Self-Drive Golden Circle

---

We made it to Iceland last night, staying at the Castle House apartments near the Tjornin. Reykjavik really is a small town (at its center), with a large amount of sprawl. In this, it reminds me more of a North American city than a European one. We found it easy to walk to a center of restaurants and found the restaurant Gandhi - amazing Indian food. We also located the closest grocery store.

Believe it or not, I lost my raincoat in the Iceland airport as we disembarked (it was attached to a carabiner, and packaged up in its pocket - it came detached). We arrived in blindingly horizontal rain, wind that could pick up a small child and move him, and cold temperatures (< 50 degrees Fahrenheit). It was quite a shock after the balmy weather we had had in Norway. According to the locals, this weather is considered quite bad for June, but there's an upside! The crazy weather is making for beautiful photographs, and many of the things we did today were wet anyway!

We started out the day with a pastry at a local coffee shop (the only one open at 8 AM), and a visit to the local 24-hour grocery shop, where we stocked up for dinner. Then we left on our journey around the Golden Circle. For the first half, Kai had his Leap Pad to entertain him, while we enjoyed the relative silence and looked out at the scenery. I squealed a lot "Ponies!" "Sheepies!"

Þingvellir was our first stop. Allow me to pause and take in the fact that I just visited the site I have read so many sagas about. Where Gunnar met Hallgerð (not a romantic comedy). :-) However, on top of having incredible historical significance (where Christianity was declared the official religion of Iceland in year 1000, where in 1944 Iceland became an independent nation, etc) - it is also incredibly beautiful. It's not just one place but a huge park. We were able to visit a few places on our first stop, including the law rock, the remains of Snorri's booth, and a minor waterfall (not Oxarafoss). It's not only only historical, as I mentioned, but of great geological significance. The tectonic plates of America and Europe collide there, and there's a rift. It's mossy and covered with fascinating vegetation. There are glassy clear pools of water, and strange formations of rocks. Of course, I can't forget there's also þingvallatn in the center, the largest lake in Iceland. It was not raining, but extremely overcast and misty during our visit.

We continued on towards Geysir, stopping in Laugarvatn. Here, we ate at the bistro at restaurant Linden, where I had Rudolph (reindeer burger - I am loving all these game meats). Then we went over, as it had cleared up, to the Fontana baths. We overcame our modesty and took a naked public shower (Kai was like "I thought we had to keep our private parts private!" , "Nope, in Iceland, we don't have to keep them private - in the shower." ) Then we went into the pools. there was a long shallow pool with lots of bubbling fountains, a deeper (4 feet) pool with milder temp water, a hot tub overlooking the lake, a black rock natural tub with mineral water, and three steam rooms plus a dry Finnish sauna. I tried it all! You could also walk down to the lake and put in a toe. It is alternating freezing cold in the lake, or burning hot (so hot that even hot-loving me had to pull my toe out quick before I got a burn.) All the pools and steam rooms were heated by natural hot springs. It was perfect for kids like Kai, who don't swim, because in most cases you don't have to swim as it's shallow. I loved it because it was very warm. It was refreshing to go in the hot sauna, come out into the cold air, then jump into a hot hot bath, and rinse rinse repeat. I really wish we had something like this in America. Kai and I could have spent the entire day there! A. was a trooper but not so much into the water as us, she got out a bit earlier to relax in the cafe.

Since it was still cold to me, I picked up a thinsulate lined hand-knit Icelandic cap at their gift shop, and we were off to Geysir! K. was having a cranky day of it (as he has been lately - no routine, change of sleep and eating schedule, not having a lot of control over what's happening) but he loved it here, and he especially loved Strokkur, which exploded three times when we were there. We got soaked by it even! Yeah, it was pretty cool. The Geysir gift shop was even more extensive, as I had heard, and I was able to replace my rainjacket and then some. I got an amazing new rainjacket with a generous hood, lined with micro-fleece, wind & water resistant. Much better suited to Iceland's weather than the one I lost, and much better fitting (my last one was rather boxy and a little too short for my torso, this one is built for a women's shape.) I almost gave up as all they had was Small and XXL in the style I liked, but it turned out that I'm a "S". I don't think of myself as small, and I wonder what truly small people wear. I guess that's why they make XS and XXS. After getting fully outfitted (hat and rainjacket), I was now having a MUCH better time in Iceland! I still don't think you need rainpants though - and I've seen tons of people wearing the ridiculous things.

The next step - Gullfoss - to complete our traditional Golden Circle experience. It was truly grand, but I think I had more pure joy at Strokkur and the hot baths. There were so many people at Gullfoss, and it was quite difficult to photograph, with or without the people. I think it will be hard to remember the grandeur of the place. I am having trouble describing it in this post a few hours later.

The final thing we had to do was drive home - but we didn't even do that straight. We saw the sky opening up into blue and sun and we took a few side tracks in Þingvellir to get better photos. We discovered a lake-side road (Vatnvik), and got a whole new view on the lake. It was almost as if the storms and the sun were fighting each other for dominance, making for some really dramatic skies.

We are excited to continue our journey tomorrow, doing our own "South Coast Tour".

---