Iceland: The Golden Circle

I realize it’s been a little while. All I can say is: 500 pictures. For day two alone. 500 huge RAW files and one very slooooooooow computer with which to process them. Do I sound like I’m whining? I’m totally whining. Also, THANKS, DAD. Stupid FANCIEST camera with stupid gigantic, ridiculously beautiful pictures.

I’m just saying, I hope you appreciate all this work I’m doing for you guys.

– First, a note* about Skyr, the Icelandic version of yogurt that is actually cheese and more accurately PURE DELICIOUS MAGIC:

Why don’t we have it in the US? (Commence with the wailing.)

I didn’t take any pictures of my beloved skyr – not even my favorite flavor, apple – but it will forever remain in my heart.

*Ahem* Okay. Now on to the Golden Circle! As you may or may not know, the Golden Circle is a popular tourist route that includes a lot of awesome natural wonders that seem to populate Pinterest to an alarming degree. We planned on seeing four or five of the “greatest hits” on the drive, but as it turns out, even a random roadside is surprisingly photogenic:

So in actuality we only saw…three? Three of the must-see geological phenomena that make Iceland its gorgeous, alien self.

The rest was impromptu photo stops, starting with a little copse of trees (fairly rare in Iceland) just outside Reykjavik, where a heavy morning mist created magic from lupine blooms and clung to a stand of willows like silvery jewels…

The fog was very thick in places, which was worrisome for sightseeing but made for some very atmospheric photos in its own right. We made – hmm, let’s just say many – roadside stops before we ever got to our first site.

Our first official stop was Þingvellir (the weird letter makes a “th” sound, in case you were wondering), which is both a geological marvel – a great crack between two tectonic plates – and also the meeting place of the rulers of old Iceland, dating back to the 900’s AD. One can imagine that the deep, jagged fissures gave the area a proper sense of grandeur and drama during that ancient parliament.

By the time we reached Haukadalur, the home of Geysir (the original – you guessed it – geyser), I was already itching to do a proper geological tour. Preferably with a real geologist guide. And maybe a foodie tour tacked on, based on the delightful working dairy/lodging/tiny shop/restaurant we discovered tucked into the mountains on the way to Geysir.

Haukadalur was…

Well, this.

Actually, although Geysir is the name everyone mentions when they talk about this particular geothermal area, it rarely erupts. Strokkur, its much more regular neighbor, treated us to a show every 8 minutes or so. I think we saw it go at least three times while we were there. Erik tells me it can’t hold a candle to Old Faithful, but I was still fairly awestruck.

I had no idea what was coming next.

– (But wait! I must interject with yet another ode to skyr, this time in the form of a gorgeously silky, creamy, covered-in-forest-berries skyr cake from the cafe at Haukadalur. Let’s just say cheesecake wishes it could be berry skyr cake.)

All right, back to awestruck.

So, the thing about Gullfoss is that I don’t think I really understood what we were going to see. A waterfall, they said. So as we neared our mysterious destination, my first indication was a mist that seemed to rise above perfectly level ground. It wasn’t until we parked that I heard the thunder. It wasn’t until we walked a fair distance that we saw this.

And then.

…

Even now, looking at these pictures again, I find my jaw dropping. No wonder Dad took 146 pictures of Gullfoss alone.

(Hey, who are these weirdos messing up the shot?)

Had to have a picture of us in there somewhere.

Weird kids aside, Gullfoss was ludicrously photogenic. Every angle – even the slightest change – was full of dramatic mystery. I’ll just leave these here.

Can you imagine the agony of trying to whittle these photos down to the chosen few? Agony!

Once we climbed back up to the parking lot, I discovered to my shock that there were also mountains! With amazing lighting. Mom and I made Dad drive off-road so we (he) could get better shots.

The sun emerged fully as we drove away, of course. But I borrowed mom’s smaller camera and got some fairly decent photos through the window, until we once again reached thick fog on the other side of the mountains.

We had only done half of the Golden Circle, if that, but jet-lag caught up with us again, and honestly? I think we were all well-satisfied.

Also I had skyr for dessert again.**

*I mean, it’s more of an ode, really.
** Rich, tangy skyr with berry sauce, not cake this time. We liked the dairy/shop/restaurant – the one with the dog – so much that we stopped there on our way back for dinner. I wish I could remember what it was called. I would give it many stars.