When we awoke Saturday morning, we found the streets of Reykjavik covered in a thin layer of snow. We scoffed, knowing that we'd been through worse only the day before. After our trip to Myvatn, we felt like we could conquer the whole world. We were Vikings now.

Our original intention had been to rent a car and see the sights of the Golden Circle by ourselves, but reading the weather forecast several days before, we canceled the rental and found a tour ourselves, knowing that we'd never survive on the road in those conditions.

The Golden Circle is a name given to an area comprised of the three most popular attractions in Iceland: Thingvellir, Gullfoss, and Geysir. If one comes to Iceland with the intention of seeing the country, these are the most basic places to go. Our tour was booked through a company named Go Travel Iceland, one our hotel concierge recommended over the more popular Reykjavik Excursions. We were intrigued both by the idea of a smaller, more intimate tour and by the lower price. As it turned out, we were more familiar with Go Travel Iceland than we'd thought. A familiar face walked into the hotel lobby as we sat waiting and called, "Virginia!" It was Bob from Cape Cod, and we cheered quietly to ourselves.

After picking up the remainder of the group, our first stop outside Reykjavik was Thingvellir National Park. Thingvellir is perhaps the most important historical site in all of Iceland. It was here in the year 930 that the world's oldest parliament was formed. Here leaders from all across Iceland gathered. We saw the Law Rock, on which Iceland's Lawspeaker would stand and read from the book of law, where judgment would be passed on those who broke the law. It was on this spot that Thorgeirr from the North proclaimed that Iceland would adopt Christianity. Near the Law Rock, we saw the Drowning Pool. Women who committed crimes (normally adultery and incest) were knocked unconscious, bound in a large sack full of heavy rocks, and dumped into the pool of water. The men (whose crimes included murder and rape in addition to adultery and incest) were either hanged, beheaded, or burned at the stake. While all 18 of the women who were drowned are remembered in a memorial plaque containing all of their names and villages. The men, however, were all but forgotten.

(To be continued here...)