Before completing our Ring Road tour of Iceland, we spent our final day in the Golden Circle. The Gullfoss Waterfall was beautiful and reminded me of Niagara Falls.
Then we moved on to see Geysir which is a geyser that spouts water 100 feet in the air every few minutes. It is surrounded by several boiling mud pots. While we were there, we took the short hike up the hill that affords great views of the entire area.
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Looking down on the spewing Geysir
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For lunch, we had reservations at Fridheimar, an indoor tomato farm. We learned how the tomatoes are grown year-round in the greenhouses that are warmed by geo-thermal waters that run through pipes throughout the greenhouses. Bumblebees are imported from Germany to pollinate the plants.
After a delicious lunch of tomato soup and homemade bread, we were treated to an informative Icelandic horse show. It was interesting to learn that the Icelandic Horse is the only horse allowed in Iceland and that it is unique in that it has five gaits as opposed to three of normal horses.
After our great lunch stop, we boarded the bus to drive on Thingvellir National Park. This national park sits in a rift valley that was created by the separation of two tectonic plates. It also has historic significance in that Iceland's Parliament met here from the 10th to 18th centuries. While we were visiting, the weather was perfect, and we enjoyed walking through a small section of the park while Margret explained its history.
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| The rift valley |
After the national park, we drove back to Reykjavik and the Fosshotel where we would spend our last night in Iceland. We had a brief farewell meeting with our tour guide and travel mates and then Jim and I set out on our own to see a few more sights in Reykjavik.
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| Just a block or two from our hotel is the Hofdi House where Gorbachev and Reagan met to end the Cold War. In front of the house is a section of the Berlin Wall. |
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| The Hofdi House |
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| Behind the Hofdi House is the beautiful Faxafloi Bay |
As we walked along the bay into downtown Reykjavik, we came upon the Sun Voyager Statue.
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| Beyond the statue was the beautiful, glass concert hall known as Harpa. |
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| Inside Harpa, looking out to the bay. |
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Rock cairns outside of Harpa.
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After checking out the concert hall, we walked a long way through town to the Fly Over Iceland ride. It was a really neat virtual ride that took us "flying" over many of the natural landscapes of the country.
We rounded out our day by visiting the Magic Ice bar, stopping for pictures on the Rainbow Road, and having dinner at the same Italian restaurant that we ate at during our first night in Iceland. Then it was back to the hotel to get a good night's sleep before our flight out of Iceland the next morning.
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| On Reykjavik's Rainbow Road |
