Helloooo. I wanted to wait and combine days 7 and 8 so here it is: Friday morning we had an earlier start and headed to the Fræðasetrið Nature Center. There, our guide Daniel took us for a walk on the beach. This was definitely the most beach beach we went to this week. The waves were much calmer and it smelled like a beach. We had a small discussion about the beach and pollution and collected sea cucumbers. I have never seen a sea cucumber before and I have no idea how people were bale to spot them on the beach, but they were cool to see. We went inside and talked more about what they do at the research center. They focus on marine toxicology, marine biology, and ornithology. One of their studies involves using mussels to analyze chemicals found in the water. Mussels are known to filter the water by taking in pollutants. These pollutants and chemicals then stay inside the mussel and can be analyzed then. The mussels are a good indicator of how healthy the body of water is. I found this really interesting because I live near a small recreational lake where zebra mussels are an invasive species. When the zebra mussel population is really high, the water is so incredibly clear because the mussels are filtering it. However, they are an invasive species here so that does not necessarily mean the ecosystem is healthy. But, they can be used to study the type of pollutants that can be found in the water.
After the nature center, we had the rest of the afternoon to explore Reykjavik ourselves. I had a few missions: to go thrifting and yarn shopping. A big souvenir to get from Iceland is one of their traditional sweaters or lopapeysas. However, a handknit sweater is several hundred dollars because wool is expensive and it takes hours upon hours to knit a sweater. So I wanted to go thrifting to see if I could find one second hand. I also love the idea of thrifting when I am abroad because then that item of clothing has more meaning to it. For example, I thrifted a jean jacket in Brussels a few years ago and I wear it all the time and I think that is really cool. First went to a place called second hand store. Here I was actually able to find two sweaters I liked for a good price. They looked hand knit because I could see small minor errors in the knitting. Not even errors, more like quirks. No they are not wool but wool lasts forever and buying second hand is much more sustainable. (and cost effective). I also found a few other items I thought were cool. We also tried the Red Cross Store. The red cross has thrift stores in the city that help them raise money for projects. Here, I found a cardigan I liked as well as a pair of jeans that fit me really well. I was really happy with my finds and its so much cooler that I found them in another country.
Next, I wanted to go back to the Handknitting Association of Iceland store that we stopped in on our first day in Reykjavik. I have plans to knit my own Icelandic sweater so of course I had to buy the yarn! I don’t know when I will get to this project but it will be a nice keepsake to have to help commemorate my trip here. We walked through the city a bit more then got ready for our group dinner.
The next morning, our last big stop was to the Perlan Natural History Museum. This museum has information on the geology, glaciers, volcanoes, and wildlife of Iceland. It was very nice and relaxing to take a quiet tour of this museum to read everything. They had a show on the Aurora Borealis as well as an ice cave that was kept at -10 degree C and had real snow and ice from a glacier. They also had a really nice viewing deck that went all the way around the building. This gave a really good 360 view of the city that was beautiful. Inside, they had a seating area that rotated very slowly around the building as well which was really cool.
After the museum, we had very more smaller stops like the president’s official residence and we took a look at the blue lagoon. Then, it was straight to the airport to get ready for our flight. All in all, this was an amazing trip and a once in a lifetime experience. I am very grateful to Swanson and the University of Pittsburgh for giving this opportunity to go on this trip. Not everyone can say they went to Iceland for spring break instead of a beach. Thank you for following along, hope you enjoyed! 😉
Swanson School of Engineering 