Trips

Wed., 11/6 - Golden Circle to Kirkjubaejarklaustur

At 8:45 we left Reykjavik in a large bus and headed out on the Golden Circle sightseeing route. The bus was large enough for us each to have a double seat to ourselves. That was nice because we each had about five layers of warm clothes on for the day’s events.
Our drive took us through farmland with some cows and lots of groups of Icelandic horses. The horses stay outside all year. They are very hardy. Three percent of the horses are raised for food!
The sun finally rose at 9:30 and progressed almost horizontally across the southern sky.
Our first stop of the day was at the UNESCO World Heritage site of Thingvellir National Park. The geological site contains the Mid-Atlantic ridge where the North American and Eurasian tectonic plates meet. They are pulling apart at the rate of 2.5 centimeters which is almost one inch every year. The rift is narrow here but is about five miles wide in other places.
The rift in the park forms a natural amphitheater where the “world’s oldest Parliament” was held annually over 1,000 years ago. History indicates that the chieftains of 39 Nordic clans or Icelandic communities met here to listen to the recital of Norwegian laws and to hold court over arguments or charges of breaking a law. The penalties were either a fine (maybe 10 sheep) or exile for either two years or permanently from Iceland. The plain could hold temporary camps of the travelers who came to look for spouses or trade stories or just to socialize. (It was like our Native American pow wows.)
It was a beautiful winter day with clear air and no wind. Our little ice crampons were perfect on the slight snow and ice as we walked through the narrow rift and to the assembly place. By standing there and looking out across the landscape it was easy to imagine the ancient event.

Thingvellir National Park	Thingvellir National Park - rift valley
Thingvellir National Park - Mid-Atlantic Ridge	Thingvellir National Park
Thingvellir National Park - rift valley	Thingvellir National Park - rift valley
Thingvellir National Park	Thingvellir National Park
Thingvellir National Park - rock formations	Thingvellir National Park - rock formations
Thingvellir National Park - rift valley	Thingvellir National Park - rift valley
Back on the bus, we rode to one of Iceland’s hydroelectric power plants, Ljosafossvirkjon. The lobby was full of hands-on demonstrations and wall depictions of power generation in Iceland. As adults, we found it informative, but we imagine kids would just turn the wheels or whatever to make the noise or see the lights or watch the “water beads” move. The place had a coffee, mocha, and hot chocolate machine that we all appreciated.
Hekla volcano steaming away in the distance	One of many waterfalls along our route
Farmland	A faint rainbow
Ljosafoss Power Station	Ljosafoss Power Station
Turbines at Ljosafoss Power Station	Part of the interesting informational displays
Ljosafoss Power Station	Nice sign
Birds	Lunch was in the town of Selfoss. Several of us went to the grocery store, Kronan, and bought snacks and things for our “meals on our own.” We bought Gouda cheese and Tuc crackers and cookies. Gale has the peanut butter in her suitcase. After lunch, it was back to the bus to travel through the interesting countryside
From the bus: a church	From the bus: a bridge - not a railway bridge - there are no railroads in Iceland - Hekla volcano in the distance
Hekla volcano in the distance	From the bus
From the bus - looking and the distant Westman Islands	Bales of hay
Last stop of the day was at the impressive Skogafoss, the "Waterfall of the Forest." (Foss means waterfall.) The water drops 200 feet and is 82 feet wide. It drops in one wide sheet of water. After the waterfall we drove over lava fields created by the 1783 massive eruption of Eldhraun Volcano.
Skogafoss	Skogafoss
Rock formations off shore	As we continued our drive, we got glimpses of the large glacier with many outlets that we will see more of in two days. At the base of the glacier are wetlands. Farming requires ditches around the fields to drain the wet soil. Many of the farms are vacated now and have gone fallow. The government is considering filling in the ditches and restoring the wetlands so they can absorb more CO2. Finally, we arrived at our Icelandair Hotel Klauster in Kirkjubaejarklaustur (meaning church/farm/monastery) village. Dinner at the hotel - because there is little else in this town of 120 people - included a vegetable soup that was like spicy tomato; then delicious, tender lamb with quarter potatoes; and a small amount of diced vegetables. Dessert was chocolate French cake with Icelandic whipped cream. The bread was homemade sourdough and we ate three baskets of it. The lambs butchered in Iceland are only three to four months old and the meat is very tender and has a mild taste. Lamb from Australia or New Zealand is butchered at five to six months and Scottish lamb, at seven or eight months. We won’t look for Scottish lamb any time soon.

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