One of the places we visited in Iceland was the Icelandic president's residence. On our tour of the city of Reykjavik, we were driving out away from the city, and the tour guide pointed out a large white house and a white church on the other side of an inlet. He told us that this was the president's house.
According to our guide, he is a relatively young guy - early 40's. He's a history professor and shortly before the last election was on TV talking about the history of the office, how it functions, its importance, etc. And apparently everyone in Iceland said, "Huh. This guys really understands the office. Maybe he should be president." He wasn't even running for president at this point, but he received about 60% of the vote - in a country that has about 7 political parties. And apparently most Icelanders are happy with the way he's handling things.
Meanwhile, on the tour bus... We came around the inlet and arrived at the church that we had seen from a distance. To my surprise, our guide informed us that we would be let off the bus and allowed to walk around. There were no fences separating the church and the area where we parked from the president's house behind it. Before the doors opened, our tour guide cautioned us, "Now, don't go behind the church. That's the president's house, and if you go back there, the police will come talk to you and you will be considered impolite."
Of course, as soon as we were off the bus several of the people in our group made a beeline back behind the church. The police did not come and no one got a talking to, so I guess maybe they didn't get close enough. Jason and I held back, reading a sign about the history of the buildings (and what areas were off-limits), and watched as a black car came up the private road that ran along the edge of where we were parked. It paused at the gate where we were and then turned off onto the main road.
"There goes the president, off to buy groceries," we joked.