We also went to a couple of craft shops which had a bit of a jumble sale feel to them. One thing I am impressed by in Iceland is the expectation of creativity. Apparently one in ten Icelanders are published authors and there are so many other examples of creativity around - in garden sculptures, house murals and the craft shops. The chamber concert I saw a few days ago wasn’t perfect but there seems to be an expectation on everyone to be creative and to share that with others. Eve suggested that this might come from boredom as there isn’t much else to do, I agree but I also think that if you are in an environment where creativity is encouraged you will be less shy about it.
We set off after lunch and drove round the Trollaskagi penninsula through the villages of Dalvík and Siglufjordur. Eve and Leo passed up the opportunity of visiting the Herring Museum in Siglufjordur (why?!). We had to drive through lots of tunnels, one was 7km long.
All day there has been a weird band of cloud and at one point we were driving just above it and could see the mountains on the other side.
At certain points the drive posed the quadruple threat of clouds, gravel, sheer drops into the sea and sheep. But we got through it all with Fleetwood Mac Rumours and Paul Simon Graceland keeping us company. Last night I had read a twitter thread about albums that should be listened to in their entirety so I downloaded both of these.Any other suggestions gratefully received as we have two longish dullish driving days ahead.
This was us at the Northernmost point in our adventure (apart from the bit in the boat), pure cloud behind us, but I am sure there would have been a beautiful view of the Arctic Ocean.
Along the way we double backed on ourselves to take a closer look at this tiny turf roofed church.
It was sitting all alone in the bottom of a massivevalley. I didn’t make a note of which valley so I am not sure if it was Hof or Grof.
Is it too late for album recs? I'd say Stories from the City, Stories from the Sea by PJ Harvey, In Rainbows by Radiohead, Songs in A&E by Spiritualized, Once I Was an Eagle by Laura Marling and inevitably Astral Weeks. Those are all albums I won't listen to as part of a "shuffle". All or nothing. Also: Brian Eno used to say he deliberately never owned Berlin by Lou Reed because he loved the freshness of listening to it whole at a friend's house, on occasion.
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