Rjúkandafoss, Reyðarfjörður, Djúpivogur and Jökulsárlón

Before we arrived at the Hotel Austur in Reyðarfjörður for the night, we enjoyed another foss, the Rjúkandafoss.

Entering Reyðarfjörður.

Reyðarfjörður harbor in the morning sun

The following morning, we packed up for Jökulsárlón and stopped at Djúpivogur, a village intertwined with German history, as Hanseatic merchants were the first to be granted trading rights here in 1589.

Today, the residents make their living from fishing and tourism.

The village has colorful houses, including one painted red, Langabúð, considered one of the most beautiful in Iceland. 

A liberty monument

Our next destination was the Jökulsárlón glacial lake.

In the background, a tongue of the Vatnajökull Glacier

On our way on the national N1 ring road around the south coast ...

... we longed Iceland's giant Vatnajökull glacier.

Toward the end of the 19th century, Vatnajökull's glacier tongue Breiðamerkurjökull (Glacier of Wide Woodland) extended almost to the sea. Today it is more than 6 kilometers from the coast. Lakes have formed at the glacier's edge, such as the well-known Jökulsárlón (glacial river lagoon), which covers 17 km².

With a depth of around 300 m, the lagoon is Iceland's deepest lake. It never freezes over because saltwater regularly flows into it from the sea. Jökulsárlón

Icebergs up to 15 meters tall break away from the glacier tongue. They may float in the lagoon for 5 years, drift slowly to its mouth, and eventually flow via a small tributary toward the ocean.

Our group booked a boat ride on the lagoon, but it was canceled because of high winds.

On the way to our hotel, we stopped at another foss near Fagurhólsmýri.

During an evening stroll, we tried to approach a flock of grazing sheep, but they kept an eye on us and drifted away, keeping their distance.

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Franco-German Partnerships in AI

Red Baron took part in the French Summer University at the Frankreich Zentrum of Freiburg University once again this year.

One of the topics covered at the Sommeruniversität was artificial intelligence, a field where Europe lags behind and where one looks for Une intelligence artificielle européenne with partenariats franco-allemands dans le domaine.

Our teacher surprised us with an AI-generated photo. Nice try, but you can't see the Minster Church from the lecture hall. Madame had crutches, alright, but she exuded a "few more years" of experience.

AI is almost everywhere.

ChatGPT, how does it work?

AI understands, learns, and generates.

The slide above shows the European misery. Only DeepL and Mistral make it in the European charts, while the software market is dominated by American companies.

 

The challenges

Working together to build European technical, ethical, and competitive sovereignty.

 
Geopolitical and economic challenges
- Digital sovereignty
- Strategic independence
- Competitiveness

 
Ethical and societal challenges
- Respect for values
- Data protection

 
Technological and industrial challenges
- Access to resources
- Brain drain*
*The French have that cute fuite des cerveaux, while in German we simply adopted brain drain since Fachkräfteabwanderung sounds indeed clumsy.

Red Baron thinks the European program is too ambitious and comes too late, especially since international players tend to regard ethical and data protection concerns as secondary when it comes to maximizing profits.

Moreover, the mills of EU bureaucracy in Brussels turn too slowly and are already being steamrolled by accelerating technological developments.

 

French President Emmanuel Macron (l) and German Chancellor Friedrich Merz
take part in the European Digital Sovereignty Summit
Nov. 18, 2025, in Berlin, Germany (©Kay Nietfeld/dpa Picture-Alliance via AFP)

Still, President Macron and Chancellor Merz believe it is worth a try.

Marianne kicks out Windows while little Linux walks in

American dominance is overwhelming, yet France got the ball already rolling with some housekeeping.

So far, Europe hasn't fully taken Chinese AI into account.

And what about the ecological impact of AI?

A simple query to ChatGPT requires 0.3 Wh and produces up to 4.3 g of CO₂. AI's electricity consumption already accounts for 2% of global electricity generation, and that figure is rising.

 
The lively discussion gave us plenty of opportunities to practice our French.

 

At the end of the course, our teacher invited us to write the lyrics for a chanson, which ChatGPT Suno then set to music.

