Westman Islands

The next morning, we get our breakfast and get up to get to the

Westman Islands ferry.  We’ve heard from Kim and Rodney that they have set up a tour to the islands on the same day, so we hope that we can run into them, but it’s raining and if we didn’t already have this set up, we wouldn’t be going to the islands today.  As we get closer, it gets windier, rainier, and you can’t see anything.  I had reminded myself last night to make sure and take motion sickness medication for all of us for the ferry, but forgot before we left.  So, we’re faced with a ferry ride that could be very bumpy and no meds.  Also, when we get there, I ask John to ask about talking the

car on the ferry so that we have some way to shelter from all the rain.  We are able to change our tickets and get the car on the ferry too.  Of course, now I get to think about all this close driving up ramps and down ramps to park right up against other cars in a manual.  I have gotten pretty used to the car by now, but still try to leave a lot of room between me and other cars in order to screw up and not hit anyone or get hit.  But, that’s not allowed on a ferry. We get into line, and I’m lucky that we’re on a pretty flat spot to park and then they lift the ramp to close us in.  That worked out with no problem and we head up to deck to see us depart.  We run into Kim and Rodney

and the rain is really coming down, but Oscar and I still head outside a couple of times in order to get the fresh air and not feel so nauseous.  Oscar’s really feeling it and starting to cry because he doesn’t want to go back on the ferry if it’s going to make him sick.  We get in the car and head off the ferry without seeing much of what we’ve come to dock on and head straight to a pharmacy.  The pharmacist says that people on the island use cough syrup that has some kind of ingredient that makes you sleepy and I know that Oscar is not going to like it, but we get 

  it anyway.  We also head to Gott for lunch and tell him that putting something on his stomach will settle it down.  He eats some tagliatelle pasta with butter and parmesan and does feel better.  We have some baked cheese, a beautiful salad and are happy with our appetizer lunch.  We head out after going to the liquor store so that John can find some other Icelandic beers to try and go to the Volcano Museum.  The big island that we’re on in the Westman Islands had an eruption that increased the size of the island and resulted in the evacuation of the entire island with some houses being covered in pumice and ash.  One of the house is preserved outside with the lave taking over half of it and one has been uncovered from the ash and pumice inside the museum.  There is a great audio guide that goes along with following the eruption throughout the months that it continued and showing how

the island’s population has been decimated, but finally rebounded.  No one died in the eruption because all of the fishing boats were in harbor due to a storm, but everyone went and found out places to work and live while the eruption was still going on and didn’t return to Heimaey.  It was really a miracle that everyone got away, but seeing all of their possessions left behind was sad.