Date: March 6th, 2023
Location: Selfoss, Iceland
Waking up this morning was kind of rough. Last night at dinner, our program leaders told us breakfast will be at 7:00 AM that our bus for tomorrow will be pulling out of the parking at 7:45 AM bright and early. So naturally, I set my alarm for 6:30 AM. And didn't leave my bed until 6:45 AM. And didn't make it to breakfast until 7:10. And due to the time difference being five hours, I was essentially waking up at 1:30 AM for bus that leaves at 2:45 AM. And because it takes a person more than 20 hours to adjust to a time change, I was miserable pretty much the entire time.
So I made it to breakfast, I got dressed in my layers and brought my gloves and hat and hiking boots because it's freezing in Iceland and this program always tries to find a way to make us colder and I made it to the bus on time. We pulled away from our hostel and started driving away in the early morning sun to our first destination of the day, Reykjavik University: Iceland School of energy.
On the ride there, we listened to some Icelandic music and watched the views from outside. And oh my god, the landscape looked amazing! The sunrise just made everything feel so awe-inspiring that I couldn't help but stay up the entire time and watch the window we passed everything by. Here is a picture of the mountain range we passed by on the way there!
After about 30ish minutes, we made it to Reykjavik. Thinking about it now, the town is hard to describe. But even though it's supposed to be this big city that around two-thirds or so of Iceland's entire population, it's extremely small compared to what I'm used to. Like, back home in DC, the population there is easily over 700,000. In Reykjavik, there's only about 230,000 people in the area. Everything felt so much smaller and spread out compared to the dense cities I would see back in America. And some the architecture was different too. It's hard to describe but it's almost like this more eco-friendly looking modern type of vibe. I'm not sure, but it did look really charming.
Eventually, we made it to Reykjavik University and that facility was extremely modern. The building was shaped to look like the Solar System, though there's only a few branches and planets because it's new. We took a tour of the facility and I couldn't help be feel a little jealous of the campus. Then again, a building that size might be good for 4,000 students. Penn State has like 10x that much in Undergrad alone so maybe it's for the best we don't spend all our money on one incredibly fancy (and coffee filled) building.
After our tour, we sat down in one of the classrooms and listened to some lectures about Geothermal Energy systems and how Iceland has used this energy system in the past. We then ate lunch and had a couple minutes of free time before going to the bus. Then we were sent around 20 minutes away to Iceland's largest geothermal power plant!
It was really cool listening to Iceland's history of Geothermal use and how the power plant is actually eun. We got a short lecture from the guide showing us around the facility, then she let us walk around the power plant's little museum area. There was a balcony attached to the building that allowed you to go outside and get a great view of some of the pipes used for collecting steam and the mountains. Of course, we had to stop right there to take a group photo but I kind of wished we didn't. It was extremely, extremely cold outside. But compared to our next stop? That was nothing.
Again, we all piled in on the bus for a little while longer until we stopped at the edge of a mountain valley. Specifically, Reykjadalur Valley. We got all our cold weather gear on and bundled up and began to prepare probably one of the most surprising and cold hike of my life. It's a little over 6km (4 miles) in total and ended up being around 2 hours of hiking with a path full of ice and snow and rocks and even more ice. And did I mention wind? The wind was horrible, but it did suck. But there was a particular reason why we had to make this two hour round-trip.
And it may or may not have to do with Thermal River and Hot Springs that we spent half an hour once we got half-way through the entire trip.
Now, I'm not one to hike. Especially in the freezing cold mountains. But I am one to reward myself. Hiking that 3km windy trail (and almost slipping a few times) made the dip in the hot springs at the top completely worth it. And even though we had to do as the Europeans do and change into our swimsuits with only a wall for cover- and it didn't even do much to cover anything. Still, I'm more than proud of myself. If you would have told me a year ago that I'd be wearing a bikini (and a beanie, of course) in 20 degree weather on an island out by the Artic, I wouldn't have believed you. Now, I'd like say I'm a much braver (or stupider, depending on how you look at it) person than I think. By the way, here's a picture of the hot springs river and the small stalls we had to change behind.
All too soon, it was time to go. And even though the hike there was pretty back, the couple minutes after getting out of the hot springs and trying to change back into my clothes were even worse. Me and everyone were freezing! Just trying to dry off the best we could while putting on all our layers and fighting against the cold wind that seemed to blow at the most inconvenient times. I made the mistake of letting my hair get wet at the bottom and let me tell you- it took less than 2 minutes for everything (the hair, the water droplets, the hair ties) to freeze.
Still, we were able to get dressed, get up, and to hike back a bit faster than before (though with a few more slips and almost falls from just about everyone). Just like when we made the hike up, the hike down was beautiful! Looking at the mountain tops and water falls right next to the ice really reminded that Hey! I'm not at home! I'm in Iceland!!!! It was just so amazing to see. And of course, the gorgeous sunset was just the cherry on top. I'm glad I went on this hike. And I'm even more glad I went on this trip.
Eventually, we took the bus back to our hostel. We ate dinner, played with the dogs some more, and we continued to work on our Capstone project. My group made somepretty good progress with our project but we all turned in kind of quickly. Even though I had an amazing time, I'm extremely wiped out , haha!
So that's where I'll leave you for today. I'm excited for tomorrow since it seems like we're going to have a nice, chill agenda. Though most of all, I'm really just hoping we don't have to spend a lot time outside. But here? Anything is possible. Anyways, thanks for tuning in! Until next time!
-DD
Picture Sources (in order of appearance):
Leaving Hotel Hjarðarból - My photo!
Hellisheiði, the geothermal powerplant - My photo!
Reykjadalur, the geothermal river and hotsprings - My photo!
Walking back from Reykjadalur - My photo!
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