Today was our last day in Iceland. We were all feeling sad about this as we jumped in the trusty Yaris for our final adventure. Our first stop was for gas – now that was an adventure in itself!
Our route today was the “Golden Circle” the invention of a tourism PR group somewhere. The route wasn’t really a circle and it wasn’t particularly golden – but it was another amazing day.
There were many more tour buses on this route because it is really close to Reykjavik and seems to be the “mandatory” tour for everyone here. We tried to beat the madness by getting an early start. After a quick breakfast at home, we headed north to our first stop Þingvellier national park. This park is the reason I wanted to visit Iceland. A few years ago I made a slideshow for my class that included pictures of a Rift Valley. The picture I found was of Iceland and people walking through the rift. I have been excited about visiting the rift ever since.
The national park is the former location of the annual parliament of Iceland. Dignitaries would travel from all over the country once a year for meetings, to make laws, and to try cases. Many people were convicted and executed here too.
We hiked through the rift and my travel buddies helped me make a silly and maybe not perfectly accurate video for my students – it will get the point across though so I am excited to show them.
We were so glad we got an early start – as we were hiking in we were among few visitors. As we were hiking out we were like salmon swimming upstream. There were people swarming everywhere and tour buses lined up like sardines in the
parking lot. We hightailed it out of there and quickly drove to Geysir.
Geysir is the sight of the first geyser discovered. The original geyser has stopped erupting but the nearby Strokkur geyser was performing. We enjoyed watching the geyser erupt repeatedly and then grabbed a quick bite for lunch once again leaving as the wagon train was arriving.
A few kilometers up the road we found Gullfoss Falls. This was the biggest waterfall I have ever seen. There is really no way to describe it. The volume of water in that river was astounding.
We headed back to Reykjavik making two more stops. Kerið crater and the ON power geothermal power exhibit. The crater was this crazy roadside stop where a crater has filled with groundwater. I guess Bjork has performed on a raft there because of the good acoustics.
The power plant was amazing and I brought home some information for my students. They make power as well as heat water for Reykjavik here. This is one of the massive turbines.
About thirty minutes in the car brought us home. We spent the remainder of the afternoon packing, napping, and grabbing final souvenirs.
About 5:00 in the evening we could hear the announcers and crowds get started. Iceland played their final game in the Euro cup tonight. Thousands of people were streaming past our apartment towards a large park where the game was being shown. We saw toddlers to seniors in face pair and wearing Icelandic flags. It was fun to see the scene.
Our final Icelandic excursion was to the “Blue Lagoon”. We went back and forth about going to the Blue Lagoon simply because it is so expensive and out of town. Our guide on the food tour told us we should go so we tried it. The lagoon is a man-made pool full of minerals and silica. We soaked in the hot water, had do it yourself facials with the mud and had a drink from the swim-up bar. We all agreed that we enjoyed the experience but we would not do it again. The public pool we tried yesterday was a fraction of the cost and more enjoyable.
We finalized packing and it is time for bed – we have to be up at four for our flights.