I miss Iceland!

The Blue Lagoon. I could soak in it all day. This was snapped in April 2007 on our way in to the Blue Lagoon when I visited Iceland with Denise, Louisa, and Elizabeth. Soaking in the geothermal spa was literally the last thing we did in this Arctic country; we stowed our luggage on a bus and went directly to the airport for our flight back to Boston.
Probably the most relaxing place my backpack has been...and definitely on the list of top 10 places I would return to in a heartbeat.

Presidential sightings

On Tuesday this week, I heard the President of Iceland speak at Harvard. Ólafur Ragnar Grímsson spoke as part of Harvard's Center for the Environment "The Future of Energy" lecture series.
Grímsson's lecture highlighted Iceland's success in using geothermal energy as a power source. His talk, "Geothermal Energy: Harnessing the Fire Inside" detailed Iceland's international partnerships to expand geothermal power usage throughout the world. From Germany to Dijibouti to China, Iceland is partnering with these nations to build geothermal power stations. It was interesting to hear about how different countries are approaching geothermal energy. Grímsson was in the United States to speak before Congress on the advantages of using geothermal power. Grímsson showed photographs of his presentations to several high profile American politicians, including Barak Obama.

The presentation included several images of Reykjavik and the Blue Lagoon (the byproduct of a geothermal power plant); images that reminded me of the natural beauty of Iceland. Definitely a place to which I hope to return. I'm all for geothermal power, such a great clean, usage of natural resources. But please, do something about the strong foul smell it creates when used to heat hot water...pursing my lips as a rinse out shampoo is not my idea of getting clean!