11 Snorris leave the ranch, 11 Snorris return to the ranch. Here begins the tale of these brave young women and men as they tackle the wildly taxing Golden Circle tour. Faced with conflict, diversity, and a series of difficult decisions, these young Viking descendants met every challenge head on.
Let's not kid ourselves. Here's what really happened. At 10am this morning we crawled onto our charter bus and were chauffered to our first destination. This was a nice way to ease into a busy day, as some of us had a late night celebrating National Day the night before. Nightlife here in Reykjavik is a whole different animal than at home. I had a nice nap and the next thing I know we are pulling up at Thingvellir National Park. There was some exploring to be done, pictures to be taken and kronur to be tossed into wishing wells. I have some real doubts as to the validity of these wishing wells, as in the distant past some of them were used to drowned unfaithful women. Doesn't exactly set the stage for the hope of a world where dreams come true, but what the heck? I didn't want to be the fool that runs off without making a wish and then watches as each of my new friends are blessed with new cars or rich, handsome husbands. So "plunk" went my 10 kronur coin.
Our second stop was Geysir, the geysir that ALL geysirs are names for. This is the father of all geysirs, but it doesn't actually do anything. The big attraction at this site is actually Strokur, which is the smaller geysir that puts on a show every 10 minutes or so. It is a pretty place and Strokkur gave part of our group the honor of being sprayed by nice sulpherous water (cooled down by the air before it hit us) after an eruption. Fun stuff. There were a lot of girlish squeals, let me tell you.
The waterfall, Gullfoss, was the 3rd of the major sites we had slated to visit today. It is a beautiful thing, and we had a lovely day to see it. There are, of course, few or no restrictions on where you can go at this site, just like in most of Iceland. An ankle height rope is all that gives people any indication that there might be rules in place. People step over and around it without question, reaching down to stick their hands in the falls or to fill up water bottles. Pretty much all the water you find in nature in Iceland is cold and delicious and perfectly safe to drink! And there is something incredibly satisfying in being able to scoop up a fresh bottle of water from a mountain stream or waterfall...sort of like being in a game of Survivor.
As a bonus activity we got to stop at the Kerid crater which was really cool. I climbed down into the mouth of the crater with some of the group whic was really cool. It made me think of something off of the movie Galaxy Quest when the characters are trying to find the fuel cell on the alien planet (and now you all know I'm a huge nerd).
As a final, and somewhat hesitantly viewed stop, we took an ice cream break at a really cool gift shop/bakery/greenhouse. There were live parrots, and a scary stuffed sheep (that used to be alive), and puffins on every item in sight. Spoiler alert: I found a little something for my dad in the gift store that I'm pretty excited about. Forget this fact immediately, Dad.
All in all a very fun filled day. Everyday here is. I have 10 great new friends that Thorin best described today as cousins separated at birth, and another 5 weeks of wonderful things to do. I am already planning a Snorri reunion.
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