Dining on top of Reykjavik's hot water supply скачать в хорошем качестве

Dining on top of Reykjavik's hot water supply

(3 Sep 2013) A meal with a view. In a country mostly known for its natural attractions, Perlan - or the Pearl as it is known in English - is one of Iceland's must-see attractions. Perched on top of Oskjuhlio hill near Reykjavik city centre, the restaurant is housed in a large futuristic glass dome. And with double-digit increases in tourism each year, more and more visitors are venturing up the hill to admire the building and take in the spectacular sights from Perlan's viewing platform. The structure was built in 1988, and in 1991 a restaurant was added to the glass dome, made up of 1776 window panels. But, Perlan is not only there to house a restaurant. The building was created to store hot water. According to Stefan Sigurosson, the manager of Perlan, quite a lot of hot water. "We are sitting on six water tanks. Each of them are holding 4-million litres of hot water," Sigurosson says. Iceland has an abundance of hot water steaming, erupting and pouring from the ground throughout the country. The water is heated by the earth's mantel and then slowly makes its way to the surface. Since the 1930s, this geothermal energy source has been used to heat Icelandic homes. Today, almost all Icelandic homes are connected to the main hot water supply receiving geothermal hot water for free. In this system, Sigurosson says Perlan plays an important role. "Over the summertime, we are not using so much hot water. So then the tanks fill up with hot water. So, we reserve that and reheat it to keep it at 82-83 degrees (celsius) hot (179.6 Fahrenheit). And, then it is ready to use over wintertime," Sigurosson says. The Perlan structure is 25.7 meters tall (84.3 ft) and has a floor area of around 3,700 square meters. Each year, thousands of people visit the structure, some just for the view and others to feast at the restaurant. The restaurant itself is revolving, giving guests a full view of Reykjavik and the surrounding area during the two-hour rotation period. According to Sigurosson, there had been several attempts to build a restaurant on top of the structure before. "You can say that this is the third generation of an idea for a restaurant up here. Since the first tank came here, the people of Reykjavik always looked up to the hill with warm regards due to the hot water that it was giving to the city. So, very soon the idea came for the first restaurant and as I said this is the third idea and it was finished in 1991," Sigurosson says. Iceland has seen a huge increase in tourism since 2008 when the financial crisis hit the krona and travelling the country became much more affordable. In 2012, some 672,000 international tourists visited Iceland, an increase of 18.9 percent compared to the year before. Out of those, around 8 percent cited food as one of Iceland's strengths as a tourist destination. At the Perlan restaurant, local ingredients such as fish and lamb are prepared with a French twist. Head chef, Stefan Stefansson, spent a year learning French cooking techniques at a Michelin star restaurant near Annecy in France. "We serve French-based cuisine but we use of course Scandinavian influence and all over the world influences," says Stefansson. Who'd have thought Iceland's water supply would become such a success for the country's capital city. Find out more about AP Archive: http://www.aparchive.com/HowWeWork Twitter:   / ap_archive   Facebook:   / aparchives   ​​ Instagram:   / apnews   You can license this story through AP Archive: http://www.aparchive.com/metadata/you...