One of Our Two Favourite Countries

A couple of weeks ago, Julian had the great fortune of attending an academic workshop in Reykjavik – the capital of Iceland and the World’s northernmost capital city. Now, Iceland has always retained a rather exalted status in our lives. As a pre-Zoe couple, we were fortunate enough to have driven around this absolutely spectacular island on two separate occasions. In fact, 10 years ago we engaged in that special discussion just outside the tiny town of Hofn next to the largest glacier in Europe, when we decided to spend the rest of our lives together. Of course, Sara didn’t seem to grasp the gist of this memorable conversation, necessitating a more overt proposal in a more traditional fashion some time later (Note: Julian is writing this post). But that is another story of no interest to the readers of our blog.

Now, because you are clearly dying of curiosity, the conference theme revolved around “Advances in Simulation-Driven Optimization and Modeling”- a topic which, on-and-off, has supplied my intellectual muse (mistress?) over the past decade. Combining an intense, 3-day gathering of the major proponents of this approach with a trip to Iceland was not an opportunity to pass by.

For those of you unfamiliar with the geography of Iceland, it lies on the boundary of the North American and European continental plates and is, consequently, a highly active volcanic island with an interior covered by very large glaciers. Hence, it is portrayed as an island of “fire and ice” that has been inhabited for approximately 1000 years by early Viking explorers and their descendants. Because of the volcanic activity, electricity and hot water are supplied by the abundant geothermal energy. There is also abundant fresh, pure water – although the hot water does have a very distinct sulphuric/mineral odour to it. Due to the warming effects of the Gulf Stream, the year round climate is surprisingly warm for a country of such high latitude and considerably warmer in the Winter months than cities such as Toronto, Chicago or New York. Only the Northern tip of the country lies above the Arctic Circle – and we were lucky enough to experience the Summer Solstice, when the sun never set, at this location in 2001 (checking another item off our bucket lists). In fact, having been to Iceland several times, neither of us had ever actually witnessed a sunset.

The conference took place at the University of Reykjavik, Iceland’s only private university. As you can see below, it is a new, ultra-modern institution located on the waterfront that has focused upon engineering, science, technology and business (i.e. the black arts as opposed to the liberal arts).

On the scenic overlook of a hill right above the university are 5 giant, hot water tanks with a sight-seeing platform, museum and restaurant all covered by a glass dome called the Perlan.

Fortunately, after several intense days of conferencing, the final dinner was held in the revolving, ultra-chic, 5-star restaurant of the Perlan. Someone has to live this life.

And “yes”, you may have surmised one of us has now finally witnessed an Icelandic sunset.

Below are a few pictures from around Reykjavik.

A couple of panoramic views of the city.

 

City hall surrounded by its rather pleasant park areas.

Waterfront, Viking boat sculpture – shown on all tourist advertising.

This church dominates the skyline of the city.

One of the many thermal pools found within the city limits. The water in these ponds is at the boiling point. Observe the protective piece of string around the perimeter.

In spite of the robust string impediment, many tourists venture nearer to the waters to experience a closer look. Some cleverly test these waters with their hands to determine if they are truly as hot as noted (hint: indeed they are!). You know you’re no longer in North America when…

And are there swimming beaches in Reykjavik you might well ask? Just by the university there is a sandy beach that is “fed” by the City’s leftover hot water. Hence, the water temperatures at this beach actually range between 16C-19C (60F-66F) throughout the year. Chilly but bearable. And yes, I had to swim in the North Atlantic. The first picture below is at 10:00pm to provide a sense of the level of daylight at that time for this latitude. The second picture occurred at noon the following day (our conference lunches overlooked the swimming area).

While there was not a great deal of time for doing sightseeing, we took a post-conference tour to a nearby geothermal plant, which also provided some perspectives of the volcanically shaped landscapes surrounding Reykjavik. The steam is coming from the hot water pumped to the surface.

Our final stop was to the site of the first Icelandic parliament, Thingvellir. On the horizon is the edge of the European continental plate. The photo is taken from the lip of the North American plate. Hence, the active level of volcanic activity in the vicinity.

This last picture shows both tectonic plates with Thingvellir and the rift valley in between them.

Iceland remains one of the few countries in the World in which we would always be quite happy to visit, live, and/or work. Unfortunately, this trip to one of our two favourite countries involved only Julian because... (stay tuned).


For anyone interested in viewing photos from one of our previous Iceland trips, click here.