Iceland is a volcanic island in the North Atlantic where the forces of earth - both volcanism and the brutal North Atlantic weather - are experienced first-hand. The island would be an excellent tourist destination were it not brutally expensive and were it served by a better airline than the disappointing Icelandair.

Iceland, called Ísland in Icelandic, has been settled since 870 but was known to Europeans as early as the fourth century before the Common Era. Europeans, though, had little to do with the island, as the northern ocean was believed to be a "vicious jelly." A few Celtic monks headed for Iceland in the seventh century of the Common Era either to spread Christianity or establish hermitages. To the disappointment of the missionaries and the delight of the hermits, they found the island uninhabited.

The first Norse to visit Iceland were blown off course whilst trying to find the Faroe Islands. The first permanent settlement of Iceland occurred in 874 by Ingolfur Arnarson. Iceland was not really settled by Vikings, but rather by ordinary Scandinavians and Celts fleeing tyranny on the mainland. Having been victims of tyranny, Icelanders established the first Parliament, the Alþing (the "þ" is pronounced "th") in 930. Ironically, just 70 years later that same Parliament forced Christianity upon the people. The Icelandic Sagas, considered the finest European Medieval literature, were written around this time.

Despite promising beginnings, Iceland descended into Civil War in 1230 and was more-or-less annexed by Norway in 1262. The Norwegians, masters of the imposition of excessive taxes, squeezed every kronor from Iceland while volcanic eruptions, harsh winters, and the Black Death of 1402-1404 ravaged the countryside. In 1397, the Kalmar Union brought Iceland and Norway under Copenhagen's rule. In 1602, the Danes imposed a Trade Monopoly that severely restricted Icelanders' ability to import goods from the mainland.

Six centuries of oppression by Norwegians, Danes, and various volcanos allowed nationalist sentiment to coalesce in the 1800s, and by 1940, with Denmark occupied by Nazi Germany, the Alþing quietly declared Iceland's independence. Iceland went to war with Britain in 1958 and 1975 over fishing rights but was chosen to host a Reagan-Gorbechev summit in 1986.

Reykjavik City Center airport, one of the world's only airports within walking distance of downtown, is the departure point for prop planes flying to various points in Iceland and Greenland. Here I am boarding an ill-fated Fokker 50 turboprop for the 2 hour flight to Kulusuk, Greenland. The flight made it to within sight of the airstrip in Greenland but the weather was too stormy and we had to come back to Iceland.

Caution on flying Icelandair: Avoid taking Icelandair unless your final destination is Iceland. Unfortunately, Icelandair has a virtual monopoly on Reykjavik airport. Icelandair promotes itself as a cheap alternative across the Atlantic that will let you stop over in Reykjavik for a couple of days. Think twice before taking Icelandair if you actually hope to make it to the continent. There is only one flight a day from only four US gateways (Boston, JFK, BWI, and Minneapolis), and if you miss your connection, Icelandair will tell you 'tough s---' and book you on the next day's flight (as happened to me--twice). Connections in Keflavik are tight and the airport is subject to the worst of the North Atlantic's weather. Unlike US carriers, Icelandair does not accept responsibility for missed connections and will coldly abandon you at the airport if you miss a connection. (I speak with experience.) If your final destination is continental Europe, taking Icelandair is begging for trouble. You're much more likely to get to your destination if you get stuck in Heathrow than if you get stuck on a volcanic island in the middle of the ocean.

Reykjavik, the world's northernmost capital, has half of Iceland's 280,000 residents. Reykjavik's bar scene is so rowdy that the US State Department warns Americans not to be downtown on weekend nights, but unfortunately I wasn't in the city on such a night.

The city's large Lutheran Church, Hallgrimskirkja, dominates the old town area with a 73m belltower. Finished in 1974, the church includes a statue of Leifur Eiríksson by Alexander Calder (who also designed the mobiles in the Sears Tower.) Eiríksson is commonly believed the first European to reach America, landing in Canada around the year 1000.

Clear days are rare in the stormy capital. One is never far from the sea (as seen from my hotel room) and the city can easily be seen on foot. However, since I hired car, I admit I missed most of Reykjavik.

A note on Icelandic hotels: Iceland's hotels are the most expensive and of lower quality than anywhere I've ever been, even Anchorage. The Raddison SAS Saga Hotel, called Iceland's finest by Lonely Planet, is a decaying hulk with Tokyo-sized rooms for $180/nt. Granted, Raddison is a bottom-rung hotel chain, but it is really amazing that tiny countries like Bhutan (Hotel Druk) and Lao PDR (Villa Santi) have far better hotels than a modern European country.

Iceland's fishing industry, with a fleet of 795 vessels like the Björn (shown), harvests 1.9M metric tons of fish annually and employs 9.2% of the population. Many of the coastal villages smell of the day's catch.

Iceland would very much like to resume whaling but has limited its "scientific harvests" under international pressure. The animosity towards the whale from Iceland, Norway, and Japan comes from a belief that whales deplete fish stocks, much as woodpeckers cause deforestation. (In fact, overfishing is the number one cause of depleted fish stocks.) Lonely Planet notes that the "scientific harvest" was "processed into pet food, vitamins, chicken feed, bouillon cubes, bullion cubes" and other products that "have cheap, easily produced substitutes."