... and then we went to Iceland: Golden Circle

There are several bus tours available in and around Reykjavik, but the one that seemed by all accounts to be a must-see was the Golden Circle tour. So we signed up. By the time we got to Iceland, were picked up at our hotel for said tour, and were about ten minutes into the journey, we realized that the marketing hype was legit. I think it was about the time that we looked out the bus windows and started seeing stuff like this:



The first major stop on the tour was a national park and UNESCO world heritage site called Þingvellir National Park (that first character is pronounced like a "th," I believe). It features a canyon and wall of rock created by the shifting of the North American and Eurasian tectonic plates. Thanks to the acoustical features of a great deal of vertical rock next to an expanse of flat ground, the area was the location of Iceland's parliament when it began in 930 AD (it's the oldest functioning parliament in the world, although it now convenes in Reykjavik).

It really does reflect sound quite well. The flag, I suspect, is a more recent addition.

If I were a chieftan, I wouldn't have minded meeting here.

The next stop on the tour was Gulfoss, a massive, impressive, seriously-you-should-have-seen-this-thing waterfall.

A little soggy, but happy.

We picked our collective jaws up off the ground, got back on the bus, and headed off to go look at geysers. One of them, called Geysir, was the source of the English word "geyser." It's no longer active, but others certainly are.

Fields of near-boiling ponds and puddles. Crazy.

The day wasn't over yet, though! We stopped at a church -- the second oldest in Iceland, I believe -- where excavations have uncovered tombstones and a cement coffin from the middle ages. I, personally, found most fascinating the tunnel entrance to the museum portion of the building, formerly used for worshippers to get from their homes to the church.

So much better than walking in through the front door.

Not the best picture, but you get the idea.

And then, our collective tourist saturation points drawing near (as I'm sure your attention spans are as well, you lovely readers, you), we stopped at one more fascinating locale: a volcanic crater.

Yes folks, it's dormant.

It was an overwhelming but fantastic day. And I've had a few of those recently, so I should know.