not every day

i have arrived in Höfn (pronounced Hup). it is further east on the south coast, which means i have to double back to Reykjavik. I decided to do this becasue the scenery along this route is gorgeous, and i get to stop by Jokulsarlon twice - a lagoon filled with icebergs from the icecap Vatnajökull. the bus stops here for 1/2 hour viewing. there is no accommodation at the lagoon so this my only chance to see this "classic postcard scene" (i would bring a tent next time, which would solve all kinds of issues).

Höfn is a harbour town and "it´s setting is stunning; on a clear day ... gaze at Vanajökull and it´s brotherhood of glaciers." today the clouds are so dark and heavy it is as tho i could reach up and touch them. hope it clears tomorrow, cuz i am here for 2 nights and i don´t thinnk there is a lot to do otherwise.

altho, there is a glacier exhibit which also shows clips of 007 movies shot around here. and there is a grocery store, the biggest grocery store i have seen yet.

i don´t know how they make meals exciting. the grocery stores are so small, with such a minimal selection, that i have lost interest (most stuff is imported and expensive). so i keep eating hotdogs and hamburgers and shop for ryvita, apples, tinned fish and skyr. Skyr, praised highly by the guide, appears to simply be yogurt (www.skyr.is).

after checking into the hostel, i went to the store. apples, mackeral, vanilla skyr, nacho chips and salsa , and to the cashier. an asian woman in front of me left her buggy behind her, preventing me from moving forward. i politely asked if it was hers. yes, so she gave it a shove and it rolled back to the middle of the main aisle. i pointed out that she could join it to the other buggies immediately to her right. well.... she then shouted at me that she wasn´t a tourist (?) and demanded to know where i was from. was i so orderly in Canada?! pushing the buggy in line will take minimal effort i said, then asked where she was from. she shouted back HELL! i said i was sorry. she then added that she was Icelandic and asked what i did in Canada, to which i calmly responded that i didn´t think she was really interested in conversation (i should´ve gone over the top and said i worked in Africa helping the poor). leave me alone, she spat back. maybe the clouds were getting her down.


i´ve had more interaction with Italians and Belgians here than with Icelanders. when i do, they are often brusque, but not necessarily unkindly so. usually it has to do with removing my shoes. while i agree that we shouldn´t wear shoes in the house, i am not even inside before i am being told to remove my shoes. it feels like a substitute for welcome.

otherwise, the country continues to catch my breath. so many waterfalls, black lava fields, ice caves, volcanos, calderas, cake-shaped mountains, ice caps, bleak vastness, whales, fjords, geysers, steaming valleys, bubbling mud, hot rivers, beautiful Icelandic horses, dramatic rock formations, black sand beaches, glaciers, rugged cliffs, moss covered lava rocks, and today a glacier lagoon. Höfn has been the only dull dreary drab spot.