going to Grímsey island

Huge boxes and a dozen of people, including the staff are loaded on the small ferry. The ferry takes us over swaying sea into sunshine so that we could forget the light purple mass of clouds that started gathering behind our backs already yesterday evening.

The ride to Grímsey island takes three hours. Grímsey stands on the Arctic Circle and is the northernmost habitation of Iceland. In addition to the circle are here a bit over five square kilometers of land, about 80 people, many sheep, horses and birds, a harbor, an airstrip, a shop-restaurant, two guesthouses and a swimming pool.

I live next to the harbor in Gullsól guesthouse. The room is tiny but cozy and a ship-style staircase takes me there. The girl in the reception is born and raised on the island but is currently studying in Reykjavik. She asks how long do I already live in Iceland. Well, I don‘t live here at all.

To take advantage of good weather I walk to the Arctic Circle. The different signs show that the circle has been moving north during last few hundred years. If this continues then the island will slip from the circle but this is one of the things that attracts tourists. The other is the bird colony which is growing after hunting and egg picking have declined. Puffins have unfortunately left in August to go somewhere far on the sea to feed and will not be back until April. Some fulmars have stayed home.

Clouds coming from the big land send over one shower after another and cover the sun. On the sea it is visible how far away the next rain is. Horizon moves back and forth.

Restaurant is surprisingly open and contains two three-member groups of tourists who arrived with me and are going back in the afternoon with the same ferry. So I get pan-fried cod and milk and skyr from the shop. The shop is open for one hour every day. I bought everything necessary for three days from Dalvík yesterday except for milk. The restaurant should be open in summertime, at other times only upon request. The ladies running the place accept my request for dinner tomorrow.

Besides me a blond young man is living in the guesthouse. He closes himself into his room quietly for many hours. He does not have much choice since I have occupied the kitchen table and follow the changing colors of the sky through the window. Later I find out that he is from Denmark but moved to Iceland many years ago and his name is Mark. We agree, that Icelandic nature is beautiful and it is peaceful here. Goes to read in his room. Maybe there are a lot of cool people in the world who are reading quietly in their rooms and that’s why you can see and hear mostly some kind of lunatics.