Tree at Ideford Common

I tried my car that's been sitting unused yesterday and it started. Today, it chugged over and fired up so I took it for a drive to charge things up. I stopped at Ideford Common on the way back and visited a favourite tree. It's fairly bent and looks out over the valley. With a stormy sky behind I think it looks good.

Another quick reflection on Iceland: I think it's probably the safest place I've ever been with regard to crime. The only time I felt threatened was when walking down the main street, I had to take action to avoid a guy falling out of a pub. He wasn't a threat, I don't think he could stand up let alone fight, he just accidentally nearly knocked me over. There probably is a certain amount of alcohol abuse but I didn't see much.

I was told that in Iceland people will park babies in buggies outside when they go in to shops. I don't know when we stopped doing that in the UK, I remember doing it when my kids were in prams in the 70s but I don't think my children would have done it with theirs around the turn of the century.

Icelanders seem to be a bit intolerant when behind the wheel of a car. On one occasion I pulled in outside the hotel we were going to stay at and with nowhere available I put a couple of wheels on the pavement while John went into the hotel to find where the car park was. There was a furious hooting from behind me and the driver pulled up alongside and shouted at me in Icelandic.  When I said I didn't understand, in the blink of an eye he changed to English and continued to berate me and threatened to call the police. I don't know if it's illegal to do what I'd done but sometimes you have to do what's necessary and I think in the UK we're generally a bit more tolerant. John came back with directions in no more than 3 or 4 minutes and we were off again.