Yesterday I heard the bad news that houses in the centre of Reykjavík were burning. I saw the appalling pictures on the TV. These were some of the oldest houses in the city. In the 19th century Reykjavík was just a little village with timber houses and these are a part of that old village. One house is since 1801 and another 1852. They have a big history and they will be built as they were again. There was no arson. This is just an accident related to electricity. You may wonder why we don’t have older houses in a town which has been populated for 1100 years. Not as a town though but country. It is because all houses were built out of turf and stone. And they don’t last long. In the centre later in the evening a pipe of hot water burst and steaming water was running all over the street. The damp was so great that people did not see a thing and that street had to be closed too. This was only a kilometre from the fire. So there was much going on in the centre. I usually don’t blog about news but I though I would tell you this.
