Iceland May 22nd 2022

7-hour sleeping flights that have suns that never set are difficult to, you guessed it, sleep on.  It turns out that Iceland only really has close to 4 hours of nighttime every day.  From 3:30 am to 11:30 pm, it stays full-fledged daylight.  It is excellent for the number of things one wants to accomplish in a day.  It isn't great when you are sitting on a flight that lands at 6 am just to have gleams of sunlight gleaming directly into your eyes.  That being said, landing this morning, both me (the Chauffeur) and my grandmother (backseat tips) had not slept one bit.  When landing on this island, the first thing of note is the lack of large vegetation.  Not in terms of grass and brush, but very few trees.  They are only found in small clumps around rivers and other water sources.  Your transition between baron volcanic rock feels and lush rolling hills with snow-covered mountains in the background.  

We picked up Lachlan outside of a hostel in Reykjavik, and we drove on to Þingvellir (Þ = "th") national park, which lies between the tectonic plates.  The park was so distinguishable that it had been a meeting spot for Norsemen and Vikings for over a thousand years.  The people are very friendly and very accommodating.  Icelandic culture is hard to pinpoint, but my "expert analysis" would suggest that they have a mix of "woke" north American chai tea latte with oat milk and tough Norse/Viking culture with dudes with large beards and Odin tattoos.  It makes me think of a Kambucha bar with axe throwing in it.  It is a fun place to visit, and I am looking forward to day 2.  Until then, I need to catch up on sleep.