August 8 - Back to the South

We had a pretty busy day today. We flew back to Reykjavik and experienced air travel as it was supposed to be -- no long lines for luggage or security -- no security checks at all! No shoes to take off, no problems bringing water and toiletries onto the plane, quick take off, quick baggage pick up. WOW! Too bad we can’t do this in the US!

Central Iceland from our plane

Our bus met us at the airport and we got a drive through parts of Reykjavik we hadn’t seen before – past our guide’s house, and we visited a couple churches, both designed by the man who did the Akureyri Church. The Catholic Church was more cathedral like and I loved the way they had painted the columns and the arches a different color from the roof. The Lutheran Church (Hallgrimmskirkja) was the one Jim and I had looked at our first day in Reykjavik – this time we went inside and the organ there had amazing pipes! Our last sight in Reykjavik was the geothermal hot water plant for the city – there are several water tanks arranged in a circle, and on top of that, a glass dome was built that houses a fancy restaurant. It has the best views of the city from an observation deck built over the water tanks.

Organ at Hallgrimmskirkja in Reykjavik

The Pearl on top of the city water tanks.

Natural geyser (not a fountain) inside the Pearl

Thingvellir National Park is interesting on a couple levels: not only is it the site of the original democratic assembly (Althing) of Iceland, starting in 930, the Mid Atlantic Ridge runs through it and you can get the sense of how the valley between the hills was created by repetitive magma flows, pushing the hills apart. An important role was that of ‘law-speaker’, whose responsibility it was to recite 1/3 of all the laws each year, so that every 3 years, all laws would be heard by those assembled. This continued until writing became more common in the 1100s. As part of the annual assembly, laws were written and judgments made. Convicted women were put in a bag and tossed into the ‘Drowning Pool’. Men were beheaded, but this might not have been an easy death, as there is some question about how sharp the executioner’s blade was. Today it is a lovely park with lots of hiking trails.

North American Plate at Thingvellir

What's left of the Drowning Pool. I think it was deeper when the river was diverted there in the old days.

From there, we traveled to Gullfoss (Golden Waterfall), so named because of the rainbow that forms in the mist, which also provides a cooling ‘shower’ as you approach the upstream part of the falls. If it were hot, this would be quite welcome….. We spent quite a while walking around here, admiring the amazing flow.

The falls throw up a LOT of spray!

Gullfoss rainbow

Our last stops before driving the rest of the way to Selfoss was the site of the Geysir Hot Springs, and then Kerith Crater. Geysir is the spout that gave its name to all water formations of this type. Unfortunately, it is no longer active, but an other geyser, Stokkur, blows every 3 to 5 minutes.

Geysir, now inactive, looking a lot like the Morning Glory Pool in Yellowstone without all the colors

Lynn attempting to film Stokkur's eruption

Kerith Crater

Selfoss, our home for the next 2 nights is a pleasant little community with a few hotels and restaurants and 6000 inhabitants. The hotel was second best of our trip so far. I find it interesting that all the hotels have had hardwood floors and a very modern design theme.