I was quite happy today knowing that Diane and Gianna had the opportunity to see one of Iceland’s primary sights. The Golden Circle is an all-day adventure that takes you to Þingvellir national park and continues on to geothermally active geysers and the amazing Gulfoss waterfalls. We also managed to fit in a visit to a volcanic crater that eons ago collapsed onto itself after an eruption, and a very nice dinner in one of the restaurants in the town of Selfoss.
Þingvellir is a very historic sight for Iceland. Here is also where Reagan signed the non-proliferation agreement with Gorbachev in the 80s. Most importantly though, Þingvellir stands out for its position where the North American tectonic plate and its European counterpart meet. These plates have been separating for many years, making Iceland technically partly in Europe and partly in North America. We walked along a fault-line situated right where the plates have separated and continue to do so at the rate of 2 centimeters per year.
Flora growing out of the tectonically separated rock walls
Where Gorby and Ronald met
Iceland flag
Geyser was the next stop. Iceland gets most of its energy from geothermal sources and at Geyser it becomes very clear as to why.
Geysir erupts approximately every seven minutes
Gullfoss is, so far, my favorite sight in the country. It is an amazingly powerful waterfall that opens into a dramatic canyon. The flow of water cascading is impressive to say the least.
The visit to the Kerið crater was an unexpected delight to conclude today’s journey, which of course included a number of stops to pet the beautiful horses along the way.
Sun setting near Selfoss
You know I couldn't miss including our license plate.
It is now time for me to go pick up Eric at the airport. He missed three days of the trip on account of work. It will be nice to reunite and, together, to continue this nice adventure. Tomorrow we set out for the first leg of the Ring Road, which will take us in a full circle along this island country. Stay tuned and hopefully enjoy our future posts. Good night, friends.
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