Our first stop was at Landsvirkjun, the Icelandic National Energy Authority. We were served wonderful and catered food at 9 in the morning, and learned a lot about the environmental goals and practices of this powerful (pun!) company. We then headed down to the waterfront to meet with a marine biologist from the Marine Institute of Iceland. He was a little disorganized, but he really knew his stuff. We learned a lot about the fisheries management of the Icelandic waters (they have exclusive rights to the 200 mile radius all the way around the island), including whaling and shark fishing.
Speaking of... for lunch we headed to a seafront restuarant called the "Sea Baron". Here we consumed big mugs of lobster soup and had the opportunity to try fermented shark meat and grilled mink whale. A few in the group tried the shark and whale, and I thought about it, but once it came to actually eating the meat, I couldn't bring myself to try it. I think I'll be able to more or less live a full life without trying them.
Shark
Mink Whale
Our lunch stop!
After lunch we spent about an hour at an archaeological museum that included the ruins of an ancient farmhouse that was likely the first building built in Reykjavik (built around 870 AD). Learning all of this history about Iceland makes me realize how young the United States really is!
Most of the afternoon was spent as free time. We wandered into lots of stores (including one with a slide inside!), saw the famous Hallgrimskirkja Lutheran Cathedral, and met some Icelandic city-slickers. My favorite was a man who had a small dog (about Chihuahua sized). He wanted to go into a store, but didn't have a leash for the dog. Instead, he looked around to make sure no one was really looking (except for us, silly Americans. I guess we didn't count) and stuffed the dog into his shirt, then entered the store!
The slide inside a sporting goods store. Of course we went down it!
Typical storefront
Meeting a Caribou in the Geyser store
Our guys looking fierce in their Icelandic sweaters
Just a normal Reykjavik home
The cathedral
Up close.. the church was designed to imitate the basalt pillars found in Iceland
Inside the cathedral
We finished out the day with a beautiful meal at Restaurant Reykjavik: mushroom soup, lamb fillets, potatoes, veggies, and ice cream with berries for dessert! Overall, it was a really awesome day. I look forward to returning to the city next month for another trip.
In other news, I've learned to play the organ, knit a scarf, and dance the rumba all in the past two days! I'll be playing in the Solheimar church, along with my friends Christina and Tracy (on piano and guitar) on Sunday. I'll try to record the piece so everyone can see the church and hear the song!
Bless bless!
No comments:
Post a Comment