July 17, 2016
It has been a whirlwind since I last had time to write. We landed in Reykjavik at 7pm, went directly to the Residence Hotel and checked into our B&B room. The driver waited and then drove us to the Blue Lagoon, 45 minutes out into open countryside, for the hot water soak we missed when we arrived a day late. There was an ultra modern restaurant with delicious food on site, so we had dinner first and then went to the lagoon on full stomachs. The water was warm and full of silica and was a chalky color. We kept our heads above water and moved around on the smooth but uneven ground, some places 5 feet deep, other places shallow enough to sit on the bottom. The lagoon is very large and freeform in shape. There were at least 200 people in the water with us. It is reservation only, so the size of the crowd can be controlled. A station in the middle had a man offering chalky goop to put on your face. It was supposed to be a cleanser. Finally, I got Mark to agree as so many other faces were white too. We looked silly along with everyone else. After 10 minutes, we wash that off and put on another layer of green goop that is supposed to be a moisturizer. I will admit that our faces felt softer once we washed it all off. After an hour we had had enough with goop and people watching. We were cleaned up and ready to leave at 10:15pm. Fortunately, our driver was waiting and returned us to our room. We happily dove into bed, totally exhausted.
In the cage to descend into the volcano
In the morning, July 16, we were up and out to the Enterprise office to get our rental car. By 9am, we were headed to our first stop of the day, a tour called “Into the Volcano”. It was supposed to start at 10am. We were the first to arrive and learned that the tour, we expected would take 45-50 minutes, would take 3+ hours. Apparently the time in the volcano takes 45 minutes, but it takes an hour+ to walk the 1.8 miles to the volcano, time to get prepped to go into it, time to eat some soup afterward and time to walk back.
A wall of the volcano on the way to the bottom.
The walk was rocky, the terrain hilly and rough, but it was good exercise. Although it was windy, overcast and threatening the sky did not open until just as we entered the warming hut to prep for the trip. Great luck. The time in the volcano was a super experience. The opening was very narrow, but gradually opened up as we descended 400+ feet and was the size of a ball room when we got out at the floor.
Descending in the cage
The lighting was wonderfully done so we could see the colorful walls and walk around the hall without lights in your eyes. I had a hard time as I couldn’t walk and look without stumbling. So it was step, stop, stare, step, stop, stare. Our guide was very knowledgeable and made the tour very interesting. All too soon we were back on top and eating a delicious lamb and vegetable soup, home-made by the warming hut manager.
We make it to the bottom.
Mark and I dashed back to the car as fast as we could, knowing we still had a long day ahead of us. Fortunately, the rain had stopped and the sun was parting the clouds. The rest of the day was sunny and pleasant, if windy.
A colored stone wall
From the volcano, we made a self drive tour of the “Golden Circle”, which is composed of three important sites in Iceland that can be visited in a day from Reykjavik
Our first stop is the Pingvelier National Park, a UNESCO World Heritage Site that encompasses a large lush valley, that for centuries of human settlement has been an important gathering place from the Viking chieftains first meeting on the plain to the Pope’s visit, for the 1100th anniversary of the arrival of Christianity, in 2000.
Mark standing at the divergence of the Eurasian and North American tectonic plates. They are separating at a rate of 2mm per year.
It is also the place where people can see how the Eurasian and North American tectonic plates are diverging. There is also a small, but attractive waterfall called Oxararfoss. Mark did not want to bother to climb the hill to see it, so I went alone. I raced along as we still had much more to see.
On the way to the second stop in the Golden Circle, we stopped at at Geothermal spa to buy the recommended “hot spring bread”. It was still warm from having been underground 24 hours baking. It is very tasty, moist and dense. We are still eating it. The second stop was the Geysir Spouting Spring, where we saw “Stokker” spouting like Old Faithful every few minutes. Not as impressive as Yellowstone, but nice not to have to wait an hour to get a second chance at a photo.
Stokkur Geysir doing its thing nicely for us.
A short distance passed Stokker, we arrived at the third and final stop on the Golden Circle. One could almost call it the main event as it is reputed to be one of the 10 most beautiful waterfalls in the world. It is called Gullfoss and consists of 2 drops of 11 meters and 22 meters for a total of 33 meters. It has an average flow of 140 cubic meters per second. It was lovely to see. Even at 6:15 when we left, there were still people arriving. Having long hours of daylight sure allows for more activity during the day.
Gullfoss Falls
We arrived about 7:30pm at the Grimsborgir Hotel, our home for the next two nights. We had another super meal at the hotel dining room, a soak in the hot tub near our room and then to bed. So far we are pleased with our accommodations and the meals we have been served. I am doing my best to avoid cod, which I do not like. One bite of Mark’s cod dinner was enough to confirm my memory.
A selfie with Gullfoss Falls.
Good night. Another big day is planned for tomorrow.
Adventures with Julia 