icelandic escapades {golden circle and hot soaking}

Day 1-

Golden Circle Drive- Post-arrival in Iceland we checked in to our hotel; everyone took a quick power nap to re-charge and ward off jetlag.  From there our agenda included the "Golden Circle" drive which took us north from Reykjavík to Thingvillr {THING-VA-LEER} National Park.  It covers a fairly large area and similar to a national park in America.  I hope I remember all of this correctly.  

The area is a popular tourist destination in Iceland and part of a fissure zone situated on the crest of the Mid-Atlantic Ridge, a tetonic plate boundary separating the Eurasian and North American Plates.  Most of this ridge on our planet is underwater but is elevated enough on Iceland to make for a pretty neat landscape feature and cool place to visit.  

The weather was perfect for our all afternoon driving adventure.  It was partly cloudy and not raining; we contributed this good fortune to our collective effort of just plain ole' Good-Clean-Living.  

The visitor center for Thingvellir leads to a walkway down into the great Almannagjá fault. 

Even the public restrooms at the visitor center highlight the amazing view of the surrounding landscape.

Lake Thingvallavatn, the largest natural lake in Icleand is in Thingvillr National Park.  

As we approached the park area we noticed a field full of these tiny stone cairns.  We never did find out why this particular field had so many of them but it was just one more thing that made this enchanting land so unique.

I created my own tiny cairn back in the hotel room with some of the many rocks I collected.

Silfra, a famous scuba dive spot is part of the lake and tetonic plate boundary.  It is also one of the top places on the planet to scuba dive…if you have the appropriate cold water diving gear.  The water is so clear and reflects a beautiful blue color it is easy to see why it is so appealing.  But it is not on my bucket list.

Swimming and diving is at your own risk, but a convenient stairway is provided.

Thingvellir Church is located in the park and another popular stop for tourists (and aspiring photographers).

Parliament was established here, waaaaaay back in 930.  Important government meetings in Viking times and the early Middle Ages took place in Thingvellir.  Likewise, grievances had to be settled and punishment enforced; this area holds a history of executions and torture.  Supposedly this waterfall- Oxarafoss- is one of those places. 

There are so many waterfalls in Iceland no one knows how many there really are.  Gullfoss is one of the largest and most popular to visit and part of Golden Circle drive.

Our third major stop on the Golden Circle tour was Strokkur Geysir.  It is actually several geysers in one geothermal area.  Because of so many volcanoes there is seemingly an unlimited amount of hot lava flowing under all of Iceland.  All of that hot lava creates heated underground water and in this case it combines with other complicated geophysical factors where it is forced out of a hole in the ground creating an awesome geyser.  This area had a several geysers and all of them erupted every 5 or 10 minutes.  There was also a very strong sulphur smell but it was worth it to see the geysers erupt.

This is the only printed warning you get that the water may be hot.  

Something I took away from Iceland is that they consider their citizens- and visitors- to have and use common sense!  There wasn't an overwhelming amount of danger signs, guard railings or safety barriers.  In other words, they consider everyone to take it upon themselves to be safe.  And if you happen to stand in the way of steaming hot water when it erupts you probably wouldn't get an ounce of sympathy and you certainly wouldn't be able to file a lawsuit against anyone for your own choices {and stupidity}.  I liked this attitude A LOT! 

Here is one of the geysers at rest...see, just barely a rope barrier to keep people out of the mud and away from the hot water.

All over Iceland there are areas in the ground where steam escapes.  This one happens to be in a rural area along the highway but in more populated places these are used to generate heat for buildings or homes.  

Across from the geyser field is a gift shop and café.  Couldn't resist a picture of a tractor!

The wool from Icelandic sheep is incredibly warm and one of the iconic pieces of their culture.  I bought a sweater but I'm wishing I'd have picked up a pair or two of warm socks.

There isn't a lot of forest land in Iceland so it was a bit of a surprise to see this art installation using tree trunk pieces.  European repurposing at its finest.  This is a space divider in the café built into a doorframe so it can swing open.  I love that part of European design.

A Hot Soak- After a long day of traveling, driving, and walking to see so many amazing landscape features we ended our day with a visit to Laugardalslaug public pool for some communal soaking.  Sounds crazy but the pools are geothermally heated and the mineral content is therapeutic.  Communal soaking is part of the social fabric of Iceland.  

This is a pic I found on Google Images of Laugardalslaug...just imagine that round soaking tub with about 40 people in it.  The one just beyond it had twice that many so we opted for the one that was a little less confining in case we wanted a quick exit.

We are all about the local experience and it doesn't get more real than visiting a public communal soaking pool.  In fact, if there were an Olympic event for soaking the people of Iceland would win it hands down.  I'd even consider moving there to become a citizen and major contender for the team.   We paid our admission and locker rental- about $8- and got quite the awakening with the locker room experience.  

There is a rigid, multi-step process for the locker room that we failed to read in our travel guidebook.  First, you are not allowed to wear shoes into the locker room.  That was our first mistake.  Second, you are expected to strip down to your birthday suit at your locker and proceed with your swimsuit in hand to the shower area.  That was our second mistake.  Third, you must shower BEFORE putting on your swimsuit and proceeding to the pool area.  That was our third mistake.  {We were unaware how serious the Icelanders are about cleanliness in their pools for we did not realize the pools are not very chlorinated...but are they too hot for bacteria and other germs to multiply???  We chose not to think about it...until we spotted someone who looked like he had chicken pox.}

Frankly, there is no modesty in a European locker room and there isn't much tolerance for modest Americans that enter it.  We received quite the scolding from the shower boss.  There was no free pass for us; we were sent back to the lockers then followed procedures under her watchful eye to make sure we were thoroughly scrubbed and clean before allowed to don our swimsuits and enter the pool area.  It was rather awkward at first but we were the only ones bothered by the idea of any of this.  Understandably, there are no photos of this experience; you'll have to go see it with your own eyes if you don't believe me.

Once we finally made it to the soaking pools we found a spot and did like the locals- we soaked and took it all in.  And since it didn't get dark until nearly 10pm we soaked amidst the evening twilight as we mentally recovered from the locker room debacle and thought about our adventures in the previous 12 hours.  Day one of Iceland was certainly not wasted and our next escapade- a volcanos and glacier hike tour- was scheduled for the following morning.