Iceland-Our trip to Thingvellir National Park

Over 45 million years ago, Iceland was all mountains, consisting of the Appalachian Mountains and the Norwegian mountains. Then came the time, about 20 million years ago, that Iceland served as a land bridge between North America and Europe. It was at this time, and still somewhat today, that you can find three main landscapes; ice age glaciations, land bridge, and hot spots. Our tour guide for the day, Throstur Eysteinsson, explained to us how these events happened and how Iceland came to be. He also explained to us a lot about peacemaking and the environment. In Iceland between 20-30% of all power and energy is geothermal while the rest is made up of hydroelectric energy. He also explained to us how Iceland is trying to get back on the right track after ruining the landscapes for many years, massive soil erosion became a huge problem and ruined much of the forests and natural landscapes. As far as peacemaking, Eysteinsson brought us into Thingvellir National Park and showed us the site of the original Icelandic Parliament-which happens to be the oldest continuous parliament in the world. When it came time for Parliament to assemble, they came and camped on areas surrounding the “law rock.” The law rock is where they would gather around while the speaker would shout out the laws. The officials were elected and in order for everyone to hear the laws, they needed to be memorized and shouted by the speaker-it often took days to recite all of the laws. It was at this site where independence was declared from Denmark in 1944 and renewed again in 2000 with the celebration of 100 years of Christianity. National celebrations are still held here today. –Kory Bonnell