Health Care, Sigrídur Tómasdóttir, and Tectonic Plates

Our first full day in Iceland was amazing--and sunny and dry. But before I tell a bit about the day I have a health care story that was also amazing. Doug developed a uti and was getting increasingly miserable all day. When we got to our guesthouse in late afternoon, the woman told us the closest clinic or ER was 40 miles away. But, she told us, talk to the pharmacist, see what she might say. By this time it was after hours on Friday evening so we were resigning ourselves to a long drive to get help. The pharmacist told us to call the town doctor and gave us his number. The dr. met us at his office (right across from the pharmacy) and gave Doug a prescription, then refused payment. He said it would be more paperwork than it was worth. So now Doug is on his way to relief and it didn’t even cost us much.

Gullfoss -- this powerful waterfall rolling off the glacier is quite spectacular. Even better is the story of the woman, a local farmer, who saved it from being harnassed for power. In the early 20th century Sigrídur Tómasdóttir farmed near the falls and guided people across the land to see the falls (no roads then.) She and her father referred to Gullfoss as "our friend." An investor tried to buy it to dam it for power production. She fought tooth and nail for years, even threatening to throw herself off the falls if they prevailed. Long story short -- she won and we get to enjoy the glory of Gullfoss. That's Sigrídur, honored by a plaque near the falls.

Finally, a few words about Thingvellir. First, it was the early Viking place of parliament, so it holds a special place in Icelandic history. But its also a place where you can walk down the Atlantic Rift, the ridge that separates the North America plate from the Eurasian plate. So in this pic, the ridge to the left of Doug and Ron is spreading west and to the right its moving east -- at a rate of 2.5 cm/year.

There's much more, but that’s enough for today. It's time for some sleep even though the sun is still high in the sky. It doesn't set until near midnight.