Hello day 3 ! Today was a bit of a later start than yesterday which gave us time to play with our first hotel’s resident dog. He was a very sweet boy! Our first visit of the day was to Thingvellir National Park. This is where the Althingi took place long ago. This was one of the world’s oldest parliaments and godi chiefs from around the island would convene once a year to discuss the laws of the island. This was their form of self-governance and was their form of government for more than 200 years. It helped them work together and survive the islands harsh conditions, local conflicts, foreign threats, and the introduction of Christianity relatively peacefully. It allowed Icelanders to come together from all corners of the island and share big news and celebrate. Judgements would also be passed at the Althingi. Bigger crimes like incest and infanticide would be harshly punished at this site where women were drowned and men were beheaded. Regardless, it was still a very important time of the year for inhabitants of the island to come together and share and celebrate. They came together to create universal laws and resolve disputes, so it felt very unifying. This helped them feel like they were part of the same collective even though they are usually so spread out and isolated. Therefore, this helped contribute to the development of Icelanders’ identity.
Next, we went to the Gulffoss waterfalls which were absolutely gorgeous. Definitely better than Niagara Falls in my opinion. I didn’t expect Iceland to need to have a conservation movement but I found it very interesting that these waterfalls are the birth location of theirs. Sigríður Tómasdóttir is the woman accredited with saving these waterfalls from being used to generate hydroelectric power. (And thank god because they are too gorgeous) Her work towards saving these waterfalls started an environmentalism movement in Iceland.
After the falls we backtracked to the geyser. I have never seen one in real life before so that was very cool. It was also very eerie to walk along the paths with steaming puddles and rivers. Here, we got the chance to see the geyser erupt. But also hike up to a viewing point and see it up from a distance. I was very excited to move around and stretch my legs and the view all around was incredible.
After the geyser was the greenhouse. Now I am not that familiar with farming or agriculture but my mother loves plants so I know a little bit about growing things. But obviously not nearly to the scale as this farm. We walked in and were immediately greeted with fresh tomatoes (the best tomatoes I think I’ve had) and fresh bread (we could take as much bread as we’d like). I learned a lot about how this greenhouse operates and grows the best tomatoes possible. Geothermal heat is used to heat the greenhouse while lights above are used to simulate sunlight, especially in the winter when Iceland can get only 4 hours of sun. I didn’t know that the lights used also emit heat so that the plants can determine which direction to grow towards the light. They use water from the glaciers so it doesn’t need to be filtered but they do need to add nutrients to is such as magnesium, potassium, nitrogen, etc. There are signs on the plant like yellowing and spots that can show it needs a certain nutrient and that the formula may need adjusted. Another thing I didn’t realize is that they add carbon dioxide to the air to aid with photosynthesis. This makes sense, of course, as CO2 is required for photosynthesis and without enough the plant may suffocate. Of course, with all this heating and light, these greenhouses require a lot of power. Luckily though, 100% of electricity in Iceland is produced through renewable sources. This allows the greenhouse to be incredibly sustainable. And while agriculture is notorious for negatively affecting the environment, this greenhouse can grow food with as little impact as possible. And, lucky for us, the food tastes really really good.
Swanson School of Engineering 