Profile
Blog
Photos
Videos
DianaThor
Another action packed day. We headed out in the morning to what they call the Golden Circle - a popular tourist route in South Iceland, covering about 300 km looping from Reykjavik into central Iceland and back. I am copying info from Wikipedia on the details of each of the sites we visited (I know....very lazy) but it is now 12:50 am, and it is still somewhat light out!
The three stops on the route are the national park Þingvellir, the waterfall Gullfoss (meaning "golden falls"), and the geothermally active valley of Haukadalur, which contains the geysers Geysir andStrokkur which continues to erupt every 5-10 minutes. We also saw Kerið, a volcanic crater lake.
Þingvellir is a site of historical, cultural, and geological importance and is one of the most popular tourist destinations in Iceland. It is the site of a rift valley that marks the crest of the Mid-Atlantic Ridge. It is also home to Þingvallavatn, the largest natural lake in Iceland. Parliament or Alþingi was established at Þingvellir in 930 and remained there until 1798. Þingvellir National Park was founded in 1930 to protect the remains of the parliament site and was later expanded to protect natural phenomena in the surrounding area. Þingvellir National Park was the first national park in Iceland and was decreed a protected national shrine for all Icelanders, the perpetual property of the Icelandic nation under the preservation of parliament, never to be sold or mortgaged.
Gullfoss is a majestic waterfall. Check out the pictures...words cannot describe it. At Geysir, we watched Strokkur blow quite a few times trying to time it to catch a video!
I think we got lost about 10 times today!! This should be on my "seriously" list! We should have sprung for the GPS.
Got back to Reykjavik, and Disa, Steini (Thorstein Thorsteinson), Aldis and Doddi came by for one more visit before we head out north tomorrow. They are such a lovely family :)
The three stops on the route are the national park Þingvellir, the waterfall Gullfoss (meaning "golden falls"), and the geothermally active valley of Haukadalur, which contains the geysers Geysir andStrokkur which continues to erupt every 5-10 minutes. We also saw Kerið, a volcanic crater lake.
Þingvellir is a site of historical, cultural, and geological importance and is one of the most popular tourist destinations in Iceland. It is the site of a rift valley that marks the crest of the Mid-Atlantic Ridge. It is also home to Þingvallavatn, the largest natural lake in Iceland. Parliament or Alþingi was established at Þingvellir in 930 and remained there until 1798. Þingvellir National Park was founded in 1930 to protect the remains of the parliament site and was later expanded to protect natural phenomena in the surrounding area. Þingvellir National Park was the first national park in Iceland and was decreed a protected national shrine for all Icelanders, the perpetual property of the Icelandic nation under the preservation of parliament, never to be sold or mortgaged.
Gullfoss is a majestic waterfall. Check out the pictures...words cannot describe it. At Geysir, we watched Strokkur blow quite a few times trying to time it to catch a video!
I think we got lost about 10 times today!! This should be on my "seriously" list! We should have sprung for the GPS.
Got back to Reykjavik, and Disa, Steini (Thorstein Thorsteinson), Aldis and Doddi came by for one more visit before we head out north tomorrow. They are such a lovely family :)
- comments
Charlene You are hilarious! As I read this, it feels like you are telling me this story over lunch - yet you are half a world away. Perhaps you should think about becoming a writer ;) I can see it now, Chapter 1...
Wendy Hope you are keeping warm! It looks chilly...
Fran Beautiful pictures! Looks like everyone is having a great time.