Iceland: Life on the Brink
Icelanders live on the edge.
In 1783 the Laki Volcano in this glacier-covered country erupted in a violent and prolonged paroxysm, killing a fifth of the country's population.
For 10 months 30 billion tons of lava and sulfuric acid belched forth, creating a noxious haze that killed crops and livestock in Europe as it wound its deadly way west.
Some experts say it was this eruption that led to crop failures in distant France, setting the stage for the French Revolution.
There are still active volcanoes in Iceland, as we know all too well from the spring of 2010, when Eyjafjallajökull erupted, snarling air traffic for weeks.
In the endless, but brief summer days when the sun never sets, golfers tee off at two in the morning, and at midnight cafes are filled with what could pass for boisterous lunchtime crowds.
But the seemingly endless winter are not, surprisingly, any colder or brutal than say those of New England or Montreal.
In fact, temperatures hover around the low forties, not so bad, but the drizzle and the low cloud cover is pretty constant.
The New York Times has an interesting article on the best times to go.
From late October to November, the Northern Lights are a major travel attraction , but they don’t come with guarantees, so ask any travel company that promotes the phenomenon what their refund or alternative plans are.
But at any time, the country is a nature-lovers paradise.
It’s misty and moody, with fast-moving clouds, wheeling gulls, and a silence that could be unsettling.
In the classic Western sense of beauty, Icelanders are striking.
Almost uniformly taller than the average European, they are almost always blond with very blue eyes and finely sculptured features, befitting their Viking heritage.
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