Reykjavik Day 3 afternoon

Our afternoon bus tour included five stops around Rekyjavik with our knowledgeable local guide. It included a tour of the outdoor museum exhibiting the original thatch houses and a thatch church still in use. An archeological dig is taking place at this site. All very interesting to learn about the development of the culture and economy of Iceland.
Most interesting is the positive effects of geo thermal heat since WW2. At the time of the war Iceland was 100,000 people a very simple culture speaking old norse. The Icelandic people were poor but very well read as a society and even yet are the highest book readers in the world. They were occupied by 50000 British troops. They brought road building...its all round abouts...they also brought engineers who helped make geo thermal heat widely available to everyone at low cost from volcanic geysers. Farming techniques and rule of law were also influenced by the occupation. Following the British the island was occupied by US troops through Norad till 2006 bringing technology and money.
There is a 2cm crater and active volcanos on the island.
Geo thermal heat has brought a lot of development and the brightest and best people developing new technology through the University...new greenhouse industry and social and cultural improvements such as home heat.
Paul was delighted to see a Rio Tinto plant that makes aluminum for the plant he is doing consulting with in Windsor. Due to cheap geo thermal heat.... production cost is cheap. There are four aluminum smelters on Iceland. Paul would happily have stopped for a supplier quality audit but alas the other passengers were not as interested
We also passed three large golf courses, a new development in Iceland.
Finally we visted Perlan the bubble..overlooking the city..an architectural beauty built to house the city water supply. Very impressive.
At supper at a large indoor market you could our have whatever you like from various vendors. A fun place with lots of locals and young people. We met four young Icelanders with two American tech professionals who told us about the leading edge careers happening here in the tech world. The Americans come over regularly and told us the brightest and best are here in Iceland and its an exciting time to be working in this business.Read more