**

Dimmuborgir, Dettifoss and Hverarönd

The next highlight of the Iceland trip was our entry into the surreal world of Dimmuborgir, known as the lava rock labyrinth.

We explored the impressive surroundings on a walk.

The bizarre columns and ridges at Dimmuborgir are the remains of steam vents that formed when lava pooled over marshland. As it flowed over the wet ground, the water within it began to boil, and steam rose to the surface through vents up to several meters in diameter. After the crust of the lava sheet solidified, molten lava continued to flow beneath. Eventually, the crust collapsed, but the vents and parts of the cooled-down lava sheet remained.

Watch out, but we already knew about the faults.

Then we stopped at Dettifoss (Icelandic detta "fall"; foss "waterfall"). The "double fall" underlines that it is the second most powerful waterfall in Europe after the Rhine Falls.

Here, the Jökulsá á Fjöllum River plunges into the Jökulsárgljúfur Gorge.

Spanning about 100 meters wide, the waters plunge 44 meters into the depths, generating about 85 megawatts of electrical power.

The gray-brown waters continue to flow about 30 kilometers into the Arctic Ocean.

 

Many bridges on Ring Road 1, Iceland's main highway, are single-lane. The old bridge is now used by pedestrians to cross the Jökulsá á Fjöllum River, while downstream - in the background - a new two-lane bridge carries vehicular traffic. Note: Iceland has no railroads.

On our way to Hverarönd, a field of volcanic activity with hot springs, we had to cross the Námaskarð Pass (Icelandic náma, "mine"; skarð, "pass") and saw water vapor from a geothermal power plant in the distance.

Hverarönd is characterized by a variety of hot springs, boiling mud pools and mud pots, and solfataras. Sulfur used to be mined here ( náma),

Solfataras are fumaroles with temperatures ranging from 100 °C to 250 °C. These post-volcanic exhalations consist of hydrogen sulfide (H₂S), carbon dioxide (CO₂), and water vapor. The hydrogen sulfide produces the distinctive smell of rotten eggs. 

 
Upon contact with atmospheric oxygen, hydrogen sulfide oxidizes to form elemental sulfur and sulfur dioxide, which dissolves in water to form sulfurous acid (H₂SO₃)

This acid corrodes the rock and soil and, together with the hot water vapor, causes the mineral components to decompose. This often results in the formation of mud pots, from which gases escape as bubbles.

The sulfur-laden soil stifles all plant life.

**

Right-Wing Populism

No, I don't want to write about POTUS here, but rather about the co-chair of "The Alternative for Germany" (AfD).

Wulf Schmiese holds his head so it won't shake (©Fabian Weiss/ZDF/dpa)

During the summer slump, Germany's Second Television (ZDF) interviews leading politicians from all parties about their views on the state of the nation. Alice Weidel of the AfD was among them.

I watched the summer interview and was simply appalled by how it unfolded. Wulf Schmiese, renowned ZDF Berlin correspondent - fully aware that one cannot get away with challenging Alice with provocative questions - had deliberately phrased his queries factually.

"Ms. Weidel, what is your stance on climate change?"

Alice didn't give an answer, but simply emphasized the AfD position: "Climate change has always existed. All this fuss about climate protection makes everything expensive and takes money out of people's pockets. It has to go."


"How does the AfD intend to halt the decline of the automotive industry and strengthen Germany as an industrial hub?"

Instead of an answer, Alice launched a vitriolic tirade against the euro: "The euro is a weak currency. What has it accomplished? It has impoverished the population and led to job losses."


Then Schmiese confronted Weidel with one of her earlier statements: "All Syrian refugees in Germany must have their protected status revoked. They must remigrate. If they do not return to their homeland voluntarily, then they must be deported."

When Schmiese mentioned the lack of readmission agreements with Syria and Afghanistan and thus the de facto impossibility of repatriation, Alice unleashed another tirade against him and the viewers:

"The federal government has enabled unchecked illegal immigration. This has thrown Germany's internal security into disarray. Knife attacks and mass rapes are commonplace. Women and girls no longer leave their homes."

