Icelandic Magic

It was like walking through a scene from The Lord of the Rings. I half-expected to see Bilbo Baggins hopping his way across the jagged rocks. Magical.

Last week, our Nordplus project students headed towards Reykjavik and the Westman islands in Iceland. Four countries are taking part in the project, including: Finland, Iceland, Latvia and Sweden. The theme is tourism.

Now let me guide you through one of the greatest project weeks EVER…                                                                                                                                                              

Saturday:

After a four hour flight, we arrived in Reykjavik. We quickly decided that we deserved some pizza and a wander around...

Sunday: 

Team Finland (along with a fabulous Finnish flag) roamed around Reykjavik for the day. Check out the beautiful scenery:

We also couldn't resist posing with the famous Sun Voyager sculpture:

Finally, we caught the ferry to the Westman islands (Heimaey in particular). The journey was a little rocky because of the wind which made for a fun ride! We were also treated to some incredible sights.

                                       

Monday:

The students started to work on their project. They had to choose an aspect of the island that they could sell to tourists. We visited the Eldheimer museum for some inspiration and more information about Heimaey. In 1973, the island was changed forever after a volcanic eruption in the town of Vestmannaeyjar. Everyone (over 5000 people) in Heimaey was evacuated and the eruption lasted for five months! The island rebuilt itself but the museum serves as a strong reminder of what happened.

That evening, we also had the "Bring a Dish" night where participants from each country provided food for those involved in the project and the local community to try.

Tuesday:

Tuesday was another busy day again though one big highlight was seeing a real-life puffin at the aquarium!

This is Toti and he is cared for by the aquarium after breaking his leg. Don't be fooled by his cuteness though - he can be very sassy when he wants to be.

Wednesday:

We started the day by enjoying an Icelandic language class before the students shared myths and legends from their native countries. Afterwards, we visited the local fish factory (which is extremely important business on the island). It was soon time for more project work to be done for the big presentation day looming around the corner...

Thursday: 

PROJECT PRESENTATION DAY!

All of the groups presented their work to the teachers and the manager of the Eldheimer Museum, who selected her two favourites. Needless to say, we were all hugely impressed with the results.

Friday: 

Our last full day in Iceland ended on the mainland. Our wonderful hosts provided all of the project participants a bus tour around Southern Iceland. We gasped at the waterfalls:



We squealed in excitement at the hot springs:

Thank you for the photo, Suvi!

And we said some very heartfelt goodbyes.

Saturday:

Up at 3:30am, we braced ourselves for the long journey home. The early start was definitely worth it though because we all agreed that it had been one SPECTACULAR week...