Á Austurvelli og fleiri sögur

Hot weather and beers on Austurvöllur go together like a horse and marriage. It is like a heat-wave in Iceland right now, for serious. Here are some photos from an Austurvöllur session last Thursday after work. 

My legs enjoying the sunshine.
Kalli.
So photogenic.
Various people making a tiny bit of cash by collecting empty cans and bottles, because you get money back for them at the recycling place.
Ewelina, Bjarni and Logi. 
Me and Grétar in the glare of evening sunshine.
Extreme tanning/pinking.
Awesome photo face.
Bjarni.
I just got back from a weekend in Grímsnes with Grétar and a lot of his immediate and extended family. My first Icelandic ættarmót (family reunion)! There were loads of them, including some branches from the USA and from the UK, all staying in this group of summer houses for the weekend. I mostly just talked to Grétar's immediate family, but it was fun meeting some of the English and American relations - descendants of his great aunts, I think, possibly one was a great uncle, who moved abroad. There was a barbecue party Friday evening, and then we failed to get up in time for the coach trip round the golden circle on Saturday (coach driven by Grétar's father). Instead we had a leisurely breakfast and played on the trampoline until we got too hot. Oh my lord, Saturday was hot. At least twenty degrees and hardly a breath of wind. The tan is coming on leaps and bounds, you will be pleased to hear. 

Collapsed in the extreme heat.
In the afternoon we went to the swimming pool in the nearby town/village, which had a really good slide, and then got ice-cream from the shop. There was a dinner in the Félagsheimili there in the evening, and then we went back to the summer houses for cake and singing, which I enjoyed very much, especially the one song that I actually knew (Á Sprengisandi).

I also noticed for the first time this year that we are into perpetual daylight. It's most likely been like this for a while, but I suddenly looked at my watch on Saturday night (found my watch!) and realised that it was after midnight and still broad daylight. I love Icelandic summers.

This photo was taken about 12.10 am on Saturday evening.

3 comments:

  1. Twenty degrees! Crazy weather. They'll have to change the name of that country soon. Enjoy it while it lasts.

    I'm so jealous of you. Looks like an amazing place to live.

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  2. I was lucky enough to be there for the heatwave...it was great to see everyone just sitting outside as much as they could. I have to admit it was also nice to come home last night to a dark evening - even with a sleeping mask on I struggle with quite so much daylight.

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  3. The light doesn't bother me at all, but when the sun comes up so early it does get a bit too hot in my room on sunny days. We are now back into a cloudy, cool phase, so no such troubles at the moment.

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