Date: March 8th, 2023
Location: Hvolsvöllur, Iceland
Today was our last day at our first hostel, Hotel Hjarðarból. It was kind of sad because the hostel was very nice and chill and I loved playing with the dogs. But as always, I woke up for 7:00 AM breakfast, got ready to go, and packed my bags so we could move to the next location.
\While I was packing up my suitcase and getting ready to put my stuff on the bus, I heard that one of the girls in our group had to go to an emergency clinic because she hurt her ankle in the middle of the night. It was one of the people from England, and I felt really bad because we had an action packed day ahead of us. But our guides had a feeling that her injury was only minor that she would be able to join us later in the day. So, we set off and left Hotel Hjarðarból on a bus for the last time. It was hard saying goodbye to the dogs and I'll miss them! But I'm ready for the next adventure so I guess it's for the best!
At first, we were planning on visiting this Hydroelectric power plant but our tour guide for that facility had a problem come up so we just decided to visit a few stops on the Golden Circle instead. The Golden Circle of Iceland/Reykjavik is a bunch of must see locations and national parks around Iceland's capital. We've been to a couple already like yesterday's super windy walk around Þingvellir. But there's always more to see!
The first one we went to is a huge waterfall named Gullfoss or Golden Waterfall. That waterfall was massive and it was so windy right next to it. Like I was freezing so much just about ready to run back inside the gift shop and the bus any chance I could get. But it was really, really pretty and we got to learn about some of its history so I'd say it was definitely worth it. But specifically, we learned about how the waterfall was saved by a girl named Sigríður Tómasdóttir because she continuously protested against the destruction of the waterfall. She's now considered Iceland's first environmentalist too!
After the water falls, we visited this place called The Great Geysir nearby. Basically, it was a bunch of geysers. There one only one really active one and it just so happen to be the biggest in the area. I got to see it go off twice but unfortunately, I wasn't able to get any videos. But I loved looking at the smaller geyser holes nearby and just watching them. It's always amazing to see how there can be ice and snow all around you yet there are still signs showing that the water is in front of us is like 80 degree Celsius (like 170 degrees Fahrenheit)!
After that, we found out that the girl who hurt her ankle had just strained and she'll be joining us at our next stop. And this stop I was very excited about because we going to a greenhouse! But not just any greenhouse! A large, tomato centered greenhouse that doubles as a restaurant! The plan was to get a quick tour and explanation of the facility before being treated to some tomato soup and fresh bread. The inside was extremely pretty and warm. Right when you walk in, you can see vines and tomato plants everywhere. And when we got our quick tour, we saw just how much to do to make their tomatoes to grow fresh and healthy here since Iceland's land and climate isn't the best for growing just about anything.
After our tour we all sat around large tables in the greenhouse and had tomato soup and fresh bread for lunch. It was super nice and a lot of fun just having nice, warm soup while talking to all the people who I've met and gotten close to on the trip. The girl who hurt her ankle was able to join us for this part in the end and I was happy she didn't have to miss much of today and the trip since we were all getting close to each other. Though after lunch, we all went outside and waited for the bus. While waiting for the bus, we walked over to the greenhouse's stables where they had four horses! They were really cute and I liked just watching them interact with their environment and pet their manes. Definitely an unexpected highlight of the trip.
After lunch, it was time to go to the hydroelectric power plant that we were supposed to visit earlier that day. It's called Írafossstod and there didn't seem to be too many people working inside there when we came visit. But we had a tour scheduled so we got on a couple of high visibility jackets, helmets and we followed our tour guide down a long, long, long, long flight of steps. Once we got to the bottom, we were in this massive, underground hollowed out room with a bunch of pipes. There was a part of the room that had the ceiling open up and go back to the top of where we came from so that was cool seeing just how far we went down. I can hardly guess how far we went but I'd say at least a few stories or so.