Schmiese returned to his question: "But what about an orderly repatriation?"

There was no answer; instead: "Listen, Mr. Schmiedel, it all starts with prevention. We're closing the borders; we're pulling out of the Schengen Agreement. 1.3 million Syrians will be deported."

And Alice continued, "The people are being systematically lied to by the governing CDU and SPD, and I, too, don't want to be lied to anymore by some Flachzangen (dimwits) up there."


This interview is a lesson in populism. Populists sell complexity as a scam and celebrate simplicity as the solution.

For populists, there's always someone to blame - incompetent scientists, a broken currency, a missing border protection - and all it takes is the stroke of a pen for everything to be fixed.

A classic example is Brexit, which was celebrated as the British people's liberation from the European yoke. Ten years later, it is proving to be a historic mistake. The United Kingdom's gross domestic product is low, investment is lacking, and productivity is suffering. The British were promised sovereignty and a return to their former glory; what they got was bureaucracy and frustration.

Presently, America - and with it, the world* - are suffering from a senseless war that shows no signs of ending (Iran) and from a global economy that is falling into disrepair (tariffs).
*We Europeans, in addition, are suffering from Putin's inhumane war in Ukraine

Note: Aggression is no substitute for competence; anger is not a strategy; and noise does not equate to leadership.

Experience shows (Hungary): Those who give power to populists do not end up with the promised golden age, but rather with chaos and problems.

Haven't we Germans learned anything? Should we not recognize the arsonists in our own house before they set it on fire?

**

Grenjaðarstaður and Myvátn

On the fourth day of our trip to Iceland, we first visited the open-air museum of the Grenjaðarstaður peat farm.

The Grenjaðarstaður parish had been based at the peat farm since 1865.

A layer of peat on the rocks

Volcanic rock, peat from the surrounding area, and driftwood were used to build the farmstead. Most of the driftwood came from Siberia and took up to five years to reach this location.

Immediately to the left of the entrance to this housing complex is the so-called "Golden Room," which is furnished entirely in the style of the 19th-century bourgeoisie. The middle photo shows Pastor Benedikt Kristjánsson, who served here as pastor from 1876 to 1907. His wife, Regina Sívertssen, is pictured on the left. She died in 1884, and Benedikt married Ólöf Ásta, his second wife, pictured on the right.

Initially, cooking was done over an open fire. In the old peat-farmhouses, there was very little ventilation.

The women, who worked at the hearth from dawn to dusk, suffered from lung and eye diseases.

You will find a coffee pot just about anywhere in Iceland

So the modern stove came at just the right time. The women working here could occasionally look out the window and watch what was going on at the neighboring farm.

On the left: By moving the end panel, the bed width could be adjusted to suit individual needs.

Adjacent to the "kitchen" is the Pilthúsið, a room that served as both a sleeping and working area for the workers at Grenjaðarstaður.

On the other side of the corridor is Elísabet Jónsdóttir's room. She was the wife of Pastor Kristjansson's successor, Pastor Pétur Hjálmarsson. Elísabet was exceptionally musical. She was not only the parish organist and choir director, but also one of the first women to publish her compositions in Iceland. In her room, she taught not only music but also needlework.

In the farm's pantry, you admire a barrel used to store salted fish, as well as a butter churn.

The Grenjaðarstaðarkirkja stands in the churchyard. It was built of wood in 1865. The bells date from 1663 and 1740 and hang above the gateway.

The church's interior is kept simple.

Our next stop was the picturesque area around Lake Myvátn, which ranks among Iceland's most remarkable sights, particularly due to its volcanic features.

A basaltic eruption of the volcano Krafla 2300 years ago formed a natural dam, preventing accumulated water from draining away. It pooled into Myvátn, the Lake of Midges.

The midgets were many, annoying, and some of them biting. We bought mosquito nets to cover our heads.

©Wikipedia

The rift between the Eurasian and North American tectonic plates, the Mid-Atlantic Ridge, which we already met at Đingvellir, also runs through this region. The Myvátn area remains volcanically active.

 

The rift is widening. The midges rejoice: Iceland's land area is steadily growing.

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