Happy birthday, Jay! As I said previously, Jay has been wanting to go to Iceland on his birthday for years and we're finally here. We ended up with a lot more to do today than originally planned, so the day was crazy busy.
We picked up our rental car at 8 in the morning and headed out for the first couple of stops on the Golden Circle. Although it's the most touristy thing to do in Iceland, it's at the top of the list for a good reason. Be prepared for lines. We got there early and avoided as many of the buses as we could.
Our first stop was the UNESCO World Heritage Site Þingvellir National Park.
From the UNESCO website:
"Þingvellir (Thingvellir) is the National Park where the Althing, an open-air assembly representing the whole of Iceland, was established in 930 and continued to meet until 1798. Over two weeks a year, the assembly set laws - seen as a covenant between free men - and settled disputes. The Althing has deep historical and symbolic associations for the people of Iceland. The property includes the Þingvellir National Park and the remains of the Althing itself: fragments of around 50 booths built from turf and stone. Remains from the 10th century are thought to be buried underground. The site also includes remains of agricultural use from the 18th and 19th centuries. The park shows evidence of the way the landscape was husbanded over 1,000 years."
One of the many macabre areas of the park is Drekkingarhylur, the "drowning pool." It is said women sentenced to death were tied in a sack, pushed into the pool and held underwater until they drowned.
Þingvallakirkja, the iconic church, dates back to 1859, but one church or another has been on the site for the past 1,000 years. It's also the location of where the General Assembly met from 930 CE to 1798.
The Þingvellir House is located next to the church and is the official summer residence of the Prime Minister. It was built in 1930.
One of the most breathtaking views in Þingvellir is the continental divide. The Mid-Atlantic Rift is the only rift in the world above sea level. The walking path along the wall's base was once a road but it was discontinued in the 1960s.
Next on our stop through the Golden Circle is Gullfoss, a massive waterfall with an average of 4,900 cubic feet of water running per second. For scale, If you look closely in the first picture you can see the line of tourists waiting to get a closer look.
The third main attraction on the Golden Circle are the geysers. The main one, Geysir, has been quiet for a few years now but several others are still active. You only have to wait a couple of minutes to see an eruption of boiling water. There were more tourists here than any other site we visited. If you go you'll need to be patient. :)
On our way to the town of Selfoss we stopped at a volcanic crater about 3,000 years old called Kerið. It's believed to have once been cone shaped but collapsed after eruption. It now holds an impressive lake about 900 feet in circumference. You can see several tourists far off in the distance to the right of Jay.
The small town of Selfoss is a short drive from Reykjavík and is included as a stop when returning from the Golden Circle. In addition to a bookstore we found a thrift store that has a large book room. The owner told us they get so many books in that they allow customers to pay whatever price they want. There are also a couple of small souvenir shops that are worth looking at!
We discovered a Summer Solstice tour for locals (in Icelandic!) on Viðey island. We didn't think there'd be very many people signing up for the tour. Neither did the tour company apparently because they seemed surprised by the amount of people showing up. It took two ferry boats several trips to carry everyone over to the island. The tour started a bit late but it wasn't long before we were hiking around the island. I had no idea what anyone was saying but it turned out to be a fun time. Luckily Icelanders quickly switch to English when they realize you don't understand!
Viðey is the largest island on the bay. In the early 1900s it contained a village called Sundbakki, but it was abandoned and all of the houses gone by 1943. Many of the ruins are still there as is the school which has recently been restored.
The restored school house on the western side of the island. It's now a museum with an exhibit featuring old pictures of the village. It's really worth seeing if you're able to get to the island.
We ended our tour by relaxing in the grass and listening to a couple of guides tell stories. It was about 10:30 pm and the sun was still bright in the sky.
After the tour we went out for a birthday drink and walked along the shore for a while after midnight to watch the midnight sun. We were surprised just how bright the sun was even when it was at its lowest point. It's almost impossible to look directly at it until it's shaded by the horizon.
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