Sept/Oct, 2004 edition
Iceland
Language: Icelandic (The same language the Vikings used over 1,000 years ago!)
Currency: Icelandic Krona (ISK). Even though Iceland is in Europe, they haven't agreed to use the Euro for their country's money.
Government: It is a Constitutional Republic with a president, prime minister and a parliament (Althing).
Natural Resources: Geothermal power. There is a lot of very hot water under the surface and a lot of hot springs. They use this hot water to heat their houses and to move generators to make electricity.
Fish - A lot of the country's industry is related to fishing.
Only the very northern parts of Iceland are actually in the Arctic Circle. Most of the inner part of Iceland does not have people living there because of the glaciers and volcanic fields. The country is still changing because so many of the volcanoes are still active.
Iceland stays on Greenwich Mean Time all year round. Because the island is so far north, it stays light out almost all 24 hours in the summer and in winter the sun only rises for a few hours. We were there right after the autumnal equinox so there was about equal amounts of day and night, like in the U.S.
There are lots of indoor and outdoor pools in the cities in Iceland. They are all heated from the hot springs under the ground. We went swimming at one of the indoor pools, but I went outside to one of the hot pots (like a hot tub). The water was great, but it was pretty cold getting out!
We also had a chance to go to the zoo and botanical gardens in Reykjavik. We stayed at the Youth Hostel in Reykjavik. We had a great time in Iceland.
We went out into the North Atlantic and it was turning very cold and rainy. We sailed for about one hour out into the ocean. The crew told us how whale watching worked. They told us to look for signs of a fin, a break in the water or a water spout from the whale. To help others see the whale, you shout out the whale's location using the boat like a clock. The front of the boat is 12:00 and the back is 6:00 with the rest of the boat being the other hours of the clock. At one point, my mom and I saw a whale at 2:00.
The weather was getting much rougher and it was getting very windy and rainy. We had to protect our face from the wind and we were hanging on to the front rail of the boat. (That's why we don't have any pictures of the whales!) The boat was rocking back and forth and was rising and falling with the big waves. It was getting harder to see the whales. Most of the people went below deck.The captain was afraid that Gabrielle was going to fall over board so he let Gabrielle go into the captain's quarters! She fell asleep in the cabin! Some of the waves started crashing over the front of the boat and even over the captain's quarters. My mom and I decided to go below deck, too. I saw two Minke whales on the trip.
Down below, one of the crewmen showed me a whale baleen. The whale baleens look a little like teeth except that they are stringy. The baleens filter food out of the water. Water goes in to the whale's mouth, then the whale closes its mouth and pushes out the water. The plankton and small fish get stuck behind the baleens and the water filters out. The crewman also showed me lots of pictures and books about whales common to the North Atlantic waters. I had hoped to see puffins on our trip because I heard that puffins come to Iceland. The man told me that the puffins come to Iceland in the spring and they all leave near the end of August. Nobody knows where they go when they leave! They think that they just go out into the northern parts of the Atlantic ocean.
When Gabrielle woke up, the captain let her steer the boat for a while and work the radar! She really enjoyed that! We got back to the harbor about three hours later. The crew told us that was the roughest trip they had all season! They said they don't usually take poeple out when it's that bad! Since we hadn't seen many whales and the weather was so bad, they gave us free tickets for anytime we want to return! Gabrielle and I are trying to plan a return trip soon!
The National Church of Iceland
From the top of the tower, you could see all around Reykjavik.
One of the interesting exhibits showed how the Vikings buried their people. They believed their warriors were going to the next world to the feast at Valhalla where the god Odin lived. They buried the warriors with their weapons, and sometimes with their horses, dogs and boats!
Gabrielle and I tried on some of the Viking armor. It was really heavy. I don't know how they were able to battle while wearing it! I also learned that most Vikings weren't raiders but traders, craftsman or farmers!
There was a large exhibit about how the Vikings became Christian. There were lots of artifacts from the early churches they built. Many wealthy people built their own churches on their property to show how good and religious they were.
I also learned that during the Black Plague in the Middle Ages about 3/4 of Iceland's people died. The Plague came because Iceland did a lot of trading and importing with other countries in Europe.
I really enjoyed the trip to the Museum.
