One could say that this is the birthplace of democracy. After Iceland was settled in the 9th century, the Norwegian Viking and Celtic populations needed a vehicle for resolving the needs of the population. In 930, they decided to meet in a central location … namely, Þingvellir. It was here (or near here) that parliament was held until 1798.
Next up was to determine the etymology of the word Geyser. In fact, it comes from Icelandic meaning to gush. The original gusher is Geysir in Iceland. However, it doesn’t erupt very regularly … much like the Geyser in Steamboat Springs, CO which is the largest active geyser in the world. That means two of the four biggest geysers are in the US. Although Old Faithful is at times larger, Strokkur erupts more regularly. It seemed to go off every 5 minutes.
Since Iceland sits on the mid-Atlantic Ridge, it is literally coming apart at the seams (on the order of 2cm per year). These water works are a result of that activity.
Building up…
Explosion!
There are numerous hot springs nearby.
A wishing well, but seems misplaced and inappropriate to me.
A cairn to mark the path.
A view of Strokkur from the hill.
More evidence of the geothermal activity.
After the geyser, we continued to the most famous waterfall in Iceland … Gullfoss (or Golden Waterfall). As you can see, it descends in two parts.
Plunging into the crevice.
Anna and Alexander hanging out by the edge. Unlike the often safety conscious (or paranoid) parks in the US, this one had refreshingly few barriers at the edge of the water. It’s fairly self-evident that if you were to jump or fall in, it would be a bad day. Therefore, people could choose the distance where they felt most comfortable.
A few flowers by the water’s edge.
The falls and rainbow with a longer exposure.
We decided that perhaps it was time to get in the water. One of the best places to do that would be in a geothermal area. Fortunately, those abound in Iceland. So, we chose one that was fairly close and accessible by hiking. We went with the Hengill geothermal area. At Hengill, you hike for an hour or two (depending on your pace), then come to the confluence of two rivers. One is glacially fed and the other is geothermal heated. Depending on how warm you desire, you choose your location. Meaning, the closer to the junction of the two rivers, the hotter the water. Because Alexander is still very young and sensitive, we chose fairly far downstream.
However, he LOVED it.
As did we! It was nice because we arrived relatively early, so we had the river to ourselves for quite a while.
Just chillin in the hot river.
While the air wasn’t freezing, it wasn’t exactly balmy either.
The evidence of geothermal heat is everywhere in this valley. You can see Anna and X hiking in the far right.
Not a bad place to hike.
The boiling mud pots.
It felt a little like Yellowstone National Park in the US … with no tourists.
Plus, a couple comments about the Icelandic culture we experienced. People were all very friendly, if a little quirky. Imagine a country full of people with a spirit much like that of singer Björk. As for food and drink … well the most popular restaurant was a hot dog stand and the national drink is a type of schnapps known colloquially as the Black Death. In fairness to Icelandic people, we learned that most people don’t actually drink the firewater.
Suffice it to say, Iceland culture has a lot of character. We really enjoyed it and look forward to the time when we can go back. Perhaps for the Aurora Borealis in winter. Who knows, we’ll see.
Well, that does it for our Iceland experience. I’ve finally finished the posts!
Up next will be some images from the holidays of the island country of Malta.
Until then…
–Jim
