Our tour left at 9:30 am when it was still dark. Sunrise was at 10:30 am.
The first stop was Pingvellir National Park, 40 km northeast of Reykjavik. This is where the fissured rift valley formed from the meeting of the North American and Eurasian tectonic plates.
This is also where the 1st Viking Parliament (Alpingi) was established in AD930.
The law speaker recited the existing law to the assembled parliament from Law Rock which faced this rock formation.
Pingvellir was where we came to see the Aurora Borealis the night before. We were sheltered behind the brown wall. It looked so different during the day.
As we drove through the Icelandic countryside, we could see steam from thermal springs.
Our second stop was at Gullfoss, Iceland's most famous waterfall. This is a double cascade and portions of it were frozen in January.
Third stop was Geysir, the original geyser. Unfortunately, it's not very active now.
At the same site, Strokkur is the more reliable geyser now, spouting every 5-10 minutes. Prior to spouting, you'll see a turquoise bubble.
It shoots pretty high.
Our final stop was at Skalholt Church.
Again a very austere interior. The church is known for its free Baroque concerts in the summer.
This was a full-day tour and we returned to Reykjavik at 5:30 pm. The stops weren't very long and we didn't have time for lunch. You would have to forego seeing some of the sights if you took the time to get lunch. We had brought snacks and were happy we did.
2018 01 25
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