Our week in Iceland

At first glance, you could see a lot of steam everywhere and it smelled faintly of sulphur. Our guide told us that the geyser erupts every 5 to 7 minutes. So, we waited like many other tourists for the geyser to erupt. The fountain was about 10 - 30 metres high and it was a great moment when it erupted for the first time. This geyser was called Strokkur and is the fifth largest geyser in the world. Next to it was also the geyser called &quot;Geysir&quot;, from which the word geyser comes. From 2000 onwards there were about eight eruptions a day, in 2003 there were only three. Today, geyser activity is unfortunately very low so we did not see it´s up to 80 metre high fountain.

There are mall streams everywhere on the mountains, as well as one big river in the valley.

After seeing the house, two Icelandic girls took us on a walk and went to a little blue house. They told us that all the electricity for the white house is produced in it. The rivers that come from the mountains around the house have a big power and in the blue house there is a wheel that starts turning as soon as the water touches it, like that it produces energy.

While we were standing at the blue house, we suddenly realised that many seals were around – we could see the little heads of them in the sea! That was really cute.

Then we had Spaghetti with meat and fish for lunch. When we finished with lunch we went with some Spanish and Icelandic students to the library and tried different snacks and drinks that don’t exist in Germany nor in Spain. But we were interrupted, because we had a visit the fish factory planned. It is the largest fish factory in Iceland. The first thing we had to do, was to take our shoes off. Then we were split into two different groups while one of them listend to a short presentation about fishing and processing the different fishs that are produced in the factory.

The other got a small insight into the factory and could watch the machines sort and package the fish.

Monday, 02.10.2023 The first thing after we arrived was, that the Icelandic teachers introduced themselves and that they welcomed us to their school and Iceland.

After that we went over the program for the next few days and held our respective presentations about green energy and sustainability.

The third stop was halfway through the tour. At first you couldn`t see much because there was a little hill. But as you walked the path along the mountain, besides a cliff and the river within, you saw the big Waterfall, wich is called „Gullfoss Waterfall“. It is very impressive because we drove about 20 minutes and we only saw the untouched, mostly flat and mossy landscape but then, suddenly, there is this unexpected big waterfall. In the picture below you can see the waterfall from a high perspective. As I already mentioned you can see that the landscape next to the waterfall doesn’t differ much, nevertheless that doesn`t mean that it isn`t beautiful.

This picture was taken at the platform you can see in the very front of the path you can see in the picture on the left page.

“I felt like that everywhere I looked, the nature didn´t look boring. In my opinion that’s the best thing about Iceland.”

One is also able to ascend on a lower level to another platform. There, this picture was taken: -&gt;

The Gullfoss Waterfall is also called the „Golden Falls“ because if the sun shines in the right direction on the waterfall, there is a rainbow above it. Sadly, when we were there, the sun wasn`t out.

Our second stop was at the Geysir. It was a very impressing stop of our golden circle tour.

1. Iceland is the largest banana producer in the EU because of all the greenhouses that can be heated with geothermal energy. 2. There are only 739 police officers in whole Iceland and it has the lowest crime rate in the world. 3. In Iceland everyone is so familiar with each other that you can even find the phone number of the president in the phonebook or just could knock at the presidents house.

During our ride on the bus, it was never boring. We had a really nice guide who told us many and very interesting facts about Iceland. Here are our top three:

We walked around and took some nice pictures. Now we had 3 hours left until we had to meet again at the hostel. We had time to buy some souvenirs, see more monuments and eat something for lunch before the flight.

At 3 pm we all met at the hostel, took our suitcases and took the bus near the hostel to the airport. Arrived there we put our suitcases away and met the other Spanish students and get to know each other until our flight took off. At 7 pm our flight started and we had to fly for 1 hour. When we arrived in Egilsstaðir we took a bus to the dormitory. From there some students joined their host families and the others moved in their rooms at the dormitory. A hard but adventurous day came to an end.

Our last stop was the Thingvellir. The thingvellir is a place where the european and the american tectonic plates meet each other. Because the plates are moving away from one another, Thingvellir is a good place to see how much the big plates are rotating. This is also one of the most important natural sights in whole Iceland. Its very impressive and weird because at the one side you are standing on the European tectonic plate but if you take a few steps to the side, you stand on the American tectonic plate.

North American plate                      European plate

Anyhow, you cannot only see the plates at Thingvellir. There’s a bus station, that houses a bakery and more, and if you go around some corners, you can spot glass on the floor. It’s not that easy to spot and these two found it unintentionally, during a short stop. If you look down you can see the walls of both plates with their gap in between. The staff even put red lights that are supposed to resemble a stream of lava.

Saturday, 30.09.2023

The landscape impressed us deeply, even though at that point of time we only saw it from our relatively small windows on the plane, but we were already fully captivated by its beauty. We quickly decided that the long wait was totally worth it and wanted nothing more than to finally set foot in Iceland. And then we did.

