Road to Stykkisholmar

Our first stop was to a wool dyer, she uses natural material to dye the wool:

• leaves and grass for brown 
• rhubarb and lupine leaves for yellow 
• onion for orange
• soaking with copper powder and ammonia turns the yellow green. 
• The root of Icelandic Moss mixed with cow urine for weeks (or ammonia) produces red 
• Berry makes black. 
• Blue requires indigo from India. 
• To get green start with yellow yarn and then soak in indigo for 5 minutes when exposed to oxygen it turns dark green.

Outside her home we saw a double waterfall. But she asked whether the waterfall was "on". At the base of the waterfall is a hydroelectric plant. If it is running, they shut off the waterfall by having the water flow through pipes to the plant. Apparently, this is quite common in Iceland and the source of some controversy as they convert waterfalls for hydroelectricity. 

Waterfall and its Hydroelectric Plant

Our next stop was the Settlement Center which provided the story of the first 90 years of the settling of Iceland. The story is well known because it was written down long ago in the Book of Settlement. While today the island has few trees (only 1.2% of the land), when Iceland was settled they could only travel the coast and rivers because it was covered with trees and bushes. The settler's ships could sail from Norway in just seven days with just the aid of the sun. Iceland was first settled in 874.

View from Helgafel Mountain

Our last stop was Helgafel mountain, the holy mountain. The mountain is mentioned in the Book of Settlements and people were believed to come here after their death. The wind was howling over 50 mph, but most of the group climbed the 250 feet to the top. The view at the top was great, but we had difficulty just standing with the wind. A few fell on the way down when the wind threw them off balance. At the bottom we viewed the community church built in 1903. There are over 300 churches in Iceland, but most of them are similar to this one - a small church for the local community, where the primary celebrations are Christmas, Easter, Baptisms, Weddings, and Funerals.

Interesting Things about Iceland

• The population of Iceland is 340,000 people. 
• 10% of Iceland is covered by glaciers. 
• The Icelandic language is based on the Old Norse language used by the Vikings.
• When a new word is needed for something more modern, a committee creates it combining old words.
• The Icelanders have no last names, your second name is created by saying your the son or daughter of your father's first name. 
• Over 90% of households are furnished hot water from the underground thermal features.
• The average salary here is 6800/mo versus $4709 in the U.S. A teacher here makes 5400/mo while a plumber makes 9000/mo.
• But alcohol costs 2X what is does in the U.S. (A glass of beer is $14, a glass of wine is $13, unless you purchase it during happy hour at our hotels when it is 2 for 1.) 
• Clothes are 3X the U.S. cost, but utilities are 20% lower because of all the hydroelectric and geothermal power. Rent is about 33% more.
• Mandatory retirement age is 70, retirement pension income averages $50,000/yr