Hello again, Blogonauts. Not much verbiage from me this time around. (Stop your cheering, you kumquats!) I encourage you, however, to check out photos and a video clickable in the tabs above. Today was largely devoted to driving further along on Iceland's Ring Road, essentially from Lake Mývatn to the Eastfjords. The scenery on this portion of the route had fewer jaw-dropping highlights, but some side trips more than made up for multi-square-miles of lav...

Hello again, Blogonauts! On Saturday my interests turned once again to the heat beneath our feet…in other words, moments when earth's internal smelter leaks out onto the surface. I am still in northern Iceland, but momentarily I've left the fjords and fishing fleets behind and am in the inland region around Lake Mývatn (MEE-vahtn). At 14 square miles, it's a sizable pond. The absence of motorized boats and the presence of nutrient-rich waters make...

Hello again, Blogonauts! Friday found me once again on the road, with a couple of wonderful stops along the way. I first set my sights on Husavik, a prosperous-looking fishing village that also is well known for whale-watching excursions out into the Skjalfandi Bay. (We will, for the moment, ignore the Will Ferrell movie partially about the village.) Without the time to head out seaward in search of blow holes and flukes, I instead visited the informative Husav...

Hello again, Blogonauts! Happy Iceland Day! June 17 is Iceland's national day, chosen because it commemorates both the establishment of the Icelandic Republic in 1944 and the birthday of Jón Sigurðsson, who headed the Icelandic independence movement in the 19th century. My plan was to explore Akureyri, a town that, with a population around 18,000, is Iceland's second largest city. (In other words, it has several thousand fewer people than Keene. But ...

Hello again, Blogonauts! Wednesday was devoted to visiting Grimsey Island, which can be reached via a 42-mile ferry ride north of the fjord-side town of Dalvik. Why, you may ask, venture 42 miles north of Dalvik? Two primary reasons: First, Grimsey is crossed by the Arctic Circle and so it gave me a chance to walk over that semi-geographical boundary. Second, puffins…Atlantic Puffins. In no way do I qualify as an avid birder, but colorful birds can make...