Iceland, Part 2, 6/7/05
Okay...this next day in Iceland was all about doing the 'Golden Circle'...supposedly the most
touristy spots in Iceland (though we didn't really see it). There are three main sights but we even
found a crater (Kerid) and a smaller waterfall on our way. So many little hidden treats.
For the main attractions, we started at Geysir. It's pronounced 'gay-zeer'. But this is where the
word 'geyser' originated. Because that is in fact what 'Geysir' is. But now it's rather inactive.
When it does occur (normally after an earthquake or movement such as that), it shoots up 80
meters. But there is an active geyser called Strokkur. This one shoots off about every 5-10
minutes and it's just several feet away from Geysir. The whole area is really cool. I mean it felt
totally bizarre and surreal. These little gurgling things of water all over the place with steam
coming out of the ground. It really looks and sounds how you'd imagine a witch's cauldron
would look. Well, Strokkur does some gurgling and bubbling and then...bam...it shoots right up.
Close to this is Gulfoss- translates to the "Golden Falls". This is breathtaking. I mean the look of
it and just the sound of it. Hard to explain it. Just spread out over several layers and very wide
and the bottom drops very far. Yeah, I know...quite the visual you're getting from my description.
Some of my pictures do it a bit of justice so you'll just have to view those (oh yes, you will be
getting a Snapfish photo album emailed to you. Hehe.). There is also a glacier behind Gulfoss.
We wanted to drive out, but that road is closed at this time of year. Doesn't open until July or so.
The third main attraction is 'Thingvellir' (totally phonetic- this is not how it's actually spelled.
Looks more like Pingvellir but the P isn't really a P. Sorry...I didn't make up the Icelandic
alphabet.) National Park. This is where you walk in between the North American plates and the
Eurasian tectonic plates. They have been separated due to earthquakes along this line. It
separates at a pace of 1mm per year. They predict that over time (a lot of time), they will
completely separate. These 'plates' are covered in 10,000 year-old lava. My pictures didn't do it
justice but in person, it's really cool. At this park, there's also the largest lake in Iceland,
waterfalls, a little church, and this was said to be the site of what would have been Iceland's
parliament buidlings...had they had a parliament.
We now headed back to Reykjavik after a full day on the road. We first stopped by the sculpture
garden just outside of the main part of town. We went to Tjorn lake (in the city center) and just
ate our sandwiches there. The houses along the lake were extremely cute. Just a very colorful
city. But in all honesty, this city is unlike any other. Especially for being the capital of a country!
It almost feels make-believe. It truly doesn't seem real. Anyway, our first stop for the night was
the "Ice Bar". And that is exactly what it sounds like! A real live ice bar! They put you in ponchos
before you enter and you are drinking at ice tables (they didn't have chairs there...thank
goodness!). Yeah, it's touristy. Well, as touristy as Reykjavik gets. But it's so worth it! After that,
we headed to 101 Hotel to grab some more drinks. Hip little scene there. A totally retro/modern
place.
This morning, the weather was awful but we managed to do a few things. We first went to the
house where Gorbachev and Reagan met at in 1986--this was said to be the first meeting that
would lead to the end of the Cold War. Then we made our way to the top of the church. Let me
just advise something here...try to not go at the top of the hour (especially when that hour is
10am) when you have a hangover and are headachy. The bells are right there banging into your
ears/head for everything leading up to the hour (you know, that whole little 'song' that clocks
do) and then ten bangs on the bell. One word. Ouch. Our view was below par due to the gray
skies. Boo. But no biggie. We just hung out in town until it was time to head back to the airport.
So that was our time in Iceland... It truly was awesome...and this is coming from a
non-outdoorsy person!
Anyway, other Icelandic facts...
People's names-- No family members have the same last name. All of the men's names end in
'son' and then the father's name and the girl's names end in 'dottir' and the parent's name (e.g.
Johnson = son of John). Therefore, husband and wife and son and daughter all have different
last names. I guess if there are 2 sons or 2 daughters, then they would have the same last name.
Their names are in the phone book organized by first name. This is what was traditionally done
for all Scandinavian countries...but Iceland is the only one to still do this.
Bjork is the name of a town that we passed through.
When people tell you 'Iceland is expensive', that is an understatement! Alicia- where we paid
maybe $30-40 for a room in someone's house in Croatia, it was nearly $200 for the same thing
here. We got a medium-sized Domino's type of pizza one night for $35 and we considered that a
cheap meal next to other prices that we saw. We saw a veggie burger on a menu for close to $40.
All you can do is laugh about it!