In the Keflavik airport the 1/8 model of the 'Islendingur' is always on display. Often I passed by this ship model but this time I looked at it more closly and learned about its significance. With this kind of Viking longship Leif Eriksson made the voyage to 'Vinland' in Newfoundland. That was 500 years before Christofer Columbus. In the year 2000 Gunnar Marel Eggertsson built the 'Islendingur' and sailed with a crew to North America. He is both a ship builder and captain from an Icelandic family with a long history of ship builders.
http://www.hurstwic.org/history/articles/manufacturing/text/norse_ships.htm
Thinking about the courage of the original Vikings and the hardship they took in stride, I felt somewhat ashamed about complaining not to be able to stretch my legs in the seat of Icelandair's Boeing 757-200.
