Wednesday, October 14, 2026 Golden Circle, Iceland

 Wednesday, October 14

Another hearty breakfast at the hotel.   Fresh plums, pears, kiwi, oranges....plus sausages and oatmeal option today!

Same as yesterday, we are picked up about 8:30 and driven to the FlyBus station and transferred to another bus for the classic The Golden Circle tour.  The first leg is about an hour and a half long and the first hour is rainy and windy.  But our guide Gunnar gives a fairly steady interesting talk about Iceland.

 Iceland's entire population is just 400,000 and 250,000 live in the southwest Reykjavik area.  The country, while small, is 3 times the size of Denmark - a point of pride, since they were ruled by Denmark for many years - but most of the island is uninhabitable.  Volcanoes happen on an average of every four years and there are occasional earthquakes. You would think the island would grow with all that lava, but the surrounding seas also erode, so it doesn't really change much.

Iceland's weather has no extreme season, thanks to the Gulf Steam currents. Yes, winters are colder, but not by a whole lot. And they are seeing rapid climate change, with stronger winds, warmer temperatures, and melting glaciers.  Only the higher mountains have snow and ice this time of year.   90% of the homes are heated with thermal energy and we pass a thermal power plant that uses steam to turn turbines and generate electricity.

We see a fair amount of farmland with sheep and horses, and a few cattle. There are 2.3 sheep for every person in Iceland.

By the time we stop at the family-run Fridheimar Greenhouses weather has calmed down and it is overcast but the rain has stopped.  There are nine greenhouses, two of which are for baby plants.  The one we visit is brightly lit with supplemental light when natural lighting is poor (like today). They are heated with hot springs and this one has mainly cherry tomatoes, with some lettuce, herbs and flowers.

They import hives of bumblebees in boxes to do the pollinating, along with a few beneficial insects. There is a gift shop and kitchen featuring - drum roll - tomato soup!!

Outside there are some Iceland Horses.  Brave and gentle, these smallish horses have a unique gait which is very comfortable for riders. They also have an extra layer of fur so that they can live outside year round.   If one is sold and leaves the country, it can never return, as they want to keep the breed pure and protected.

 We continue riding and see quite a few aspen trees which are a pretty golden color.  Iceland's original trees, mostly birch, were mainly cleared by settlers for fuel and building materials and there continues to be efforts to grow more trees.  The aspen and some evergreen trees have been imported from Alaska. 

Next stop is Gullfoss waterfalls, a glacier-fed 2-tier falls on the Hvita River.  Greg and Gwynne take the low trail down to the falls while Beth does the upper trail above the falls. The top falls drops 36' and the lower falls 69'.  Amazing power display!

We continue to drive, with the next stop being Geysir Geothermal Area.  The original namesake geyser is mostly dormant now, but another called Strokkur erupts every 5 to 10 minutes, about 65-100' of boiling water!  We walk to the overlook and don't have to wait long. 

 There are assorted bubbling water and mud features along the walkways.

There is a large shop/restaurant here and we enjoy soup and sandwiches before heading back to the bus.  Fish soup is tasty, as is tomato. 

Another hour long drive to Pingvellir National Park.  We see an RV Park along the way! (A taxi driver later tells us that it about time to put the rv's into winter storage - bet they are expensive here.) 

 

 Some fields have man-made canals which our guide says is for water drainage.  Also many big round bales of hay wrapped in white or black plastic - the white ones look like giant marshmallows!  

We are told that the moss takes several years to grow on the lava rocks and they really discourage people from walking or climbing on it.

A little splash of fall color.

Pingvellir is where the North American and European tectonic plates come together in a dramatic rift valley.  It is also the site where the Icelandic Parliament, Althing, was founded back in 930AD. Back then it was a gathering of Chieftains and free men and depended on a "speaker" whose job it was to remember and recite the happenings, as there was no written record. His tenure was 3 years - what a job! We walk the trail through the rift, with North America on our left and Europe on the right!

It is 46 degrees when we get back to Reykjavik and transfer back to our hotel.

We decide to try Askur again for dinner where Greg and Gwynne try the lamb chops with baked potatoes and veggies and Beth goes with the burger and fries.  We share a sweet dessert of chocolate cake with strawberry ice cream, whipped cream and a few blueberries and strawberries.  The chocolate cake is, appropriately enough, like a lava cake with a slightly soft wam center.  YUM!

A good day, for sure!