Study Tour - Golden Circle & Biofuels

Today we went to a trip called "Golden Circle". It focuses on the beautiful area east of Reykjavik and includes Þingvellir National Park, Geysir and Gullfoss waterfall.
Map for last two days.












Þingvellir National Park- it's one of Iceland's most important historical sites. The parliament was founded here around 930 AD and assembled each summer until the end of the 13th century. After that time it's functioned as a court of law until 1798. Many important events took place here, such as adoption of Christianity in 1000 AD, and the foundation of modern Iceland republic in 1944. In 2004 it was added into a UNESCO World Heritage List. The natural environment of Þingvellir is unique in the world. It lies on the junction of two tectonic plates on the Mid Atlantic Ridge which is more clearly visible here than anywhere else in the world.


































































































Suicidal jump over the "river" :P













Geysir, the oldest known geyser in the world. Unfortunatley it's not active anymore, but in the years of the greatest activity it shot water on the hight of 60 meters. It now errupts only with earthquakes - last time during the big earthquake near Reykjavik - it shot water on 45 m.
On the picture, Stokkur, another geyser, just few meters from Geysir. It shoots water on the hight of 20 m, but does it really frequently - about every 5-10 mins.










































Geysir - now inactive.








Stokkur shooting water on 20 m.


























Gullfoss - one of the most popular and most beautiful waterfalls in the country.
























Way back to Reykjavik.













After the trip we went for a walk around Keilir - former USAF-NATO base. The base was huge and in the most "busy" moment there were 8000 soldiers there. Now there are plans to utilize facilities of the base for Research and Developement Industry.





























































































































In the evening we had a quick trip to Garðskagi which is a lighthouse at the nort-west end of Reykjanes Peninsula.












There was a broken window in the lighthouse so we just went inside and climbed to the top :P




















































Last day was really boring - we spent most of the time in some biofuel companies, the rest travelling back to Akureyri so there is not much to write here :)














I think it was a great expirience and now I can really say that I saw some part of Iceland.

Study Tour - Geothermal and Hydrogen Companies

We started from visiting ISOR which is an Icelandic drilling company. They are also partly funding RES School.
Map for next two days.












After short introduction in the company we went to see a drilling place near Nesjavellir geothermal power plant.













It was a unique opportunity, because normally nobody is allowed next to a drilling machine - it's very dangerous due to possibility of sudden steam blowout.














































Diesel engines which run the drill.














Operators room. The guide told us that operators usually have to be very good at console games :P













Next to a working drill :D





























The next day we went to University of Iceland for a lecture about ongoing research that takes place there for finding new materials for hydrogen storage. We also had a small tour around the laboratories.

















Iceland Center of Innovation - one of our cooridnators is a general director there.
























:)












Hydrogen refueling station in Reykjavik. It's the only one in Iceland and one of the few in Europe. It was used to refill hydrogen buses but now it's mainly used for small passenger cars - there are about 12 in Reykjavik. You can actually rent one in Hertz rental cars.














































































After that we went for two hours to walk around downtown of Reykjavik.

















Hot dog stand - Bæjarins beztu pylsur - which in English means: Best hot-dogs in town. Among famous people who have eaten at Bæjarins beztu are Bill Clinton, former president of the United States, and James Hetfield from Metallica.













Convenient way to transport beer :D







































Exhibition of Viggo Mortensen's photos in Iceland Gallery of Photography.

















This was another exhibition, also very interesting.

































Beer brake.

Study Tour - Trip to Hekla

Long time no speak :) Well, I'm having conference now in Reykjavik and also some problems with Internet access, so I wasn't able to update my blog. I hope I'll still be able to catch up :)
After the trip around Reykjanes peninsula we decided to organize something by ourselves.
We chose the surroundings of Hekla volcano and decided to leave early in the morning. As I came back at around 5 o'clock to the dorm I had only 2 hours of sleep, so I had to take a nap in the car on the way.
Map of the trip (click to zoom).












Short stop next to a small river.













Hekla is a stratovolcano with a height of 1,488 m. It is Iceland's most active volcano; over 20 outbreaks have occurred in and around the volcano since 874. During the Middle Ages, Icelanders called the volcano the "Gateway to Hell."
Last eruption took place in February 2000. During this eruption, a NASA DC-8 plane accidentally flew through the plume with all instruments switched on, resulting in unprecedented measurement of a young volcanic plume.
The next eruption is believed by locals to be due some time in mid to late 2008, so maybe we'll get lucky :D
View on Hekla volcano.













Þjófafoss waterfall on Þjórsa river near volcano.


























Quick lunch before hiking.












Refilling bottle with a fresh water from the spring.












Small "forest" near a lava field.












Walking with a strong wind in the face, exhausted and starving we reached top of the hill :P













Panorama from the top.




Our team resting on a lava field covered with some kind of a grass - soft as a carpet :)
























On the way back.