post is on a myriad of things as they happened.  On Friday night we went to the restaurant next door to Kristin and Sigga's...it is the blue building in the photo at the very top of the page 'Olafshus'.  It was a sort of farewell dinner for Olga and Ross who are returning to London for the time being. The restaurant sells a mixture of food some quite traditional.  Everyone but Sigga and I ordered Foal which was beautifully tender...melted in your mouth. Seeing that I already have had foal I went for the Arctic Char which is closely related to salmon and trout and is farmed in Iceland, the flesh was a salmon pink...very tasty....Sigga went for a good old fashioned burger.

Olga´s amma Kristin (she adores Ross and Ross adores her)

Olga and Sigga

Butter here of course is a staple and I noticed that the little packets of butter served in restaurants are about three times the size you would get in Aust....much thicker than a box of matches.

The next morning we farewelled Ross and Olga at the bus station in Varmahlið which is about a 20min drive from Sauðárkrókur they will spend a couple of days in Reykjavik before flying to London on Monday afternoon, I will catch up with them before I return to Australia in 2-3weeks.

On the Sunday we went for a drive to Holar and Hofsos.  Holar is an Agricultural college for the local area and offers studies in Acquaculture, Tourism and is the International Centre for Icelandic Horses.

Holar College...a very picturesque location and a favourite image for local painters...I have seen many paintings of Holar in Icelandic homes.

While still at Holar we saw these traditional Turf Houses and most are now heritage listed, when I was here last summer I went to the Glaumbær museum which allows you to walk though the interconecting turf house structure, it is amazing and well preserved....take a look at the link.

Apparently at Holar there has been a settlement since around the year 1100, and today there are archaological digs current around the site that continue to provide a wealth of historical information.

One of the digs happening on the Holar site!

From Holar we visited Hofsos which is one of the oldest trading ports in Iceland, mainly because of its natural harbour.

 

 

These black houses in Hofsos belonged to the Icelandic mormons.

Along the shore at Hofsos are these amazing basaltic rock formations in some areas they appear as tall columns.