Golden Circle Tour After our first night in Reykjavik, we went to a bus stop near our hostel to enter the bus that would give us a tour of the Icelandic Golden Circle. Highlights of the tour were for example stops at the ´´Geysir´´ or at ´´Thingvellir National Park´´. The tour was possible thanks to the financial support of our parents. When everyone was in the bus, we headed to our first stop: Kerið. Kerið is a beautiful crater lake in Iceland. It is in south-eastern Iceland approximately one hour away from Reykjavik. At each stop we had a strict time limit to take our photos and to explore and experience the sight. At this stop we only had 20 minutes, so everyone just walked around the crater lake one time and then went back to board the bus again.

We took a bus to the city and ate dinner in a place with multiple choices.

Friday, 29.09.2023 We all met up at the bus station at school in Neckarbischofsheim to drive to the airport in Frankfurt together. After about an hour long drive, we arrived and excitedly waited for our flight.

After we boarded, it took about 3 hours to land in Reykjavik and we were getting tired on the flight. However, our fatigue was cut short and replaced with excitement as the island came to view.

We couldn’t wait to finally board the plane.

Sunday, 01.10.2023 After a long night of waiting for the northern lights we woke up in our hostel in Reykjavik. All together we had breakfast and planned the rest of our day. After, we went to the rooms to pack our suitcases. We were allowed to put our things in an extra room, so we could go to the city. At 9:30 we walked to the most famous monuments of Reykjavik. The ,,Hallgrims church‘‘,

After a short break to warm up, we went on a small hike to the Avalanche protection walls of the city. These consist of a large wall and several small protective hills to protect the city from another Avalanche accident.

The path to get there was slippery and sometimes narrow, but nevertheless very beautiful.

After lunch at school, all students worked in groups on a video project on the topic of environmental protection, after which all students had free time with their exchange students partners again or went back to the dorms.

Friday, 06.10.2023 On Friday we met in the morning at school and watched the finished videos of the students. After that we first walked to a lighthouse and then to a cave by the sea. We had a wonderful view and were able to take great pictures. At noon we ate in the school canteen and at 2.30 p.m. We were driven to the airport in Egilsstaðir by the teachers and some students. After our arrival we had some free time and could have some dinner until we could get on the plane and then fly back to Reykjavik. Our journey ended, after one last night in Reykjavik, our flight back to Frankfurt and the bus ride back to Neckarbischofsheim. But as we saw the Island getting smaller and further away, we didn’t feel like it was a sad “Goodbye”, but more of a happier “See you later!”

Then we were split into groups of five people plus two students from Iceland, who showed us their school. The school is very modern, comfortable and airy. You get the impression that everyone knows everybody and there is a certain familiarity between the students and their teachers. But that wasn’t the only interesting thing, there are also different subjects, for example you learn how to work with machines, how to 3D print and there is even the option to learn how to become a hairdresser. But not enough people are interested in it so this class doesn’t exist at the moment. The next thing on the plan was, to play „Icebreaking games“, which is basically a scavenger hunt. We stayed in the same groups that we were in when we explored the school and walked around the town. While walking we took pictures in shops and in front of the church and even did small dances like YMCA or Macarena.

Our week in Iceland

The third floor was all about the animals.

Thursday, 05.10.2023 On Thursday morning we drove to a typical, small Icelandic farm, there were Icelandic ponies, goats, sheep, chickens and even a cat. The owner of the farm led us around and we were allowed to pet and feed the animals.

Since Iceland is also particularly known for its fish, we of course had to try fishing ourselves. The local students showed us how and a few of us tried it out. Unfortunately without success :( In the evening, all students went back to the dorms or to their host families and did different things.

Then the group’s switched. The first group to listen to the presentation used their wait for the other group to finish the tour, to warm up.

Tuesday, 03.10.23 On Tuesday we went to Vidfjördur with a little boat. At Vidfjördur there is only one house that belongs to a big family but the family only goes there in the summer holidays. That is why we met an old man there who takes care of it while the family isn’t in it. In this house there are 17 beds, a kitchen and some cozy living rooms. The old man gave us a tour of the house and he told us that it used to be a farm many years ago. We were surprised because there are not even roads at Vidfjördur! But the family could live there just with the animals and the garden they had back then! That really impressed us!

Here you can also see that we had to take our shoes off and dress in hygienic attire.

To enter the factory we got rubber boots and disinfected our hands. After we had to walk through a machine that cleaned them thoroughly and disinfected our hands again.

To get to the pier there, we had to take an even smaller boat.-&gt;

We then took the small boat back to Neskaupstadur and after that everyone went back to their host family or back to the dormitory. It was an amazing day !

Wednesday, 04.10.2023 On Wednesday we all met at school in the morning to work on our sustainability assignments. We were divided into 3 groups and each group worked out something on the topic of sustainability. After lunch, we made our way to the local history museum in Neskaupstaður. There were exhibitions on 3 levels about art of Tryggvi Ólafsson, tools and the animals of the fjord. The director of the museum guided us through all three levels and told us some interesting facts.

Here the second group was coming back to Neskaupstaður 

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