May 26 - Decide to head out and see natural wonders today, rather than go downtown in the morning. Our drive goes north along the circle road, then to the 47 east along the Hvalfjorður (an ocean inlet like a fjord). The mountain scenery along this route is fantastic, with steep talus slopes and mountains disappearing into the clouds.
Out of the car at the Botnsdalur trail head. This goes to the Glymur Waterfall, but we stop at the river where there is a small cave (Thvottahellir). The route to Glymur goes over the river on a log, but the water is running over it and would require some inconvenience to cross. I’m sure not everyone is up to that, so we turn around and go back. The leaves are just starting to come out on the trees and bushes, as well as the larches. A few early flowers are also emerging.
The rocks of this area are either basalt flows or fragmental tuffs with plenty of basalt lava clasts.
On our return, stop at Fossarett Waterfall and eat lunch.
Head south and east from here to Þingvellir National Park. Note: the letter “Þ” is only found in Icelandic and is equivalent to “th” as in “thing”.
Þingvellir NP is famous from a geologic standpoint because it straddles the mid-Atlantic Ridge. Hence the line at which the oceanic plate is rifting apart. While this is highly significant structurally, on the ground it is difficult to visualize.
It began raining when we drove into the park. We stopped first at the visitor’s center. Not much to do there but wait out a rainstorm and then carry on to a walking loop between the center and Lake Þingavallavatn. The national parks of Iceland do not have entrance fees, but some (such as this one) do have parking fees. In this case, Kr 1000 (about $7).
Curiously, it is also highly significant from a cultural perspective. A small section of the park containing the above waterfall is basically a faulted zone separating two sections of a thick lava flow (which composes the cliff seen above). This faulted zone served as an official assembly area (known as the Alþing) for the leadership and inhabitants of the island from 930 to 1798 CE.
Here, current events, discussion of society rules, and political pronouncements took place. Along with this were festivals and other attractions.
A few historical structures, including a council house and a church, survive nearby on the flatter zone by the lake.
Begins raining again, so we finish the loop and drive back to Reykjavik. Go directly into town and park at the church again, so that Mike and Debbie can see it and walk down to the restaurant/souvenir shop area on Laugavegur Street. Janet gets a cake, since today is Odette’s birthday!
Eat at a restaurant selected by Debbie. It is French cuisine. They want to charge extra for us to eat Odette’s cake, so we drive back to our apartment in Hólar and eat it there. Before reaching the apartment, however, we first swing west to the end of the peninsula. Much expensive housing here (I’m guessing its pricy) because of the proximity to downtown and endless views of the ocean. The lighthouse I want to walk to is closed off (until end of May).
