The Golden Circle

      Do you hear the chickens and the rooster?  We left Reykjavik this morning, drove part of "the Golden Circle" and now are at the Sel Guesthouse which is a five unit motel-like structure built on a farm.  It is new and bright with heated floors and little red shutters to cover the inside of the window to shut out the almost midnight sun.  The only sounds are the roaming chickens and ducks.  Like almost all Iceland homes, the roof has a high peak.  There's a big, comfortable bed and a big bathroom with a shower with no walls.  The first of many interesting places we will be staying.  Breakfast will be served in the farm house.

     After picking up our Ford Kuga (Escape) this morning, we drove to the first of the big three attractions which make up the drive that the tour companies call the "Golden Circle."  Thingveller National Park is about 35 minutes outside Reykjavik.  The first thing I learned is that the park's name is spelled and pronounced in English starting with a "th", but the Icelandic word looks like it starts with a "p" when instead it is a letter that is called a "thorn" -- þ.  Well I found it interesting.  So þingvellir is a Unesco Heritage Site.  It is where the Icelandic chieftans gathered to govern and have the first legislative sessions.  It is also a Rift Valley where the North American and European tectonic plates meet.  A long, tall, rocky ledge and a big crack define the area between the shifting plates.  The main park road was rerouted when a hole opened under the road and when they dug it up they found that the fissure went down thirty feet! The largest lake in Iceland is in the park as well.  It is ringed with snowcapped mountains.  We really enjoyed walking around as it was a perfect warm and sunny day!

     Next we moved on to the geothermal area in Haukadalur, which contains the geysers Geysir and Strokkur. Strokkur erupts every 5–10 minutes, Geysir is dormant.  This was a huge tourist bus stop with several restaurants and a hotel. There was a busload of French speaking school kids who were really excited to see the eruption.  We found it interesting too, and a good place for us to have a sandwich and take a break.  The roads are fairly narrow, but not busy.  We both were tired, though from learning to coordinate the maps, GPS, Icelandic road names, and an unfamiliar car.  I've used a Garmin GPS before, though so except for needing the Icelandic alphabet loaded it all worked fine.

     Our last stop was Gullfoss waterfall.  It is really two falls, with the lower one falling into a very deep chasm.  It's very wide and powerful.  We passed on the long steep walk down to get closer to the lower falls.  The sun was hot and we were worn out, so we drove another fifteen miles to our little farm cabin tucked into the hills and relaxed with our Ipads and WiFi - ah wilderness!