What a day. So many things to describe and tell. One paragraph in not enough. 

The main point of the day is the protection of our natural heritage. This protection will give you more than an ephemeral use of something that nature needs hundred, thousands or millions of years to create. That fact is clearly understandable in Iceland and that’s why the country is an example for all the world. People in Iceland want to protect their natural heritage and they do it in every possible chance they have. We saw also, that all visitors in Iceland respect the environment.

Our course today has lava fields, horses, waterfalls, geysers and a greenhouse restaurant! Wild nature, friendly animals, amazing landscapes, strange earth eruptions and Mediterranean food near the arctic cycle.

Except all the above we walked the place where the tectonic plaques of Eurasia and America are removed each other.

Sometimes you feel really tiny.

 

Why Icelandic geysirs and hot springs or volcanoes do not have any myths or legends surrounding them? They are real wonders of nature but there is nothing in folklore except as landmarks, but nothing about their origins! However, knowing that Vikings arrived to Iceland with fully developed belief system and understanding of their environment explains the lack of the creation myths that are so typical in folklore of every nation. Maybe they were in need of moral support from their neighbours, even if they were invisible, but vital for their survival. 

 

Þingvellir is special for a variety of reasons: in 930, the first Parliament was established at Þingvellir, and it remained there until 1798. The founding of Parliament was the founding of the nation of Iceland, which laid the ground for a common cultural heritage and national identity. Another interesting fact about Þingvellir national park is that it is located just between the European and North American tectonic plates. 

I believe that removing all these stories and facts form every place we visited today would make us feel more remote and disconnected with the place, its people and their values. We would become merely the tourists making a collection of photographs and adding the ticks on our travel list. I doubt that this would make us better people who sincerely care about our planet…. 

Guided tour around the golden circle plus some extra stops on the way. We stopped by several waterfalls, amongst others the Gullfoss. The Gullfoss is especially known for the first environmentalist in the world. Sigríður Tómasdóttir was the name of the woman who saved the Gullfoss waterfal from being made into a powerplant. She lived from 1874 to 1957 long before current environmental movementd were established. Sigríður proved that a person can singlehandedly make positive changes even when going up against big companies/coorporations. This story could be used to inspire students to also take action when they experience something they find unacceptable. 

We also visited a small, secluded church and woolshop. Later we went to see the original Geysir and other geysirs in the surrounding area. Despite Iceland cultural heritage being rich on sagas, the Geysirs do not have any sagas surrounding them. 

Lastly we went for a walk along the tectonic plates and cracks at Þingvellir (Thingvellir) National Park. Home of the first and oldest parliament (Alþingi)of the world. It was formed in year 930. The sessions were held at Þingvellir national park until 1799. This is where the Eurasian and North-American tectonic plates meet. 

A full tour of Icelandic nature. Grey, wet and rugged to the bone, but this landscape has so much more to offer! Faces in rockformations, wild water streams that carve the landscape and deep caves hidden beneath your own feet! 

Al these ingredients are sufficient enough to spark imagination! Strangly though in this country, with all of it’s folklore, there’s no mythological tale on these wonders of nature. No myths on the origins and meanings of geysirs, waterfalls or tectonic plate movement. That beying said, most numerous are folklore legends that include such places as a stage for historical rellevance. So in a way, they are all included but set as stage and background. There is so much more to discover, hidden in open space. 

Today was the day of our first trip inland. We left Reykjavik to go and visit a few exciting highlights of the so called 'golden circle' of Iceland. During the day I was impressed by almost all of the beautiful sightings. And the one thing that connected all the things to each other: folklore. Every sighting had a story, every waterfall had a legend or tale behind it and all the things were an important part of the history of Iceland, its laws and its culture. 

Iceland is a country not based on a religion in the first place, but based on the beliefs, laws and cultural ideas told by its first inhabitants until the norms and values of its most recent people. The combination of these beliefs and using these beliefs to cope with nature and her difficulties makes Iceland a country that will be using folklore for many, many years to come. And that's a good thing.

 

Then we visited the “small waterfall” (according to our guide ^^), of Bláskógabyggð, before embarking on the circuit called “Golden circle” which includes the huge Gullfoss waterfall as well as the geothermal field named Geysir with reference to the largest geyser of the site ... to finally close by the visit of the Thingvellir National Park Þingvellir (retranscript), a historical landmark since it is a toponym meaning “plains of Parliament”: Þingvellir’s landscapes have also been the theater of nodal events in the constitution of Icelandic nation _with respect to the Scandinavian peoples and kingdoms, and geologically correspond to a depression (called graben word meaning "gap" in German) _, resulting from the gradual enlargement of the oceanic lithosphere along the mid-Atlantic ridge.

 

If nature is a strong element of Icelandic identity with few material traces of its history because of the very hostility of this nature, the island is renowned for the relationship of its inhabitants to their environment. Of course, as we have heard the day before, nature is a work of heritage, both historical and cultural, and with elves and huldufólk (“hidden people”), witnesses of the country's rural past. However, would not talesbe an idealized mirror for Icelanders about their relation to nature and human society? In other words, an enhancement of an Icelandic “self”?

 

If indeed, we must not minimize the significant link of Icelanders to this “Ice land” (a link marked by particularly difficult climatic conditions, in addition to a changing insecureterrain), the settlement of populations (the island counts 350 000 inhabitants, three quarters of whom live in an urban environment) questioned us about real preservation of thisnatural heritage in this country _which is far from being overpopulated_.

 

We ask ourselves these questions: Why would the legends allow the preservation of Iceland’ ? In what way? 

 

Obviously, if these beautiful legends make tourists dream, is preservation of nature really ensured by these same legends? We hear that they allowed this people to survive, and probably to be somehow subject to a higher power, but here appears a question: would the preservation of the environment be more based on fear? Because of the “invisible” instead ofplanetary environmental system understanding? What would happen if these believes would disappear? What would remain of Iceland?

 

In addition, unlike some countries such as Slovenia not to mention, Iceland seems to keeo a very self-centered ecology, which does not take sufficiently international warmingweather. For instance, in a report of 2017, the Institute of Economic Studies of the University of Iceland estimated the increase in CO2 emissions from 55% to 99% in 2030, compared to 1990.

In the same way, pure water and air are essential factors for life on earth, which unfortunately become rare on our blue planet. But Icelanders seem to ignore the carbon footprint of all domestic transport: road (4X4) or air (planes). We have seen countless aerodromes, as well as the absence of electric city buses.

So Icelanders use their vehicles daily or even the plane rather than public transport (train, tram ... there are no lines), and there is also no pedestrian zone in the center -city.

In addition, there are many buildings denaturing landscapes. One can therefore wonder if there are rules fortown planning.

As a result, while Icelanders are first to exploit renewable resources, pollution remains, (tarnishing the image of clean, geothermal energy). It should be noted that it is not unusual to see the inhabitants of Iceland open their windows because their interior is heavily heated. And some stores are lit up all night ... there is even one that left the television lit as a backdrop.

 

Not to mention that the use of greenhouses for agriculture proves highly controversial for their participation to increase of the greenhouse effect. Even we really appreciate our tomatoes soup.

 

In conclusion, while many areas of our planet lack water (which is the case of the South of France) and because ofabundance of resources in Iceland, we ask ourselves the question if Icelanders are aware of globally importance of freshwater and its preservation for future generations.

Finally, in several European countries, there are factories sorting several materials (packaging, soft plastic, glasses, bottle, cardboard, fabric, composting near restaurants ...) whereas in Iceland very few sorting bins are diversified.