Day 156: The Golden Circle

We knew it would be impossible to match yesterday's experiences since it was just Mary, Steve and me with our own personal guide and the glories of the south shore to explore. Today we traveled with the same guide and vehicle, but there were 15 of us crammed into the van. The sites were spectacular, but heavily traveled by giant tour buses that disgorged scores of visitors onto the land.

Like yesterday, we stopped at a horse farm and rolled out of the van to pet and feed the horses.  Mary held out a handful of grass and one horse eagerly munched on it.  She patted its muzzle, then turned away to let someone else have a turn.  But the horse was not done!  He nipped her on the upper arm and left  huge bruise.

Next stop was at a volcanic crater that held a beautiful blue green pool at the bottom.  

 Rolling along route 35, the highway gave no indication of what was to come. No hotels, no casinos, no neon signs, just a modest restaurant. We pulled off into a busy parking lot with twenty super sized buses and tumbled into a cafeteria style restaurant serving hundreds of people. Our guide Jon had recommended the soup and bread option as fast and tasty. He was right. Outside again, we followed the crowds down a wooden walkway and were stunned to find waterfalls comparable to Niagara Falls! Not as tall or wide, the Gullfoss falls fell in three tiers sending a warm mist through the air. The water is filled with grit,ash and mud as it flows from the melting glaciers that we could see in the distance. Over the millennium, the volume has shrunk so that bedrock is now exposed that was once carved by rushing water. Only a nylon cord kept the crowd from the precipice and several foolish young men crossed the cord to take photos just inches from the edge. Several others scrambled up the rock face next to the falls.

 Geysers were the next attraction and they were heralded again by a slew of buses in front of huge restaurant and gift shop. We waited only a few minutes for a dazzling eruption that went 40 feet in the air. The time between eruptions varied from three to eight minutes and the height varied from 30 to 60 feet. The water is 100 degrees Celsius. It bubbles and heaves in the reservoir and then crowns just before it erupts. In the same area, several smaller hot springs in shades of intense blue steamed a sulfurous aroma.

 In the Pingvellir National Park, a UNESCO World Heritage site, we walked in the rift valley which is the junction between the American and Eurasian tectonic plates. Fascinating! Over the past 10,000 years , the earth's crust has been subsiding and diverging here. It's here also that the early settlers of Iceland set up their first general assembly in 930 AD.

 We decided on a traditional Icelandic meal for dinner. Lisa had rye bread with herring and mashed fish. Mary tried the mashed fish au gratin. Steve chose smoked trout on flat bread and I had the vegetarian platter. Dessert was rye bread ice cream for Lisa and Mary! Tomorrow, we relax, shop and visit attractions around the city before we head home.