The Golden Circle in Reykjavik

Looks like another sunny day in Reykjavik. The guide said we were really lucky because this was the fourth nice day in a row. Room Service breakfast was delivered this morning right on time. This cruise line does a great job with room service. Each stateroom has a rectangular table top, stored in the closet, that it placed on top of the oval table in the seating area. The server gets, the table top, spreads a linen cloth, and sets the table with the tasty breakfast. Works good for us when we are leaving on a tour.

The ship is humming because 250 passengers are disembarking in Reykjavik and that many are getting on. The crew and staff work really hard on these days. We went to the theater and got our bus tickets and were off on an 8 hour tour called “The Golden Circle with Lunch.” This classic Reykjavik excursion

encompassed the "Big Three" geysers of Gullfoss, Geysir and Thingvellir. They are collectively known as

the Golden Circle and provided a look at some of the scenic wonders for which Iceland is justly renowned. All in all it was the most unusual landscape we have ever seen.

Our first stop was at a geothermal plant built by Mitsibushi. Then we stopped to view Iceland's longest glacier.

Our guide Hildur gave us many facts about Iceland and the new things we learned were Iceland exports fish and horses.

They make wonderful chocolate flavored with licorice. There are more cell phones in Iceland than there are people- seeing the remote landscape you understand how important staying in touch really is.

In Rekjaviik roads are built on lava that is 1000 years old. Hildur said that in the east part of the country the roads are built on lava that is more than 16,000,000 years old. Downtown pavements are heated in the winter by hot water. She told us that hot water, cold water, and electricity for a family of cost about $55 a month.

Upon leaving Reykjavik, we headed across vast lava fields, passing by areas that were covered in brown moss which is normally green when there is enough rain…but such is not true not at this time. For me, today was the most illustrative example of global warming. We continued on to the hot spring community of Hveragerdi where geothermal water has been used to build up an extensive greenhouse industry where we learned they even grew bananas…but they weren’t very good.. We saw water pipes in a zig zag pattern to accommodate earthquakes. These pipes were on platforms that moved with the many quakes. Quakes always go east/west so the placement of moving north to south and not in a straight line is to keep the pipes

from breaking. Continuing on, we passed through the fertile farmland off Iceland's

south, to the Gullfoss waterfall,

a magnificient sight to behold. I asked if anybody had ever tried to go over the falls and Hildur said, “Oh No! That is against the law.” We told her about people in the US going over Niagara in barrels and she was amazed. Following a stop at the falls, we re-boarded our bus #4 and made the short journey to Haukadalur, where we stopped

at the Geyser geothermal area with its multitude of hot springs. The most active one, Strokkur, spouted every few minutes but the wind was so strong it wasn’t terribly impressive.

After lunch at Hotel Geyser, we made our final stop at the Thingvellir National Park. This

involved a very long- about 60 minutes- rough ride across a gravel/lava mountain road that was narrow and curvy

This wonderful Park is a UNESCO site as well as a place of tremendous interest as a primary location of both Iceland's geological and historical heritage.

The first Icelandic Parliament was convened here in 930AD. The Vikings did whatever they pleased until that time. Feuds between families for worse and worse and law and order

was needed. They took mostly laws from Norway to organize.

The park encompasses the Europe/North America tectonic plate- which has shifted

to create a tall ridge. Our guide says it shifts a slight bit every year. You could even walk between the plates. Quite a sight.

Trolls are a part of legend here and the landscape in the farming area was littered with round bales of hay that Icelanders call “Troll Toilet paper.” The hay is covered in plastic and some is white, some green (mint flavored and for children), and some even black (for the night trolls) or so Hildur said. We saw the

white ones all over Norway and they called them Troll Eggs.

It was a good tour but did convince us we weren’t likely to make anymore 8 hour bus trips. Got back in time to sip wine while the new passengers did the boat drill. Went to the block party and met our new neighbors. Went to dinner. Long but fun day was over as we sailed away from Reykjavik at 10:00PM in the bright sunlight.