Eyjafjallajokull volcano is the one that erupted in April 2010, stopping all air traffic to Europe. We had a trip planned to Iceland in 2010 and it cancelled our trip too.

There is a long history of problems from Icelandic volcanic eruptions. Our guide said it is thought that the eruption of the Laki volcano in Iceland in 1783 led to the failure of the cereal crops which caused the famine in Europe and the French Revolution. According to our guide, Thomas Jefferson was in Paris at the time representing the colonies and he made the connection between the Laki volcanic eruption in Iceland and the famine in Europe.

The Eyjafjalla Glacier sits atop the Eyjafjallajokull Volcano. This might seem odd but when a volcano cools down and the snow pours down, it builds up on top of the volcanos in Iceland. If the volcano is quiet for long enough, the glacier can accumulate hundreds of feet of ice.

Then when a volcano erupts with a glacier on top of it, the ice melts instantly sending torrents of water and lava streaming down hill. Hundreds of millions of cubic feet of material hits the glacier and it all flows away. Farms, roads, bridges, and people below must be prepared in advance.

These are photos of photos in the Eyjafjallajokull Visitor's Center. It's right across the highway from the volcano. The visitor's center is run by the farm family that lives right below the volcano. They lived through the 2010 eruption and still live there today. They like living under a volcano.

This is a photo of the caldera during the eruptions. The family made a 20 minute film of the eruptions, rescue work, and some family reactions, both at the time and afterwards.

This is a view of their farm today, only six years later. The center of the volcano is just up above their farm on the left side. They managed to save their farm and their animals. We met the current family patriarch. He's a simple and humble farmer who likes his life and likes where he lives.

Their farm is on the right side with the center of the volcano in the back center of this photo (but clouded over). You can see that the volcanic river had no where else to go. I think the farm's recovery in six years is remarkable.