Sunday, June 19th -
Landlady
banged on my door at 9AM (I asked her to) to come upstairs and have
some breakfast - all I seem to manage at this is two or three cups of
coffee - meanwhile, the other guests were wolfing down ham, cheese,
waffles, maple syrup and other traditional Icelandic foods.
So I had some dried toast with my coffee.
Then took a walk around the perimeter of the town, as the weather gradually got foggier and foggier.
Attempted
to climb the volcano - it's about 300' high - but as I got above the
"tree line" at above 200 feet or so, I had to stop 'liveand turn back,
as my sandals did not provide sufficient grip on the steep slope
composed of volcanic cinders, as well as a 70MPH wind blowing straight at me, and fog - clouds I suppose.
Here is a webcam view of the town taken from the top of one of these volcanic hills.
By the time you get around to clicking on it, I'll be gone, and of course, it will then be warm and sunny. Tell me- Am I right?
Anyhow,
all there is at the top of this "live" volcano are some warm spots
where you can put your hands (or in my case, bare feet) on, and feel the
heat. Big deal. I wanna see MOLTEN LAVA!
This
town was half-buried in 1973, and it is still a big deal here. Many
houses are buried under the volcanic dust. But unlike Pompeii, no one
died, in flagrante delicto, or otherwise.
As the afternoon wore on, the fog/drizzle turned to light rain, so I packed it in and came back to my room here.
Tomorrow, after another hearty
breakfast of dried toast and copious amounts of coffee, I'll again
attempt to visit the outdoor museum where some houses are being still
uncovered after being buried for 40+ years. This town is sometimes
described as "the Pompeii of the North", albeit 2000 years younger and
no bodies or porn on the walls.
Then catch the 13:30 ferry mack to the mainland and hope that my
Rent-A-Wreck Hyundai is still there intact. and undamaged by any
sandstorms.
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