| Welcome to the weekend issue of Brussels Edition, Bloomberg’s daily briefing on what matters most in the heart of the European Union. Join us on Saturdays for deeper dives from our bureaus across Europe. If you’re headed up north to Iceland this summer, chances are your guide at the island’s busiest national park used to be the country’s president. Gudni Th. Johannesson, a two-term head of state whose mandate expired last year, is now a part-time park ranger at Thingvellir, a rugged rift where the North American and Eurasian tectonic plates are slowly drifting apart.  Gudni Th. Johannesson Photographer: Sophia Groves/Getty Images Europe The 56-year-old’s seasonal job underscores the flat social hierarchies in the north Atlantic nation of under 400,000 people. He’ll answer questions at the front desk, guide short tours around the historic grounds for visitors and school children, respond to distress calls and administer first aid. “He is a perfect candidate for the job and is a great asset to the team, being a professor of history as well as having this interesting background as the former president of Iceland,” said Einar Saemundsen, director of the park, in an emailed response to questions. “He applied for the post like all other seasonal park rangers.” It’s common in the Nordic countries — known for their egalitarian societies — for politicians to take part in communal life just as any regular citizen. In Iceland, people are also more likely to hold a second job, or even multiple ones, than anywhere else in Europe, according to data by Eurostat. The national park holds a special meaning for Icelanders. Its tall walls of black basalt were the backdrop for Viking gatherings that started around the year 930, with the so-called assembly plains representing the origins of the country’s parliament, Althingi. Around 700,000 people visit each year.  The rift between the North American and Eurasian tectonic plates at Thingvellir national park in Iceland. Photographer: Kati Pohjanpalo/Bloomberg More recently, fans of the hit series Game of Thrones may recognize scenic filming locations at Thingvellir, where waterfalls dot the rocky volcanic landscape featuring sparse vegetation of mostly small, hardy shrubs and moss. Former President Johannesson, who declined to comment on his seasonal post, works occasional shifts at the park until mid-August. Saemundsen, the park’s director, said that is because his prior position as president and current professorship at the University of Iceland mean he “obviously has many other formal roles in his life.” — Kati Pohjanpalo | 
