Chumbawumba4ever97 posted:

quote:

Not surprisingly, more than 3.5 million saunas exist across Finland -- a country of just under 5.5 million people.

They build them anywhere and everywhere: from houses and apartments to offices, boats and even the forest.

Heck, even the national parliament has sauna facilities.

Chumbawumba4ever97 posted:

Accretionist posted:

https://www.cnn.com/travel/article/helsinki-finnish-sauna-guide/index.html

Map of every public sauna in Finland:

ClamdestineBoyster posted:

Dude hell yeah you could hike the whole country naked in the winter.

numberoneposter posted:

i would absolutely love to stop in iceland if i ever go to spain or portugal

Accretionist posted:

My Spirit Otter posted:

i thought greenland was icy and iceland was greeny

Accretionist posted:

It has everything but healthy topsoil

The Butcher posted:

Or forests. Iceland is terrible at forests.

I think the early people cut them all down for boats and houses and firewood and then were like... Crap. The soil goes down a couple inches here. This might take a bit to fix.

quote:

One thousand years ago, upon the then recent settlement of Norsemen to Iceland, approximately 40% of the countryside was forested. Today, the island is most widely known for its starkly beautiful, yet treeless landscape. What went so wrong in those intervening 1000 years?

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But how did Iceland’s forests disappear in little under three hundred years? The answer lies, of course, with the people who moved here. [...]

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[...] the settlers needed every resource they could get their hands on.

Another important reason to clear the forests was the need to utilise the land for agriculture. Having imported a number of different types of livestock—livestock that would later hinder the forest’s regrowth through their constant grazing—farmers were forever pushing to create more room, and thus more resources for themselves and their operation.

Later research has uncovered that this was an intentional economic strategy on part of the settlers who realised it was essential to strengthen their local, animal husbandry industries. There was still no way, however, that the early settlers could have had any real comprehension of the environmental damage that was being done, not to mention the many years of repair afforestation would take.

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One of the Iceland Forest Service’s major ambitions is to have afforested 12% of the country by the year 2100. Currently, Icelanders plant approximately three million seeds a year, though the Forest Service is looking for this to improve with further, all-round education.

...

Accretionist posted:

THRIDRANGAR LIGHTHOUSE, ICELAND:



Alternate Angle:

Accretionist posted:

Ha, yeah. But the good news is that they're replanting. ~2% of Iceland's now forested and their target is 12% by 2100.

Cyril Sneer posted:

That's automated yes?

How do you get food there? Or internet?

quote:

Project director Árni G. Ţórarinsson described in an interview how it was [built in 1939]:

“The first thing we had to do was create a road up to the cliff. We got together of experienced mountaineers, all from the Westman Islands. Then we brought drills, hammers, chains and clamps to secure the chains. Once they got near the top there was no way to get any grip on the rock so one of them got down on his knees, the second stood on his back, and then the third climbed on top of the other two and was able to reach the nib of the cliff above. I cannot even tell you how I was feeling whilst witnessing this incredibly dangerous procedure.”

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Fast forward to the present, a helipad is used to drop off the coast guard but back in the days, the poor guy assigned to the lighthouse had to sail to the cliff and scale the rocks to reach it.

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r u ready to WALK posted:

i bet that guy has better broadband than most of us

Accretionist posted:

THRIDRANGAR LIGHTHOUSE, ICELAND:

Accretionist posted:

Randarkman posted:

As a Scandinavian I think he probably doesn't even have broadband.

Accretionist posted:

Accretionist posted:

ClamdestineBoyster posted:

Oh god my dad has apparently already done this.

Pigsfeet on Rye posted:

Scandinavia seems very nice, I'd like to go there someday. Also, I didn't know that Fabio Lanzoni had moved there

quote:

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The horse, therefore, holds a very special place in the people's hearts and souls, and if you ever have the honour of meeting a member of its species, you'll immediately understand why. Notably more curious, intelligent and independent than other horse breeds, the Icelandic horse is loved by all.

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The horse is subsequently undaunted by high winds and snowstorms and capable of feats like wading glacial rivers and crossing rough terrains.

In 982 AD, the Icelandic parliament Alţingi passed laws that prohibited any importation of other horse breeds into the country, meaning that for over a thousand years, the breed has been kept in complete isolation within the island.

Consequently, it is one of the purest horse breeds in the world. Although individual animals may be exported, once gone, they may never return.

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Great care has since been put into protecting the stock, and as a result, it is exceptionally healthy and long-lived. The average animal might live for up to 40 years, with the oldest reportedly reaching the ripe old age of 59.

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According to Grágás, the first Icelandic book of laws, stealing someone's horse was punishable by banishment and convicted horse thieves were outlawed. During the Viking Age in Iceland, all outlaws could be legally killed on sight, which is telling of the fact that you simply don't steal someone's horse.

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