Iceland: Day 2

Our second day in Iceland was almost entirely consumed by organized tours - which was fine with us, because we weren't sure we were up for driving all around the countryside.

We booked a Golden Circle Direct tour through Reykjavik Excursions, one of the main tour companies in Iceland. You get on a bus and hear about Iceland's history and culture while you visit sites around Reykjavik, including the historic (and beautiful) plains around the old parliament site, geysirs (spelled as the Icelanders spell them), and an almost-frozen waterfall. 

Bundle up!

The tour guide was great. She told us cultural information about Iceland, which is a tiny, quirky country. The country has some superstitions about "hidden people," which leads Icelanders to be careful about disturbing natural landscapes for things like roads and buildings. She also told us about the language, which definitely has a lot going on.

At Þingvellir National Park (pr: Thingvellir), our guide told us that the old school vikings basically ruled by coming out to a field and fighting out their differences. 

We were hitting the park just at sunrise - which was at noon!

Þingvellir National Park

Definitely a different sort of landscape!

Þingvellir National Park

After the national park, we went to the site of some geysirs (that's how the Icelanders spell it, and apparently the word comes from them). The lodge had some tasty soup to warm ourselves with, then we went for a little hike among these natural steam fissures.

Geysirs and mountains

One of the bigger spouts is on a schedule of about every 6-8 minutes. We got a nice shot with the sun, which is pretty much at its apogee here.

We got to see the big guy erupt a few times!

All of the geysir water is around 80 to 100 degrees Celsius, so it would pretty much boil you up in seconds. But it's really pretty.

After the geysir site, we were only a few minutes from Gullfoss, a huge multi-tiered waterfall from runoff glacier water. Legend has it that the river upstream played host to a romantic story between two sheep-herding Icelanders who fell in love from afar.

Gullfoss

The bus took us back to Reykjavik and we enjoyed a nice dinner at Hlemmur Mathöll, a sort of food court that reminded me of the French Market at Ogilvie Transportation Center in Chicago. It's a bus stop, and they have an indoor market with a bunch of tasty vendors. At SKÁL! (means "cheers!" in Icelandic, pronounced "scowl"), we enjoyed a delicious dinner of tapas, which included fish croquettes, roasted cauliflower, and buttered potatoes. 

I have to say, the food in Iceland pleasantly surprised me. I was not expecting much from a frigid little island nation that can really only grow root vegetables, sheep, and hot house herbs, but it is delicious. I love how they use yogurt and herbs to brighten up everything.

After dinner, we visited Skúli Craft Bar, which had an excellent variety of Icelandic beers. I finally found a beer from Lady Brewery, the first and only brewery in Iceland owned by a woman! The bartenders were also fascinating to talk to; one of them had a degree in comparative linguistics and explained to us that the funny little "th" letter (Þ) used to be used in English, but they didn't have the type key to set it, so they approximated a Y, hence "ye olde," which used to be "the olde." It's just a misunderstanding from olden days!

After we were done with our tasty beers (definitely the best beers on the trip), it was time for our northern lights tour with Reykjavik Excursions. Basically they take you out to a field near the airport and watch the sky, hoping for a cloud break. Apparently this year has been terrible visibility, and we were out there for quite a while. 

In the end, right before midnight, we were about to leave and our guide told us to run outside, and we saw a little sliver of light. Definitely not as sweeping as a solid viewing, but Dave can at least say he saw them now, which was a goal of the trip. No photos of this one because it was too dark, and you need a slow shutter speed camera to catch the lights.

I have to say, the northern lights viewing was not my favorite part of the trip. They specifically tell you to keep your flash, phone screen, and flashlights off when the lights are on, but all these idiots were flashing anyway. It was also cold to stand outside for so long (even though we could get back on the bus at any time). Maybe I'd change my mind if we had had a spectacular viewing.

At any rate, we got back at something like 2 a.m. because our bus company dropped all these people off directly at their hotel before they dropped us off. I was in a foul mood, but at least we didn't have any plans the next morning!