Gleðilegan mánudag! (Happy Monday!)
Hello readers! We are back for day 3 in Iceland!
Today, we started off with one of the most interesting wake-up methods I have ever encountered. Trying Icelandic food, including fermented shark. Ólöf brought us several different authentic Icelandic foods, including dried fish, fermented shark, chocolate licorice, and bitter skyr. While Ólöf probably found humor in watching us try new food at 9 in the morning, at least she had mercy and gave us lamb head in gelatin cube form and not in… well… head form. That being said, Ólöf showed us a video of her niece sitting in a high chair playing with and eating a lamb’s head. That tiny human is a Viking compared to many US toddlers who refuse to eat broccoli.
The most out of our comfort zone food was the shark. With a very ammonia-like aroma and a traumatic reminder of chemistry lab, the shark was a weird kind of squishy and definitely took some confidence to swallow. Some descriptions included: “Yup, that is how I expect fermented shark to taste,” “This is what I picture Windex tasting like,” and “Ahhh, chemicals. Fishy chemicals.” But I highly recommend the smoked lamb, skyr, and rye bread with butter paired with Malt and Appelsín.
After our lovely wake-up call, we drove to an Icelandic greenhouse. This part is going to be very informational, so be patient and put your horticulture hat on.
This greenhouse grows strawberries and tomatoes, and was created by an adorable couple when they were 25. The greenhouse is highly sustainable, clean, and organic. Each greenhouse is heated using hot springs, lit by hydroelectric-powered lights that mimic sunlight, watered using glacier runoff, pollinated by worker bees, and protected by green wasps, and monitored by a digital system that helps protect plant health.
This greenhouse operation is also adapting. In the late 2000s, they opened their site to tourists and had around 900 visitors. Now, more than 300,000 visitors come to see their farm each year. Their newer greenhouses are taller, which makes them about 15 percent more effective because the plants are grown vertically and raised higher as they age. These newer greenhouses also have improved lights that save power and blinds that help trap heat and light. In the future, this greenhouse system expects improvements in lighting and monitoring, but also the use of robots and AI.
So, really, these are some of the most pampered and cared-for tomatoes ever. Our group believes we should pitch the Iceland Tomato Plant Treatment Plan, also known as ITPTP, to Pitt’s wellness center. That is how we get queen and king treatment. Before we left, they completely ruined my expectations for tomato soup at all future events. I can never look at Panera tomato soup the same way again.
I also got to pet an Icelandic horse. It looks like a pony, but do not ever tell them that. They are very proud of their horse status. They are not ponies. One of the horses even gave me a stick, almost like a dog, and wanted me to hold it while he chewed on it. So I will now be adding horse whisperer to my resume and LinkedIn skill section. You are so welcome, engineering industry.
Next on our itinerary was visiting the Golden Waterfall, or Gullfoss in Icelandic. When we arrived, I finally got to use my crampons. Guys, the wind was gnarly. Several of us played around by jumping and catching a bit of air, and throwing snowballs by simply letting go of the snow and letting the wind do the rest. The wind was basically committing acts of war with those snowballs, but we never threw them. A technicality.
But the diagonal walking and constant fear for your hat were completely worth it. The waterfall was stunning. Absolutely beautiful and a work of pure art. We marveled at the wonder while simultaneously discussing whether we could survive falling off the edge of the waterfall inside a steel box filled with bubble wrap. Leave it to engineers to ruin a perfectly good moment in nature.
After our windy encounter, we headed to the geothermal active zone with hot bubbling ponds and ground vents that looked like whale blowholes. Here we got to see the geyser erupt and the spray come right toward us. I cannot prove it, but I am convinced Ólöf knew exactly what would happen and did not warn us so we could experience a sulfur shower. She set us up. I do not have proof, but I have suspicions.
I then elected to hike up a small mountain with some of the guys and intentionally ignored all of the signs that said to wear crampons because I left mine on the bus. As we climbed, the wind and rain found us with amazing accuracy. Remember how I told you my coat was not waterproof? Well, it still is not. Fool me once, shame on you. Fool me twice, shame on me.
So that coat will be entering retirement for the next two days, especially since we will be walking under waterfalls. Despite my poor decision-making and falling for the oldest trick in the book, “it probably will not rain near a geyser,” the views were breathtaking. We had a full 360-degree view of the entire valley. It makes you feel very small in the grand scheme of things.
We then headed back to the hotel, grabbed some food at the dining hall, and, of course, made our way to the hot tub.
We also learned that the sky glowing orange at night is not because a volcano is erupting. Instead, it is because greenhouses like the one we visited are lighting up the sky. So close to seeing a volcano. (Dr. Barry and Erin, does our international insurance cover us walking toward a volcano if we thought we were a safe distance away? Just curious)
That is all for now. Tomorrow we will see more waterfalls and visit a folk museum. I will write y’all later!
Góða nótt!!!! (Have a good night!!!)
Swanson School of Engineering 