Reykjavik

Lynne Kiesling

Yes, we finally arrived in Iceland Thursday morning … not in Chicago fuming (fume? moi?). Strolled around Reykjavik, had a coffee, had lunch at Cafe Victor (which is in an old building in which the King of Denmark used to keep his falcons), which is a place I’d certainly hang out if I lived here. I’m not nearly cool enough to hang in Reykjavik’s famed nightlife, so perhaps I wouldn’t hang there late in the evening … but otherwise it’d be great.

The first couple of sessions of the conference and the first plenary (Avinash Dixit of Princeton) were interesting, and I am happily catching up with valued colleagues and making new friends.

It’s really freaky to be here on the summer solstice. We went out for drinks after dinner (alcohol is so highly taxed here that I felt like I had to take out a mortgage to get a beer), and were walking back to the hotel at 10:45 PM in bright sunlight. Even with light blocking drapes, our room was flooded with sunlight at 4:30 this morning; thankfully, I remembered to pack the eye masks.

OK, off to work …