Watercolors - Iceland’s Westman Islands

The only inhabited isle of the idyllic Westman Islands, Heimaey is just off Iceland’s southern coast. I had spent almost a week exploring this walkable island, including the verdant cliff tops where puffin birds waddle as well as the lava flow that in the 1970s swallowed up houses on the east side. Taking the ferry gives you the best perspective of the island’s precipitous cliffs crowded with sea birds.

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A Culinary Gem in Iceland

In Iceland,  Heimaey, the only inhabited of the Westman Islands off the south coast, is a precious gem with plenty of curiosities, including an 18-hole golf course nestled in a lush extinct volcanic crater, and steaming volcanic vents from the most recent volcanic eruption in another part of the isle where an innkeeper can bake bread in the hot earth. Among the verdancy and dramatic cliff tops where puffins can be found is a culinary treasure: Slippurinn. I recently interviewed Gísli Matthías Auðunsson, the young chef helming this family-owned establishment for ForbesLife.

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