The Blue Lagoon, Reykjavík, & the Golden Circle Taking off from Boston, I honestly had no idea what to expect the next time I would be on solid ground. What even is Iceland? What do I do there? Its usually seen at a displaced northern country of extreme sports and, well, ice. And it is. But to answer my own question, you can do a lot of things (some expensive, some not so much). I took some time to lazily bobble around in the milky blue geothermal waters of the Blue Lagoon (which is actually on of the current 25 wonders of the World – who knew?). I walked the downtown of the country’s capital, Reykjavík, where I also slept, hostel-style. Actually, the city is so small that I started to retrace my steps before the first evening had even rolled about. But its size is no correlation to its cultural density. Shops, restaurants, museums, and unique architectural landmarks (like the towering Hallgrímskirkja (???), a church which you can see from nearly every point in the city) were packed into this Atlantic inlet. I tried some local delicacies, like fresh fish skewers and the traditional Icelandic hotdog. And I’m not kidding you about the hotdogs. They’re a thing. And a really, really good thing (I ate two within a 24-hour time frame).
As for the more adventurous side of the equation, I chose to do a 6-hour guided tour around what the locals call the Golden Circle, which is simply a circular geographic area containing three of the country’s more notable natural attractions. Þingvellir National Park is the home of the Mid-Atlantic Ridge/Rift Valley, where the North American and Eurasian tectonic plate diverge. It is also, along with magma hotspots, one of the reasons for Iceland’s many active volcanoes. After driving through the valley and onto the Eurasian tectonic plate, Geysir was the next stop – and its importance is pretty self-explanatory. It’s the world’s second largest geyser, but my favorite part was actually the nearby ridge with a path to the top, allowing for a 360-degree view of the neighboring fjord and a beautiful image of the far-off snow-covered volcano responsible for the 2010 major eruption. The circle ended with a bang at Gullfoss, a two-tiered waterfall that rockets through a lava field, forging a gorge lined with hardened pillars of magma. Surrounded by layers of thick green moss and angled volcanic rock, Gullfoss was a perfect end to an Icelandic tour.
1 Comment
|