Reykjavík, Iceland Saturday, June 17, 2017

 

We awoke early at 6am.  Hard to get the room dark enough to mimic nighttime outside.  After breakfast, we boarded 4×4 Jeeps and toured Iceland’s Golden Circle: Thingvellir National Park (where Game of Thrones Wilding Camp was filmed) followed by Geysir Hot Springs, where steaming vents and some 100 geysers periodically erupt in fantastic bursts.  At Thingvellir, we stood astride the Mid-Atlantic Ridge, where the North American and Eurasian tectonic plates meet.

We had a delicious buffet lunch at Hotel Geysir.  After lunch we drove up to Langjökull to the snowmobile base camp to suit up for our Glacier snowmobile adventure.

to explore one of Iceland’s largest glaciers by snowmobile.
Ride across several enormous ice-filled craters, rimmed with imposing volcanoes.
Take in staggering views across Iceland’s Kerlingafjöll Mountains, the steep

Our last stop takes us to Gullfoss, one of the widest and most impressive waterfalls in Europe.

Dine-around dinner at your choice of local restaurant–The Steakhouse  We’ve discovered that Iceland can get expensive; after all, it’s an island, which means that lots of items have to be imported from far away.  Alcohol is especially expensive. 2 Negroni’s cost $_____
Overnight: Hotel Borg

 

Gulfoss WaterfallGullfoss is a massive waterfall on the river Hvita which originates in the glacial lake Langjokull. Gullfoss means ‘golden falls’ because the glacial sediment in the water turns the falls golden in the sunlight. The water falls 105 feet (32 meters) in two steps. As you approach, you hear the falls before you see the wild, tumbling water as the river valley is a deep, dramatic crevasse. You can stand at the top or walk down the path to the bottom.During the first half of the 20th century, the then-owners of the waterfall and surrounding land leased it to foreign investors who were keen to build a hydroelectric plant but their plans fell through. Then it was sold to Iceland but even then there was talk of harnessing the power of the river. Legend has it that local landowner Sigridur Tomasdottir loved the place so much that she threatened to throw herself into the falls in protest, and then walked to Reykjavik barefoot in protest, thus making her point heard. She is credited with saving the falls and a statue of her was erected at Gullfoss.Gullfoss is 75 miles (120 kilometers) from Reykjavik. It is an easy and popular day trip and part of the Golden Circle route taken by tours.