Iceland Adventure, Part 2: The Golden Circle

Tours in Iceland tend to be a little on the expensive side, but The Golden Circle tour I went on today was well worth the money. Around 8:30 AM, I was picked up by the Bustravel tour company. 

We visited a number of sights. The first stop was a very old church on a hill overlooking fields. In the distance, I could see steam and horses. Icelandic horses are different than average; they are much smaller. Don't call them ponies though, I heard that Icelanders are offended by tourists calling them ponies.

I should also mention that in Iceland, steam rising from the ground is a very common occurrence. Iceland is a geologically active country. Located on the continental divide, Iceland boats a large number of active and inactive volcanoes.

We stopped by a smaller waterfall named Faxi. This was a very short photo stop. This waterfall was both beautiful and impressive until we saw a different waterfall a bit later.

We also stopped at the Gullfoss waterfall.  I don't think I have ever seen such a massive waterfall. The two levels were so powerful that I could feel the freezing spray from above. The temperature was so low in Iceland that the grass next to the waterfall was frozen with ice.

The geysers on Laugarfjall hill were amazing. There were a number of them steaming; many of these geysers looked like small pools of boiling water. The most famous geyser is Strokkur which can send boiling water up 20 meters. Strokkur erupts frequently, every 5-10 minutes. Nearby, Geysir erupts infrequently. When it does erupt, boiling water can be projected up 70 meters or more. Apparently, the English word "geyser" is derived from the name Geysir.

Strokkur geyser erupting

Our last stop of the day was at Þingvellir National Park, a UNESCO World Heritage Site.  Aside from a beautiful landscape, the park boasts the location of the Rock of Law, the site of the first Viking parliament. (Parliament was held in this location for many years before it was relocated to Reykjavik). Additionally, the park sits on two continental plates, the North American and the European plates. The bus driver explained that the west side of the island is actually American, and the east side is European.

By the time the tour was over, I was exhausted. It was all I could do to not fall asleep on the bus ride back to Reykjavik. Actually, I don't sleep on buses, but if I could have, I would have.  I was dropped off at my hostel around 5 PM, a great time to make dinner and relax.

Reykjavik

I can't talk about my trip to Iceland without talking about the time I spent exploring Reykjavik. I didn't actually spend much time in Reykjavik. I flew into Reykjavik on Saturday and spent the afternoon that first day walking around. Yesterday, I had a full day in Reykjavik. I suppose I thought the city was bigger or would take more time to see, but it turns out that I saw much of the city in my short walk on Saturday. Although some of what I saw yesterday is what I saw the day before, I did see a few new sights.

Since the hostel was near the Hallgrímskirkja (the large white church at the top of the hill) I started my exploration of the city there. I had seen the church the day before in fading light, but I had wanted to see the church again to see if I could take some better photos. Also, the church was on my way to Because yesterday was Sunday, the church was busy with Sunday activities, so I didn't go inside. I took a few photos then walked past the church and down Skólavörðuholti Street to downtown.

Parliament House from Austurvöllur Park

I had visited Austurvöllur Park the day before, but I walked through again to take photos in better light and to get to Tjörnin (the Pond). The Parliament house (Alþingishús in Icelandic) borders Austurvöllur Park. Interestingly, the Icelandic Parliament is the oldest in the world. Founded in 930 at Þingvellir (now a national park and UNESCO World Heritage Site), the parliament was moved to Reykjavik in 1844. The Alþingishús was built some years later in 1881

Tjörnin (the Pond)

As chronicled in another post, I spent some time sitting in the sun feeding the ducks and watching others feed the ducks at Tjörnin (which literally translates to "the pond"). Once I got too cold to sit there anymore, I walked through downtown to the harbor area where I found a rather unusual playground.

Unusual playground along the harbor

Although it doesn't look like it in the photo (above), that is actually a playground. With the exception of a few tires, all of the play equipment was created out of seafaring items. I spent some time on this playground because I was really intrigued by the boat. I realized that the boat was actually part of the playground equipment when I noticed a couple of tourists climbing the unstable ladder to board the boat. The boat was fairly small, and I didn't want to explore the boat with the couple on board. Additionally, I thought I might get scared, and if I did, I didn't want the couple to witness my fright. I waited until they had left before I took my turn.

Climbing the ladder was definitely nerve wracking. I was a little afraid that the ladder would fall despite being held by what I could only hope was a trusty rope. Once aboard, what I first noticed was the complete disrepair of the boat. The paint was peeling, and that was the least of my worries. All metals aboard the boat were rusting through, even the anchor. The wood that the boat was made of was rotting in places as well. I saw a hole in the wood deck. Worried about the boat's ability to not fall apart while I was aboard, I climbed down very, very carefully.

As I walked away from this rather unusual playground, I saw a father walk over to the boat with his son, wiggle the ladder as if to test it, and allow his son to climb up to explore the boat. Apparently, Icelanders are far, far less uptight about things like child safety than we are.

View from Göngustígur, a walking path along the shore

I continued walking northwest along Mýrargata Street until I reached a roundabout. At this roundabout, I found a Bónus Supermarket. I got something for lunch, checked my iPad to see where I was, and crossed over to Göngustígur, a walking path along the shore. I followed this path until it ended then crossed back to Mýrargata Street to head back to the hostel. 

Mont Saint-Michel

We arrived at our lodgings fairly late last night, well after dark. Despite being tired from the long drive and the long day, we drove toward Mont Saint-Michel and parked at a restaurant near the causeway. We walked the kilometer from the car to the abbey and spent a bit of time exploring the island.

Mont Saint-Michel is an island in Normandy, France. The island boasts an impressive abbey, monastery, and village. A UNESCO World Heritage Site, Mont Saint-Michel is currently under some construction in an  attempt to correct the land alterations that have occurred over the centuries. Originally on dry land, Mont Saint-Michel is currently on a rocky tidal island; over the centuries, sea levels rose, and erosion changed the shoreline. Now, the abbey is connected to the shore by a causeway. The idea is to turn Mont Saint-Michel back into the island it was before the built-up causeway changed the landscape dramatically in a fairly short time. The causeway is currently still intact; the project is meant to be finished in 2015. By that time, the causeway will be removed and only a small bridge that allows water to pass under will exist to link the coast to the abbey.

We went back to Mont Saint-Michel this morning to visit the abbey. I don't know exactly why, but the entry happened to be free today.  Somehow I managed to plan to be here on the right day!  We spent some time touring the abbey and the surrounding village before we left to make our way to west to Dinan then south to Amboise where we would be spending the night.

Despite the construction, the island is both impressive and beautiful. I had originally seen Mont Saint-Michel on a list of the top 10 or top 20 most beautiful places in the world several years ago. Since then, I've been dreaming about coming here. I feel incredible to have had the opportunity to finally see Mont Saint-Michel and to be able to mark it off of my list of places I want to see.