“Did you see the forest on the road to Hveragerői?” Exactly I knew what this fellow meant, that being a kind of Icelandic way of talking about all the construction I noted a few entries ago. He offered an explanation of this explosive development which seems plausible. The older parts of Reykjavik have a lot of apartments where people lived jammed together. With the advent of prosperity, young couples wanted to purchase either new homes or large, spacious apartments. As for the older housing…and that doesn’t mean shabby, far from it…singles or newly married couples (along with newly divorced) are re-populating them. The huge advantage is the central location. The postal code 101 is used widely to describe this core of Reykjavik, even to such expressions as “I’m going to 101.”

When the weather is sunny people try to grab as many rays as they can, even for a few minutes. Everywhere you look are people on benches, grass or just standing there. However, you must be careful against sunstroke which creeps up on you very quickly.

Everyone is hyped up now about the presidential elections to be held this Saturday. Results will be in at 10.10 pm, right on the dot. While the media is full of this, it isn’t as intrusive as the US, even France, which just had theirs. However, the last 3 days will be hectic. That reflects the Icelandic tendency to do things at the last minute. On Saturday the major parties will have open house for the public which means free eats…and one party is noted for the goodies they put out. To be sure, I’ll be there.