But after getting an explanation about that room, we then went down another couple of stairs to open the door to a new room. And that new room immediately opened us to an underground cave with lots of fast flowing water! That part was amazing and totally unexpected to see. Apparently, that's where a lot of their water fed into their pipes for hydroelectric power comes from. But just by looking at it, you wouldn't even be able to tell because of just how fast the water was flowing! It was the coolest thing ever. We also got to see this huge tunnel that leads up to the surface where they can bring in materials! It's kind of funny seeing this cave all caved out for them to use for the power plant. It's a little less funny when you start to think about all the earthquakes Iceland faces because it's on the Mid-Atlantic ridge. Oh well. They seem to know what they're doing so I'm that concerned.
After we got back up to the surface and put away our safety gear, it was time for that tour to end and for us to go to our last stop of the day- a soil conservatory place called Landgræðslan. It was pretty out of the way and tucked away from the main road but I really loved the place. We went to a little visitor center that was full of all these cool bits of history about environmental movements within Iceland and around the world! There were also some displays about the history of Iceland's (somewhat) changing landscape, how people are able to live off the really land conditions, and what Landgræðslan (and other organizations in Iceland) are doing to help improve it. Even though it was just a big talk about Iceland's dirt and grass and trees, it was such a fun experience and I learned so much.
Though my two favorite parts of visiting Landgræðslan was being able to sit my hand in a bunch of their containers full of seeds (it was playing with sand but better!) and the fact that we were around 20 miles or so from one of Iceland's most famous volcanoes! It was still far away (and my view was covered by a lot of dead trees) but it was still really cool to be that close by! But don't worry, my group and I were safe from eruptions! Even though it's considered to be Iceland's most active volcano, the last eruption was in 2000 so we were completely good!
After we finished up with Landgræðslan, it was time to go our next hostel. We got back on our bus and drove all the way to another place that felt out in the middle of nowhere (45 minutes from Reykjavik) called Midgard in a town called Hvolsvöllur. And oh my god this place is amazing! It's mostly run by a family and close friends (seriously, like almost everyone is related in someway or started working there because they married into the family) and it just so happen that our of guides for the GREEN Program named Embla was cousins with one of the people who worked there! And that was family was super comforting and just super inviting!
The interior of Midgard's lobby is very modern and lived-in but also industrial with a lot of colors and just really, really cool. And some of the furniture look handmade out of recycled materials like old wood crates and tires and stuff like that. It's like it was build for adventurers! And it was so cozy! It felt like walking in to a place you could easily call home (if you were hiker favored metal accents, leather seats and bright colors).
Anyways, after we got settled and heard a little spiel about unpacking our bags and getting ready to have dinner, we got sent up our rooms for the night. Unfortuntaly, when I unlocked my door, I was met immediately with three bunk beds. And even more unfortunately, I was assigned to the top bunk of those bunch beds. Like the lobby interior, the room was very modern though more sparsely decorated but very clean and practical. And like the lobby interior, the room at metal accents- like metal ladders to climb up into bed with. Lucky me. Oh well. I guess it could be worse. And I should always be ready to push myself out of my comfort zone! Even though my comfort zone is very, very, very cozy.
Anyways, after getting unpacked, we went downstairs to have dinner. Dinner was a traditional Icelandic peasant meal. It was this potato casserole like thing mixed with mashed fish and some fresh bred. And I actually like the meal a lot more than I thought I would! It was really good and I was so surprised that I enjoyed it considering how picky I am! But once we finished with dinner, we started doing some work on our project and planning out more ideas and creating slides for our Powerpoint presentation.
And that's where I leave you for today! Thanks for sticking with my journey and for tuning in!
Tomorrow is supposed to be a big day so I hope you'll continue reading about my adventures! Until next time!
- DD
Picture Sources (in order of appearance):
Interior Pic of Hotel Hjarðarból 1 - My photo!
Interior Pic of Hotel Hjarðarból 2 - My photo!
Gullfoss Waterfall - My photo!
Tomato Soup - My photo!
Underground cave at Írafossstod - My photo!
Hekla the volcano, from afar - My photo!
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