Iceland

Will we need visas for a two-day trip to Reykjavik, Iceland? Also, can you suggest package tours and local sights? No visa is required; you can visit Iceland for up to 90 days without one. Reykjavik has plenty to see if you explore on your own: parks, museums, shopping, dining -- and its compact size makes it easy to navigate on foot. Don't miss a chance to visit a thermal pool or the Blue Lagoon, a mineral-rich hot water lagoon and spa not far from the airport. Or to dine at the Pearl (Perlan)

Andre Mueller is a virtual explorer of virgin territory. One morning, the 25-year-old German physics student noticed a wispy line off the coast of Iceland in the patchwork of satellite imagery that makes up Google Earth. He zoomed in. It was smoke. At the end of the smoke trail, he discovered three boats. He slapped a "placemark," the program's version of an explorer's flag, on the location and reported his findings on Google Earth Community bulletin board. "What are these three ships doing there?"

Icelandic USA Inc. is closing its fish processing plant in Cambridge, in Dorchester County, leaving 400 employees looking for work in an area that has been hard hit by the loss of solid manufacturing jobs. The plant, one of Cambridge's largest employers, has been processing and packaging frozen fish sticks and beer-battered cod since 1968. Icelandic notified workers Tuesday that it is consolidating operations near its headquarters in Newport News, Va., and will close the Maryland facility in phases by the end of next year.

For those tired of summer heat, the Arctic may soon be just a few hours away. Greenland's national airline, Air Greenland A.S., has applied to the U.S. government for clearance to fly between the globe's icy northern reaches and Baltimore-Washington International Thurgood Marshall Airport. If approved, it would be the first direct flight between the countries. To get to Greenland now, U.S. travelers have to connect through Denmark, Iceland or Canada, according to travel agents. And that is hampering the country's effort to lure some of the same adventurous - and well-outfitted - American tourists who found Iceland years ago and are looking for the next unbeaten path.

Hometown -- Baltimore Current members --Nate Lyttle, guitars; Jesse Lyell, vocals and guitar; Paul Gier, bass and vocals; Jeff Martin, drums Founded in --2004 Style --energetic indie/new wave/pop Influenced by --Gwen Stefani, the Birthday Party, Depeche Mode, Echo and the Bunnymen Notable --Martin, an Iceland lover, convinced his bandmates to fly to the country with him and play two short tours in the past year or so. While there, they landed a...

It wasn't love at first sight. But here in Iceland, midway through a nine-day drive around this island country, this was the clincher: To my right, a 25-foot-high waterfall thundered, dumping its icy waters into a stream that frothed from rock to rock on its way to the fjord below. To my left, at the bottom of a switchbacky two-lane asphalt road, a tiny village rested in the mist at the end of the fjord that runs 10 miles east to the North Atlantic. Turning in a slow circle, I saw freshet after freshet springing from cloud-draped, green mountain ridges.

THE QUESTION: HOW MANY PASSENGERS USE BALTIMORE-WASHINGTON INTERNATIONAL AIRPORT? An average of more than 55,500 passengers traveled through BWI each day in 2004, reaching a total of 20.3 million for the year, according to the airport's statistics. Nearly half traveled on Southwest Airlines, which holds 47 percent of the market share of the 27 passenger airlines operating there. And where are passengers going? South. The top international destinations include Bermuda, Mexico, Dominican Republic, the Bahamas and Jamaica.

I HAND THE agent my brottfarerspjald, step on board Icelandair Flight 642. Just before takeoff, the flight attendant stands before us clasping a seat-belt buckle and droning through the oryggisbunadur um bord. Some five hours later, we begin our descent into Reykjavik. At the airport, I get my passport stamped at vagabraeftirlit, make a quick refresher stop in the snyrtingar, exchange dollars for kronurs at the gjaldeyrir and pick up tourist information at the upplysingapjonustu fyrir feroafolk.

DON'T underestimate the power of chess in Iceland. Witness the plight of poor Bobby Fischer, the legendary chess champion and malcontent who has been on the run from American authorities since 1992 for violating U.S. sanctions by playing a chess match in Yugoslavia. The jailed 62-year-old chess master has been fighting deportation to the United States since his arrest in Japan last July for traveling on an expired passport. Enter Iceland, and its offer of citizenship to Mr. Fischer. The scene of Mr. Fischer's triumph over Russian Boris Spassky in 1972, Iceland may be the least-inhabited European country (three people per square mile)

A Memorable Place Dancing until 4 a.m. in Reykjavik By Colleen Cusick SPECIAL TO THE SUN My daughter and I took a trip to Iceland last fall. There had been other trips as parent and child, but this was a new phase of our lives together. On the flight to Iceland, my daughter turned 23 and decided that we should celebrate by going out clubbing in Reykjavik, a city known for its nightlife. My daughter informed me that only tourists go out to the clubs before midnight. So to avoid being identified as tourists, we went to Reykjavik's City Central area about 12:30 a.m. We soon found ourselves in a popular club, where it was crowded and the music pulsed.