Rain, wind and chilly temps barely breaking 50 today. But hey, if we wanted warmth we should have stayed at home. Ninety Six is the forecast in Melrose, MA and Guilford, ME. Only Sun City Center, FL is cooler at 88 today.

Mostly sightseeing today with only one cultural experience. But Thor did have a chance while driving to regale us with stories and insights about Iceland.

On the way out of town we saw the house where Ronald Reagan met with Mikhail Gorbachev, a meeting that began the process that led to the end of the Soviet Union.

We passed by one of seven geothermal power plants in Iceland. It sports seven electricity-generating turbines driven by steam. The superheated steam is brought to the surface via pipes drilled 1.5 miles into the earth. In addition to electricity, hot water is piped to Reykjavik for use in heating homes and as drinking water. Over 90% of Icelandic homes are heated this way.

Electricity is an export commodity for Iceland. Because it is not (yet) technically possible to export electricity directly, Iceland brings the foreign consumer to Iceland in the form of aluminum (al-you-liń -ium) plants. Large-scale data processing farms also locate here. Only 20% of electricity generated here is used by Icelandic consumers.

That explains why the question of installing wind-driven power plants is so controversial. “Why should we pollute our environment with aluminum plants? Sure, we have lots of wind but the environmental cost is just too high.”

Remember the discussion of Icelandic “hidden people,” the elves? There are also said to be trolls. Unlike Norwegian trolls, those here are large, ape-like creatures, not very smart but with a taste for human flesh. They turn to stone when exposed to daylight, so they’re only about at night. Thor showed us a rock formation of four vertical structures in the water just off the southern coast: they are the rock formation of a troll and the three masts of the ship the troll was pulling to his lair for a source of snack food when the sun came up. (Whatever the troll is pulling turns to stone as well.) Belief in trolls is somewhat less than the 30% figure for elves. However, “be good, or the trolls will get you!” is a parenting tool, albeit one of questionable worth.

We passed through the town where Bobby Fisher is buried. In the end, Iceland, where he beat Boris Spassky to become world champion, was his chosen place for cancer treatment. His friend, the chauffeur, and local chess aficionados, cared for him in his final days.

Turns out there are six or seven thousand practitioners of the worship of ancient Nordic gods. They’re even building a temple in Reykjavik. Gods are numerous: Odin, Frigg, Thor, Loki and the rest. There was even a “white Christ” god introduced. Thor (the guide, not the god) told us that ancient believers practiced animal sacrifice to evoke the power of the gods. Smearing the sacrificial blood on objects and clothing was practiced, as wa the drinking of sacrificial blood and consumption of sacrificial flesh. Modern day worship is much more civilized. 

One town we passed has a high level of surface thermal activity. Lots of greenhouses here, producing vegetables, using the natural heat.

We saw a fair number of fields planted to, I assume, hay. The first cutting has already been made. Some fields seemed fallow. A few appeared to be taken over by Lupin infestations.

Back in 2010, Judy and I had a trip to circumnavigate Iceland by car all planned out. Unfortunately, the eruption of the volcano Eyjafjallajökull disrupted air travel to Iceland and throughout Europe where the prevailing winds blew the volcanic ash. My father became ill at that time so we couldn’t go anyway. Today we drove by the volcano, hidden as it was in clouds but nonetheless there. Newscasters took to calling it volcano E-16, which means “the letter e followed by 16 unpronounceable letters.

The volcano eruption effected only a small portion of Iceland. Farmers in the immediate area feared their hay crops would be damaged by the ash that spread on the fields. Instead, however, the eruption ceased, the rains fell, and the ash fertilized the soil so that instead of two cuttings, they achieved four. A real bonanza.

One of the big dangers of volcano eruptions in Iceland comes from the volcanos that are buried under the ice sheets of glaciers. When the eruption occurs, water melts, builds up and can produce catastrophic floods. Towns like Vik, where we are staying tonight, hold annual evacuation drills because the town is in the direct path of such a volcano, one of eight (out of 30-odd volcanoes in Iceland) that are under a glacier.

The Skogar Museum, our lunchtime stop, was established by a local school teacher. Iceland experienced an economic boom from WWII army activity. The teacher realized that the new found wealth was causing people to abandon their old tools and ways of doing things in favor of the modern. He therefore started a program to gather such items into a museum so that the culture would not be lost. The museum is the result. It includes artifacts of daily life and a large collection of fishing gear, fishing being one of the main sources of income for this area. There are also traditional sod houses and other structures brought to the site to be part of the museum. The teacher learned seven languages so he could lead tours. He worked into his 90s and recently died at age 100.

What else today? Two magnificent waterfalls, resulting from springs and glacial meltwater. See the pictures. One is set up so you can walk behind it. I’m sorry to say that my ailing hip, a recent development for me, precluded making the trek. A stretch of 10 feet or so of wet, slippery rocks kept me from taking the risk. Old age beats the alternative, but it is frustrating.

At the waterfall near the museum, it is said that a medieval rich man hid his treasure at the base of the fall to avoid it being taken by his enemies. The enemies killed the man when he refused to give them his treasure. For years, people have attempted to retrieve the treasure. One man found the ring-shaped handle to the box, tied a team of horses to it and succeeded in pulling up only the ring. The handle resides in the museum. The treasure is still at the base of the waterfall.

We also made a stop to look for Puffins, the iconic but somewhat illusion birds. Thor said he saw a few make a brief appearance, but none long enough for your faithful photographer to click his shutter. Maybe tomorrow. Stay tuned.

But wait! Upon closer inspection of today’s pictures, I think I did catch one hiding on her nest in the grass, as is their habit. Not a great picture, but don’t tell anyone when I brag about bagging a Puffin.

We did see Eider Ducks, as in eider down. Farmers whose fields are chosen as nesting areas will take a third of the birds’ feather lining. The ducks replace the missing amount, which is harvested again and again.

Tomorrow promises to be iceberg and glacier day.