Monday, 17 December 2012

Power Trip: Hellisheiðarvirkjun

We have expressed, once or twice before, a wish for funding for a research trip. Well, sit down and hold on tight to your whisky bottle, because it finally happened!! An anonymous philanthropist recently financed a Privy Counsel field trip to Iceland!
In case you didn't know already, Iceland is an amazing country, flowing with, if not quite milk and honey, then certainly unlimited amounts of hot water from mixer taps!
A guided tour of the Hellisheiði power plant exhibition revealed unimaginable sources of wonder and delight! The unique geological conditions in Iceland means that hot water is both free and guilt-free, since it doesn't cause any carbon dioxide emissions. Hot water from the ground is transported throughout the country via a national grid, heating the houses and keeping the showers lovely and hot (conducive to good hygiene)! Excess heat keeps key areas free of snow and ice for hazard-free winter stair-climbing!

See the magic for yourself in this sexy video:




We naturally took pictures of the visitor toilets at the power plant, for the delight and edification of our readers.

We personally prefer Tork to Lotus, but don't really care as long as there's a mixer tap.

Admirably clean - shame about the toilet rolls.

One positively salivates at the sight of such an excellent coat hook

A laudable exhortation for guests to wash their hands!
Intellectual Friend presumably salivates at the sight of this imperative!
POSTSCRIPT
Intellectual Friend says: "I did indeed salivate at the sight of the imperative mundu, which is even more thrilling when one remembers that mund also meant 'hand' in poetic Old Norse, and so we potentially have here a diachronic philological pun (admittedly rather unlikely, though, on second thoughts, as it's after all just a blasted power plant)!"

Hellisheiði power plant. Image from Mannvit

Hellisheiði power plant. Image from Mannvit


Related Reading (with grateful thanks, as ever, to Intellectual Friend)
A Splendid Christmas Present: The Best Toilet in Iceland! 
Reykjavík Revisited: An Exercise in Calligraphy
Danger, Danger: Medieval Toilets
Þorsteins Þáttr Skelks: Medieval Toilet Anecdote 
World Toilet Day 2011: Taking Our Baths and Our Women  
The Second Best Toilet in Iceland
Icelandic Toilets: An Intellectual Update

2 comments:

  1. Men du, vad tyckte du om lukten på varmvattnet? Jag tyckte att det det luktade svavel (= ruttna ägg)...

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. De sa det, men jag kände inget. Å andra sidan luktade våra kläder valkött efter ett besök på en något skum restaurang, så lukten av ruttna ägg kanske helt enkelt inte märktes!

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