Tuesday 6 November 2013--Our flight is not until late in the afternoon, so
there is time today to wander around Reykjavík. Win visits 12 Tónar, the local
record shop, searching for Icelandic jazz, and I meander about, taking photos.
We then walk over toward the university, intending to have a look at the museum
there; but time runs short, and we manage only to have lunch and a poke around
the gift shop. Then we are off to the airport.
On the flight home, we get a view of Eggers Island, at the very southern tip of
Greenland, in the twilight. How easy it is for us to pass over at 30,000 feet...I
try to imagine Eirik the Red exploring that coast, after spending days on the
open North Atlantic in his little ship. My paltry efforts at expanding my
horizons are put to shame. Ah, well, I'm no Viking...as a traveler, I'm a slacker.
Real explorers don't take days off when it rains, and they certainly don't nap as
much as I do lately. If I lack ambition, I am nonetheless satisfied with what I do,
walking the hills and beaches, snapping a few photos, and having a pint at the
end of the day. Now and then, I get to stand where someone like Guðríður
Þorbjarnardóttir once walked, and think about what it must be like to sail into the
unknown, beyond the boundaries of human experience. It's enough.
~ FIN ~
2014
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