Me Versus The Boiling MudorMy Feet In The North Atlantic

This is an account of my recent week in Iceland, where I stayed with Stefan and Elinborg in their lovely new flat in Reykjavik. If I had to sum everything up in one word it would be "stylish". I think I used this word almost constantly, to describe the people, the houses, the shops, more or less everything. Just look though, even the pools of subterranean goo are a fetching colour!

Just a few of the things I did or went to:
1) Little Stefan's baptism. It was really nice to be invited and given my chance to hold the baby. (Apparently next time I will be babysitting.)

2) Witnessed the boiling mud (pictured) on a driving tour around Krisuvik and other places.

3) Sampled the Reykjavik nightlife in the pub where the famous people go. Apparently I saw five famous Icelanders, but you'd have to ask Olafia exactly who they were.

4) A fascinating visit to Iceland's archives courtesy of Elinborg's dad.

5) Whale watching from Reykjavik harbour. I saw lots of puffins and the back of a minke whale! That's one fin, and a bit of back, for about a second; most of the time I was sitting calmly not being seasick.

6) Had coffee in Kaffitar, my new favourite coffee shop.

7) Went on a typical touristy coach trip to the Snaefellsnes peninsula. Saw a glacier and got attacked by Arctic Terns. This is also the occasion when I paddled in the North Atlantic. Everyone else on the bus thought that this made me hard as nails, but in fact I've been in colder seas in Filey. It was all helped by the tour guide saying that you can swim but only for a few minutes before the cold gets you, which of course he himself can do! Apparently none of this is true though. Ah well.

7) The Golden Circle with the neeps. This included Thingvellir, Gullfoss, and the very original geysir at Geysir, but sadly it no longer actually geysirs unless there's been volcanic activity.

8) All sorts of other things! I might append them soon if time allows.

The New Internationalist

That's me. How has this transformation occurred? Well, point one, a few weeks ago I was in beautiful Lille for an exciting maths summer school. This was surprisingly good fun ... the people were sociable, the maths was accessible, and the town was beautiful. Most amusing was the sheer excitement of one of the american participants when he found a hedgehog in the university grouds. Apparently you don't get hedgehogs in the states (and porcupines, armadillos, grizzly bears and mountain lions apparently don't cut the mustard), so this was a cause of much excitement. Doesn't mean that they had to trap it in a cardboard box though!

Point two, tomorrow I will visit Iceland to spend some time with the neeps and do other exploring. I hope to see puffins, alive or cooked, glaciers, volcanoes, geysirs, dried fish, rotten shark, oh, and to meet lots of nice people. Probably I will spend my time wandering around Reykjavik getting lost, but even that will be good fun.

I have therefore armed myself with some travel sickness pills to combat my aversion to air travel, which, last time I tried it, left me a pale sweaty wreck with no desire ever to leave the country again. This is why I Eurostarred to Lille! Feel free to browse my beautiful new article. Besides this, television and DVD and running for fun are my current masters, particularly Big Brother (do I hate Charley?) and The Shield and Lodge Lane.