Day 10

Today we listened to a lecture on the history of feminism in Iceland.  I learned that midwives, instead of doctors, are who primarily deliver newborns in Iceland.  After class, I went inside the tall church buidiling in Reykjavik called Hallgrimskirkja (shown below).  The church has a huge set of organs (I think something like 5000+ pipes).  Yet, interestingly the inside was not as elaborately decorated with painting as other European churches.  I also went to the concert hall, Harpa, that has very detailed architecture that creates a cool effect from light reflecting off the outside of the building.

Later in the afternoon, I met up with my distant cousin, Kent and went on a tour of the Icelandic peninsula that Reykjavik is located on to see where some of our common ancestors emigrated from.  We drove through Vogar, Grandavík, and Þorlákshöfn.  We also walked around the hot springs at Seltún.  We went to where my great great great grandmother Herdís Hannesdóttir used to live with her family as a child and later in life.  The farm that used to be her family's is now on the land of the facility where Ícelandic Glacial water is bottled.  On the trip, I saw many different types of landscapes from lava fields that can be very jagged when more recently created to the smoother older ones, grass fields, and volcanoes.  I was surprised to see at least four different golf courses that we passed on the trip - apparently golfing is more common in Iceland than I thought.  We also passed by miles and miles full of lupine - a non native purple plant that grows widely throughout Iceland.

The inside of Hallgrimskirkja:

The concert hall Harpa:

My cousin Kent and me:

Some landscape photos from my mini tour with Kent:

The areas where my great great great grandmother Herdís lived during her life (including her family's farm next to the bottled water facility):

The Seltún hot springs: