It’s now our second day in Iceland and it was amazing. The mountains we saw yesterday were impressive, but today was different. We still saw mountains, but today we went to the sea. Being at the beach seeing seals lounging in the ocean, and then turning around to see mountains formed by volcanoes and tectonic movement is much more awe inspiring. Combine that with the power of wind gusts near sixty miles per hour, and you begin to understand the power of nature more.
To compare this landscape to others I’ve seen is a hard task. On one hand, I think my favorite natural landscape is in the Boundary Waters in northern Minnesota, but my time there has been spent canoeing across lakes under the warm sun and camping with friends and family. Sure there were some storms here and there, but those trips were generally fun and a good time. The difference with Iceland is that it’s windy, overcast, and hailing. I’m not saying this isn’t a good trip or that I’m not with friends, the point I am trying to get to is that this is a spectacular trip with stunningly gorgeous views, but I am viewing them while under the bare thumb of the power of nature. That adds a lens that I wasn’t getting in Minnesota. Some of the awe in this landscape is that it seems so barren, yet people chose to live here hundreds of years ago and still live here now. At the beach today, we were playing in the 60 mph wind and having a blast, but to have to live with that and work with that and operate with that on a day to day is an impressive feat.
In the end, if I had to choose a favorite landscape, I’d choose the Boundary Waters, but I would say that Iceland inspires more awe in me.
Swanson School of Engineering 