Can you say windy!

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We started bright and early and drove to the National Park. This park is a UNESCO world heritage site, and is the place of the first parliament in Iceland more than 800 years ago. For several hundred years the delegates, their families, and support community would meet for about two weeks in the summer. They camped and fished in the lake. The lake happens to be in the rift valley where the American plate and the European plate are constantly pulling apart from each other. The lake formed when the part in between sank, and is the largest lake in Iceland. The earliest settler in Iceland was said to have arrived in 870.

Man it was windy today, serious wind, the kind that is hard to stand up in. Our bus traveled from the American plate to the European plate and back. Who knew we could get to Europe in a bus! From there we went to see the famous geyser, but only the little brother was entertaining us today. It was beautiful and reminded us of Yellowstone. The biggest geyser is apparently on vacation for a few months. We ate lunch at a restaurant there before continuing to their famous waterfall. The Gullfoss waterfall is huge and in two parts. It reminds you of a smaller Niagara. We were able to get pictures with the rainbow that forms beside it. The ridiculous wind made it hard to stand still to take pictures, and we got cold spray all over us even though we were very far away. Our next stop was a volcano where the inside collapsed and a lovely lake formed. We made a stop at a little strip mall for a break so people could pick up some meds and groceries. They had some nice exhibits of Iceland and a place where you could stand on both plates at the same time. Of course we made a picture.

We rested at the hotel for a bit and then decided to head to supper. There is an Islandic restaurant around the corner where we had planned to eat. It was closed earlier in the week so we waited until today to try it. Well, it was closed even though it was supposed to be open. So Plan B it was, literally. It was just up the road and we were able to get something small there. Tonight we have to pack for an early departure to the cruise in Norway.

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Photos

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the rift

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inside the rift

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where the delegates met and the person read the laws

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a small waterfall in the rift

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the lake in the major rift that is fed by melting glacier

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the geyser as it blew

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a smaller one in the park

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the waterfall

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rainbow at the waterfall

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a very large glacier

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just scenery

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the volcano crater lake

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our shadow picture

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you can see the sizes of the glaciers. The one in the picture is the bigger one

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I'm standing in Europe and North America at the same time

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back on the bus