Had a great day with Margrét going around all the different sites in the Golden Circle outside Reykjavík today, and you´re lucky as I´m able to have some pictures as Margrét took a bunch and I can access them with this computer! The weather has been great as it’s been sunny and about 60 degrees here, which is quite warm for here.
Above is a picture of me in downtown Reykjavik from yesterday.
We started off around 10 a.m. this morning with driving east out of Reykjavík on Route 1, which is the route that goes all around the island. It doesn´t take long for you to get out of the city (5 minutes) and into the country. The landscape here is a combination of wide open spaces of either lava fields or fields of flowers and grasses. Either way, it´s breathtakingly beautiful. The photos will never do it justice, but we´ll try to show you something.
We first stopped in a small town to get a map, and at the tourist shop/info place, they had a bubbling pool of hot water coming out of the ground. Quite cool.
Next, we went down the road to Geysir, to see the original Old Faithfull. Skrokkur blows every 10-15 minutes, and here is a picture of me that Margret got.
After going through many miles of farms, lava fields, and other landscapes, we made our way to Flúðir, which is famous for growing mushrooms. There, we bought some kleinur, which are Icelandic twisted doughnuts. As be traveled on, the road, which is a majorish road, turned to dirt, and there were sheep along the sides. We soon got to Gullfoss, which translates to Golden Waterfall. It was very impressive, and it cuts a canyon into the landscape, so you can´t see it coming up until you are right on it. Here´re some pictures of that.
Then, we went into Hotel Geysir for lunch, where I treated Margret to lunch for about US$85 for the two of us. Again, it’s expensive here!
We traveled on to Þingvellir, which is the site of the old Icelandic parliment from AD 974. It’s an amazingly magical place, and it’s where the North American and European techtonic plate come together. Here’re some pictures of that.
We’re just about to go out to dinner, so I’ve got to stop. Coming home tomorrow after a dip in the Blue Lagoon, and for some other shopping here.
Later!
Ken