And the loveliest word in the Nicelandic language is ....

This woman single-handedly took it upon herself to conduct a poll these past few weeks to discover the most beautiful word in the Icelandic language. The results are now in, and according to her readers the most beautiful word in the Icelandic language is 'ljósmóðir' which literally translated means 'light mother' - the Icelandic word for 'midwife'. Coming a very close second was the word 'kærleikur', which literally translated means 'heartfelt-play' and is the Icelandic word for love-slash-charity [neither of those two words really captures the nuance of 'kærleikur'], and in third place was the word 'dalalæða' which literally translated means something like 'moving soundlessly and playfully into the valley' and is the word for low-lying fog. Just thought you'd like to know.

Full results are here.

WE HAVE GLOOMY WEATHER ON THIS FIRST DAY BACK TO WORK
This past long holiday weekend marks the unofficial end to the Icelandic summer, as the days are getting progressively shorter and a hint of a chill is already in the air. Practically everything here [that isn't travel-industry related] shuts down in July and opens up again right around this time - so as most Europeans start heading out on their vacations, we Nicelanders are preparing ourselves for winter hibernation. Right now we have 12°C [54F] and the sun came up at 4:52 am and is due to set at 10:12 pm.

PS. Incidentally, if you happen to have come here via a link on this messageboard, please be advised that the comment about travelling on the Icelandic ring road, to wit: "Most of the area around there is pretty f*cking bleak to look at (think "moonscape punctuated by occasional tiny towns in which there is nothing to do and almost no one, or perhaps no one, speaks English..." is utter crap and written by someone who doesn't know what the f*ck they're talking about. Instead, please peruse the archives of this blog, or check out the myriad photographs of said area on Flickr and elsewhere. Thank you.