Travel Day

7-22-10    How often in life does this happen ? We were driving past two huge nesting Whooper Swans on a mountain lake in the West Fjords part of Iceland. We were driving on a gravel and stone road. There was a beautiful splashy waterfall, and the little stream entered the Atlantic just 500 feet ahead. Amazing vistas of natural beauty on a fantastic birding vacation. Then we had two flat tires.

  No one was hurt, but not one but two tires. At the same time. The hotel at the end of the road helped us call the rental company. They sent two guys to fix the tires. All in all, we were quite lucky. This was a travel day for us anyway.

  On our way again, we saw a Eurasian Curlew (Numenius arquata) with its enormous beak standing on a fence post.

  The area south of Reykjavik was volcanic, the area north of Borgarnes was grassland and tidal pools, the West Fjords was like the Norse fjords. And east of there like the Scottish highlands. We have driven to the small town of Hvammstangi on the Midfjordur Bay on the north side of the island. They were having a festival. Red paper streamers, yellow balloons, a blue cowboy, and smiling wooden seals dressed up like grandparents. Berry asked the hotel manager what was the festival for, and he said "no reason". No reason and they put red sock puppets and a stuffed pink panther teddy bear on their lawn. "They are just festive people", Berry thought.

  Its a small world. I viewed the film, Bjarnfreðarson, on DVD when I first got here. I have since asked five people about the film. All had enjoyed it. The fifth person I'd talked to, a lady in Patreksfjörður, had actually worked on the film, knew the comedian, and was amazed that we foreigners had watched the film. It is a funny film, sarcastic all the way. The main character tries to kill himself by solemnly disrobing and walking naked into the Arctic Ocean, but when he gets waist deep in the freezing cold water, he trots back onto shore shivering. I'm sure all the Icelanders were rolling with laughter at this in the theaters.

Bjarnfreðarson, the film

  If anyone has any questions, place them in the comment box. We'll answer them the next time we stop to use the internet.

-Robert