Grimsey is a small spit of land off the north coast of Iceland, just at the latitude-line that marks the Arctic Circle. As we walked away from the ferry, making our way toward the bright yellow lighthouse, Arctic Terns dove at us, wheeling around jealous out of their minds. This divebombing seemed kind of welcoming at first, like a celebration of our arrival at the Arctic Circle, but it quickly turned creepy then kind of scary. We suffered one wound on the head from one beak. Seems we were beaten: figuring the lighthouse was closed, we turned back. A guidebook had suggested we carry a stick to fend off the birds, which turned out to be funny: there're no trees on the island.

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