Iceland - The Golden Circle and Icelandic Lamb Soup at Gullfoss Kaffi

After our dinner at Matur Og Drykkur, we got back to our apartment rather late, at least for us, as it was nearly 1130pm. We showered; well here's an interesting thing (apparently one of many) about the hot water in Iceland. It all comes from geothermal fields. So guess what? Yep, there's a distinct sulphuric smell to the hot water....it smelt like rotten eggs (and something else, but we won't go into that). A bit of a shock at first.

I believe the sun rose at around 7am in the morning when we were in Reykjavik. We were pooped so we got up a bit later than usual. After waking up, we just headed straight out of Reykjavik. We didn't want to overdo things much and just decided to do the three main stops on the Golden Circle.

First stop Þingvellir National Park, Iceland's first National Park and a UNESCO World Heritage Site. I could probably write a dozen posts about Þingvellir, there is so much historical and geographical significance to the place.

We thought Þingvellir was quite beautiful, even on a drizzly, overcast, windy, and chilly November day.

I was stunned to be walking along the Mid-Atlantic Ridge; literally between two continents!

In one of the lakes in Þingvellir National Park, called Silfra, you can actually touch both continents at the same time!

Funny thing, I had purchased two really cheap rain ponchos, but the Missus refused to take Hers stating how "unfashionable" it looked. Now, in the face of rain and more wind than an umbrella could stand, She decided to use mine.

Þingvellir ("Thingvellir") literally means "Assembly Field" and the National Parliament of Iceland was formed here in 930 and kept meeting here until 1798.

The flag in this photo marks the supposed site of Lögberg (the Law Rock) where the speeches during the assemblies were made. I say "supposed" because the precise location of the rock is lost to time.

Walking back up the trail, we drove down the road a bit. Stopping in a small dirt lot. The view, like many others was outstanding.

This was an additional parking lot further down the highway. We took to the trail.

As with many places with such a long history; Þingvellir has a dark side as well.

Because of the wind and drizzle, we had driven down to Parking Lot 3 because it was the back way to this.

Öxarárfoss, a waterfall that might actually be man made. After returning from Iceland and doing a bit of background research for my posts, I found out that there's a claim that the Öxará river had its water diverted in order to provide drinking water to the Assembly, thus creating "Ax Falls".

Our next stop was quite easy to notice.......

As you could easily see the steam rising from the various geothermal vents in the Haukadalur Valley.

This is the home of the famous Geysir.

Unfortunately, Geysir is pretty much dormant these days. Luckily, Strokkur a few meters away still erupts every 10 minutes or so. After watching twice, it becomes rather easy to judge when Strokkur is ready to go.

It's quite fun to watch.

Also, as the sign says a few photos above, I guess there are a few common sense challenged folks out there. Better watch out or someone might be wearing your Necropants. Soemthing else I learned about in Iceland.

There's actually a hotel, gift shop, restaurant, etc, right across the street....in case you just can't get your fill of Strokkur and bubbling geo-thermal wells.

Soon enough, we were off to our last destination. With a few roadside stops along the way to admire the view.

Our final stop? Gullfoss, "Golden Falls". While the falls didn't look too "golden" on this afternoon, it was still quite nice.

Which our photos really couldn't capture.

We both loved this romantic story.

We hadn't eaten the entire day, so we decided to stop at the café connected to the gift shop and information center.

The café has sandwiches and other dishes, but I was after one thing. This little restaurant was well known for their Icelandic Lamb Soup (kjötsúpa). I was even told that there were free refills. The Missus and I shared a bowl.

It was actually much better than I thought it was going to be. Nice lamb flavor; pretty hearty, not too much meat, but it really warmed us up. I ended up going for half a second bowl. I didn't feel to bad about it since I think it cost somewhere around ($15 US) for the soup.

Yes, Iceland is expensive; but the people are so nice, the views amazing, and we were enjoying the food.

I looked around at the folks sitting and eating on this rather dreary day. And guess what? Seems like everyone was smiling and having a great time!

That's Iceland I guess!

Gullfoss Kaffi
Gullfoss
Blaskogabyggd 801, Iceland

Thanks for reading!

Comments

[Soo]

Wow! I never knew about the Mid-Atlantic Ridge. It's an awesome sight! That is very nice of you giving up your poncho.

[kat]

what a great adventure!

[Kirk]

It's quite amazing Soo. That's why Iceland has so many earthquakes.

It was Kat!