SUNDAY, AUG. 22 REYKJAVIK

We have grown our winter coats. The wind has been constant for three days now, but rolling clouds have obscured the sun, dropping temperatures to single digits. We have been forced to dig out our fleeces and put on layers, perhaps earlier than we had hoped, but thank goodness we brought them. Our plans have also changed: instead of the Blue Lagoon, we remained in Reykjavik for a day of wandering.

Reykjavik is a handsome city in the Nordic style. The buildings are mostly low-rise, some colourful, all of them designed with well-defined, clean lines. The streets were jammed with pedestrians yesterday: today, they were mainly deserted, probably because it was the Sunday after a holiday of intense celebration and also because of the weather.

We covered a lot of ground and popped into a few shops, a couple of bars and cafes, and the Halgrimmskirkje. We did not visit museums or monuments, mainly because of fatigue. We tried to book accommodation for our next landfall, Vik, with no success. Tomorrow is another day.

Icelanders, as I said yesterday, come across as being very laid-back and reserved. They flow across this city as people who know exactly who they are and where they live. Despite Reykjavik's relatively small size ( about 200,000 people ), there is a somewhat chic and sophisticated air to the place. If the people are not overly demonstrative, they certainly seem to be confident, satisfied and comfortable in this town. There's no reason for them to get excited, to be anxious or worked up about a way of life that keeps them healthy, well fed, content, and mostly employed. Thus, the Icelandic character emerges: reserved, stoic, rugged, and resigned to their rocky, stark and windswept home. They are stylish without ostentation, sure of themselves without arrogance, urban without frenzy. They may just have it all figured out.

A final note about today's weather: our landlords and a couple of people we talked to today insist that this is unusual. One girl in the 66 degrees North store said she was "embarrassed" by the cold wind. I don't buy it. I think this is really an Icelandic August, and that the publications and the Weather Network were all lying to us. We'll see !!