Today was our last full day in Iceland! It’s pretty shocking and a little bit sad that my trip has almost come to an end. I feel like after the first two days, time has just flown by. Anyways, we started our day early with a trip to the Fraedasetrid nature center on the Reykjanes peninsula. Our host, Daniel, explained the work that the nature center did as well as some of the environmental issues facing Iceland’s marine habitats. We got to hold a starfish and collect sea cucumbers on the beach, which was pretty cool. After the nature center, we had the rest of the day free in Reykjavik to roam around and explore the city. The bus stopped next to the pond in that was in downtown Reykjavik, although only a few people got off! I think everyone else was tired from staying up late to complete the assignments for this trip. I, along with Max, Chris, and Dylan (the only students that got off) then began wandering the city. We first look at gift the many gift stores that lined the rainbow street. I thought that section of the city was quite charming, there were many old houses with corrugated iron facades that made for a cozy feel to the neighborhood. It was cool to see how people could design architecture that could deal with Iceland’s harsh climate, despite having a limited variety of building materials.
We stopped at a restaurant called 101 Reykjavik Street Food (I wanted a taste of the local cuisine and also the restaurant didn’t cost too much!). I got the fish stew, which was actually a dish consisting of mashed potatoes with fish and rye bread. I enjoyed the meal; it was filling and would fill me up until our farewell dinner that evening. Despite being a fairly small city (the entire metropolitan area has less people than Pittsburgh proper), I still felt there was enough things to see and do, and I didn’t feel like I was trapped in the middle of the Atlantic. I think Reykjavik is worth spending a day or to if you’re visiting Iceland.
Swanson School of Engineering 