Pix Of The Day: Wild Times With The Viking Party
CREDIT: © Sisse Brimberg/NationalGeographic.com
WHERE: Vestmannaeyjar, Iceland. WHAT: midsummer fire celebrations.
MAPS: Vestmannaeyjar, Iceland, and Lerwick, Scotland.
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Usually we try to skip around the world without too many repetitions of the same web sites, so we do have a small twinge of guilt for the second successive POD [Picture of the Day] feature from the archives of NationalGeograhic.com web site. On the other hand, the image is so compelling we thought it was too good to miss: those Vikings surely do know how to party, shown at Vestmannaeyjar, Iceland.

There are similar traditions in the northern Scotland island of Shetland, and the town of Lerwick hosts the winter Up-Helly-Aa festival, when things get so out of hand that they burn a galley! Both the Up-Helly-Aa name and history are perhaps less ancient than some people imagine. In our own homeland Allendale Town, claimed as the geographical center of great Britain (although we have been told nearby Haltwhistle now disputes the claim), has a fire festival with guisers bearing flaming tar barrels through the streets of the town. Whatever will they think of next?

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