Europe Trip - Reykjavik, Iceland

On June 26, 2012, we were so excited when our ship docked at Reykjavik, Iceland.  Iceland was the main reason we chose this cruise.  We booked a shore excursion called "The Golden Circle", an 8 hour tour, because we wanted to see as much as possible of the "Big Three" geyser areas, namely Gullfoss, Geysir and Thingvellior, collectively called the "Golden Circle".

We passed vast lava fields, hot springs and viewed lots of greenhouses (fueled by the hot springs), and went through farmlands prior to arriving at Gullfoss.

Gullfoss geyser/geothermal area - Iceland's most beautiful waterfall:

Geysir Geothermal Area - Stokkur Geyser
Next we went on to Haukadalur where we stopped at the Geysir geothermal area, lots of hot springs and geysers.  The most active geysir is "Stokkur", which is supposed to spout every few minutes.  It threw quite a large spray. 

 



We enjoyed walking through the geothermal park to see the other sights and then had a wonderful buffet lunch where they serve up to 15,000 people each day.  Very popular area.

Thingvellior National Park
This national park is a UNESCO site.  It is fascinating because it is one of the most significant areas in Iceland to view its geological heritage and its cultural heritage.  You can read more about it at www.thingvellior.is

Before we got to the National Park, we drove through some very beautiful countryside:

To summarize, it is one of the original settlement areas on Iceland, commencing in 870 AD, and it is the area of the first general assemblies, its parliament, and its highest court. However, when Icelanders submitted to the rule of Denmark in 1662, the self government was wiped out.  In the 19th and 20th centuries, this area was symbollically important in the campaign for independence from Denmark.

In addition, Thingvellior is in a volcanically active area, with fissures crossing Iceland as part of the mid-Atlantic ridge.  This area is the junction of the American and European tectonic plates and Thingvellior is located at the end of a rift valley.  The earth's crust has been dividing here, with the western side moving west, and the eastern side moving east at the rate of about 3mm annually.  Over 10,000 years this has been about 70 metres.

Here are some photos of this ridge - from the side, and the top.

 

 

 

This is one of the government homes in the National Park for the President/Prime Minister:

 

 

Reykjavik

 We then drove back to Reykjavik and had a short city tour.  

 

This is their Opera House:

 

 

Sailing out of Reykjavik was very pretty: