Guests staying at Islandia Hotel near the southeast Icelandic town of Hofn got more than they bargained for today. Travellers from the Netherlands, France and Iceland surely did not expect to be watching a volcanic eruption from their hotel. They are, however, enjoying the show.

“They are finding it very exciting – although they didn’t find it exciting to begin with,” says Sigrun Kapitola Gudrunardottir, the manager of Islandia Hotel. She said that the eruption and earthquakes had come as a shock at first, but that her guests have calmed down and are now enjoying the opportunity to see it from a safe distance, Visir.is reported.

There has been a lot of discussion all over the world today about the end of the world predicted in advertisements by American preacher and radio broadcaster, Harold Camping. He predicted that large earthquakes would begin all over the world at exactly 18.00, local time and that the end of civilisation would be nigh. That did not happen; although the large number of small earthquakes which heralded the start of the Grimsvotn eruption did indeed start at 18.00.

Gudrunardottir told Visir that her guests are perfectly calm and are not making any link between the eruption and the end of days. “I haven’t heard a single word about it. It’s just a beautiful day,” she said.



(Photo: Halldora Kristin, staff member at the hotel. Photo sourced from Visir.is)