Hi Everyone,

http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/sci/tech/3982273.stm

I wish I was there!

Patti

Saw that on CNN this morning. Fantastic pictures!! Am sure all the flyers stuck at Amsterdam airport though weren't so thrilled.

I didn't even know Iceland had a volcano. Were people evacuated?

HI,

I think Iceland has at least three active volcanos. This one is in a remote area so supposedly no one had to evacuate. Seems to be causing more havoc in mainland Europe!

Patti

I heard something about "european flights" dirverted or cancelled.

What I read several hours ago now was that KLM could not fly because of the ash so all flights were on hold and so consequently Amesterdam airport was swamped with "want to be flyers" understandably.

Not sure what the situation is now.

Mother Nature does rule, does she not?

Thanks Patti, I did not know this. In fact although I thought I knew geography pretty well some time ago a poster (a geography teacher if I remember right) said that Iceland was considered part of North America. I never knew that. Obviously I need to study up on Iceland. What I did learn was that Iceland was "green" and Greenland was "icy". Is that true?

Well, more bits of Iceland are green than Greenland, I'd say! Most of Greenland is covered by ice cap. Iceland really isn't all that cold due to the Gulf Stream influence; it's about as much brown and grey and black as green, though, what with all the volcanic sand and such. Beautiful places, both of them.

One of the volcanoes in Iceland is poised to erupt right outside of Reykjavik, where, of course, most of the people live. It seems to be just interesting rather than alarming to anyone there, though! Iceland is a geographic dream; on the Middle Atlantic Ridge, it's partly on Eurasian, partly American tectonic plates, so the "rift" betwixt the two is quite evident in places like Thingvellir, which is also where the first Parliament was held by the Vikings.

Ooops, I am running on...I get a little carried away about Iceland!

Amy, why have you stopped just when you got to the most interesting part - vikings? Please tell us more!

How about that! Isn't it intersting and those photos!! Wow and those people standing so close
Yes, let's hear more about the Vikings now

Well, the Vikings' horses are still used: small but extremely sturdy with a gait all their own; it's great riding across the lava fields on them. And of course the language hasn't changed since about the 12th century, so the Sagas are readable to any literate Icelander--and Iceland has somewhere around the world's highest literacy rate.

Leif Eriksson was an Islander (pronounced Ees-lander, as in Island=Iceland) as was Erik the Red, his father, who had to move on to Greenland. Viking history abounds.

And (she added with a delicate blush) there are still many handsome Viking descendants about.

Boy, am I getting "home"sick!

I have seen those ponies and that gait! They are great

Homesick, heh? Where is a Viking when you need one

Hmmmm. Actually, Scarlett, Peru is where...
Okay, enough of that. The Vikings also had interesting views on equality and some women's rights; one had to be pretty strong to survive, one infers.

They don't seem to have any photos posted yet, but one of the better places to keep up with happenings in Iceland is the Iceland Review:

http://www.icelandreview.com/

I expect they will have some great pictures before too long.

HI LoveItaly,

Actually Iceland is a volcanic island--formed when the two tectonic plates pulled apart and magma bubbled up and formed the island. It's really young geologically--something like 100,000 years old. And because of the way and time Iceland was formed, it has no indigneous mammals--all the animals on the island were brought from somewhere by humans (and a couple walked over on ice floes from Greenland.) It really is such a fascinating place!

Patti

Thank you Patti!! I can see I will be doing some research on Iceland during the rainy winter days. Obviously my school didn't offer much, LOL.

Again, thanks for taking the time to answer my questions. Take good care.

LoveItaly, here's a bit of reading to get you started: http://www.fodors.com/forums/threads...mp;tid=1278237

I love Italy, too, (and Israel and Ireland, come to think of it--something about those "I" countries; I can't wait to get to go to India) but Iceland is my first love...although I would recommend a summer trip for first timers~it's at its very best then, I feel.