The Beauty of Iceland

So over the last two days I have found out that Iceland is a gorgeous country! Especially since yesterday and today have been absolute gorgeous sunshine - barely a cloud in the sky. Yesterday we spent the day touring all around downtown Reykjavik, visiting many museums including the National Gallery and the Photography Museum (of course I thought of you, Stef). They have some absolutely amazing artists here. We also saw the Settlement museum and the National Museum, where I learned a lot about the history of Iceland.

Reykajavik

Today we rented a car and our major event was the well known "Golden Triangle", so called I think just because it's a collection of three major tourists sites all in the same general area. One is a historical site (which James really enjoyed I think) that had breathtaking views of a giant canyon and small ponds. The second was a giant waterfall, probably the largest I've ever seen. And the third was a my favorite, a geyser park (in a town called Geysir actually) that has a ton of little dormant geysers and one big active one that shoots off about every 6 min or so. We were lucky and saw a whole bunch of great geysering in the time we were there. I got some super pictures and also a video clip. Sadly I don't think these computers here at the hostel allow photo uploading, so you'll just have to wait till I get home and can get all of my pictures up. But it was pretty spectacular.

Gulfoss

James and our car

Sheep in the road!

Me near Gulfoss

Here's James' recap of our Golden Triangle adventure:

Having tasted the freedom of our own set of wheels in the Faroes, we rented a car to see some of the country outside of Reykjavik. The classic day trip tour is called the Golden Triangle, the three points of which are: Þingvellir National Park, Geysir (which obviously gives us the word "geysir"), and Gulfoss (major waterfall). We put these on our itinerary but in our own order and at our own pace - and with a couple extras thrown in. On the way to Þingvellir, there is a museum in honor of the most famous of Icelandic authors, Hálldor Laxness, this small country´s Nobel Prize winning writer. Admittedly, he was not on my radar before I began planning this trip, but once I read _Independent People_ I was hooked. So I wanted to make this pilgrimage, to see the house he called home for much of his life (right across from the farm on which he grew up). Meghan and I had the tour to ourselves, which allowed us to savor the fascinating tale of this man - and of his oh-so patient wife. I recommend his work to anyone.

Þingvellir was another pilgrimage site for me, as this is where the original Icelandic Alþing, or "parliament" was gathered from the earliest days of the settlement of the island. It is enormously important, symbolically, to Icelanders, as for them it is a sign of their independence and early "democratic" Viking society - before Christianity stole some of the fire and before the Norwegian, then Danish, monarchies imposed their rule. The place itself is also quite beautiful, and provides one of the clearest signs of the continental divide one can see. The rift forms a narrow canyon, the sides of which are moving in opposite directions.

Gulfoss and Geysir provided even more natural beauty, enhanced by the stunningly sunny, warm weather (it was, at times, even comfortable to wear short sleeves). Gulfoss is a roaring glacier fed waterfall, resplendent with dazzling rainbows. An enormous icefield can be seen in the distance. Geysir brought out the kid in us, as we watched the regular eruption of one and turned our noses at the eggy smell of sulpher permeating the air.

We rounded off the day with one more pilgrimage, a visit to the former seat of the church in Iceland, Skáholt. Although the present church is twentieth-century, there has been a church on the site for almost a thousand years. It is hard to imagine the importance it once held, not only religiously but politically, for this island country. Then on to a hot pot! 

Me and James at Gulfoss

A geyser at Geysir

Of course we have also been taken advantage of the many outdoor public swimming pools and hot tubs. We have gotten in the habit of taking our swimsuits and towels with us everywhere you go because you never know when you'll run into a pool and feel like a dip. Yesterday we ventured into the one closest to down town and whittled away two hours in the sunshine sitting in a hot tub or heated pool while the chilly 55 degree wind swept above it. Simply luxurious. Today we stopped a pool in one of the suburbs we were driving through and to my great delight they had a real 1m diving board. So though extremely rusty, I managed to try out a couple easy dives. It was quite fun.

But after a nearly 12hr day of site seeing and swimming, I'm exhausted. Tomorrow we're hoping to go horseback riding through a lava field (fingers crossed that the weather holds out) and check out a town that claims to be the hidden entrance the elves parallel universe. Should be interesting. I should get a change for one more entry tomorrow to tell you all about it before I fly home on Saturday. Miss you all and can't wait to see you!

Happy Thursday!
Meg