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Iceland and Greenland 2026

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2026-07-16

In the morning, we visited the Hellisheiþi geothermal power plant in Ölfus. They get hot water from boreholes, use it to generate electricity, and then pipe hot water to Reykjavík, where it is used to heat buildings, and there is still enough heat left to warm some streets to melt ice and snow.

Then we visited the Árbær Open Air Museum. It is the original site of some farmhouse buildings dating from 1891 to 1920 plus an older turf building of unknown age, and other historic buildings have been relocated to the site or reconstructed there. In Iceland, there was a speedy transition in the standard of living around 1900. I noticed this on my 2018 Norway trip: There were people living in primitive longhouses in the countryside while cities were transforming into modernity. But the change was more drastic in Iceland as modern materials and abilities did not so much develop over time in Iceland as be imported suddenly. So a person living in the countryside carrying months-old pickled sheepshead for their journey could visit a fisherman friend living comfortably in a then-modern building in Reykjavík. Those conditions tempted many people, and the population of Reykjavîk exploded.

The group went to see Hallgrímskirkja, a large church in Reykjavík, but I went off to pursue a lead on a chocolatier in the area. That did not pan out, as they were no longer making chocolates. I took a bus back to the city center and explored on my own. The trip leader sent me a lead: Sandholt is a hotel, bakery, and breakfast restaurant with some chocolates, and they turned out to be the best chocolates I found on the trip.