Sjómaður

This statue is dedicated to those who've lost their lives at sea. It sits at fjord's edge in Eskifjörður, on the east coast of Iceland. The life size seaman, praying for mercy to the heavens, is a powerful reminder that this country is built on backs of men and women who strove to eke sustenance from these raw lands and from the very mercurial seas.

Play

This young lady played gleefully at the playground in Miklatún park during last night's outdoor Sigur Rós concert (more below).

Audience

Audience, originally uploaded by blue eyes.

The fairly amazing Icelandic ambient group Sigur Rós played an outside concert last night in the heart of Reykjavik. I walked to the Miklatún park with Valentina, her friend Telma from across the street and a sleeping Óðinn to take part in what was sure to be a much talked about local event (i.e. something you wouldn't want to admit you missed due to laziness or apathy). It's only a fifteen minute walk from our home to the park, but it was an interesting journey...people of all shapes and sizes streamed from all directions and funneled into the park, gathering into an estimated fifteen thousand-strong crowd by ten p.m. I didn't even try to get up close to the stage, so no pix of the band, but I liked the seriousness and cool of these young gents who climbd a sculpture to get a better view.

Cow

mooooo.....

Valentina

Hún á afmæli í dag, hún Valentína, hún á afmæli í dag... Happy birthday to my 9 year old girl, the best ever daughter in the world!

Falls

Seljalandsfoss, Iceland

This is Seljalandsfoss in the south, a quarter mile off the main road just east of Hella. The cool thing about this falls is that you can walk behind it (if you look closely at the photo you'll see people in the shelf under the cliff.) Valentina and I walked behind when we went on our road trip three years ago. Since it was a beautiful day we rolled up our pant legs and went barefoot and bare armed along the muddy path. The parka-ed and hiking booted tourists thought we were a lttle nuts and took pictures of us: the local wildlife.

Dramatic Landscape

Ominous skeis and hard rain followed us south from Eskifjörður, along the winding eastern Icelandic coast.