Oh, no, I missed a day! Catch up time! Part 1

I was too tired last night and didn't get anything written, so tonight's entries will cover 2 days, so I don't get any further behind! When I last posted, I had taken the ferry to the Westman Islands. The main island, and the only inhabited one, is Heimaey. I got a campsite and had a delicious dinner (fresh fish, of course!). The campsite was amazing, located in the bottom of an immense old caldera. I was told that there were puffins nesting on the wall of the caldera, and over the top, so, of course, the next morning I decided to climb to the top. It was a pretty tough climb, but there were puffins flying around, and that made everything easier.

Puffin carrying food

A really cool thing on the climb was that I started talking to two other climbers, sisters from the US. Sometimes you just meet someone (or, in this case, two someones) who you like immediately. But more about them later. One positive to making friends along the way is that there is someone around to take your picture occasionally.

At the top of the caldera

I spent the rest of the day exploring the island, and had an amazing moment. I was preparing to walk to a blind to watch puffins, when a car pulled up and honked. A bunch of sheep came up to the fence in response, and this old Icelandic man pulled out bags of stale bread from his car. He walked over and handed me several large rolls and motioned to the sheep. So, I fed sheep stale bread for about 10 minutes. Every time I'd finish the bread (or, technically, the sheep did), the gentleman would walk over and give me more. He also thought it was very important that I knew that a particular sheep was named Putin. (His English was better than my non-existent Icelandic, but not by much.) It was one of those moments that just stops you in your tracks—I couldn't stop smiling for the longest time.

Then I did get to see many puffins! They are such wonderful birds.

My last stop was the Black Church that I had seen from the ferry. There is a space all around the sanctuary where (I was told) the less prominent citizens had to listen to the service through the walls—they weren't allowed in the main part of the church. I don't care too much about the stories, but I did take a picture there that I really like!

I met my new friends for dinner at a restaurant called Slippurinn. Wow! They specialize in using Icelandic herbs and berries to season their food, and it was delicious. Then it was a scramble to catch the 7:30 ferry back to the mainland. We were treated to a lovely sunset, then drove a few miles east to a campground for the night,