Learning Lots Around the Golden Circle

The Golden Circle is where we really ramped up our cultural experiences (*cough* tourist attractions?). It started with a Viking dinner in a grass roofed longhouse, where our flatware was heavy and the meals were meat-forward. Scott and Mike partook in a tiny bite of hákarl (fermented shark), dried fish, and a shot of Brennivín.

The next day we made our way to Thingvellir National Park, which I thought was super cool because it sits at the meeting of 2 tectonic plates and so has some interesting rifts/valleys. Scott was secretly more excited about the historical significance of the park, which I had no idea about until I was plunked into a walk from plaque to plaque to learn all about it. 😄  As Scott reads this draft, I’m sure he’ll jump in here with some fascinating history stuff, something about the world’s oldest still-functioning Parliament or something? Ok, it was pretty cool to imagine.

Next we headed to Laugarvatn Fontana, a geothermal hot spring on the shore of a lake. We made sure to arrive in time for their geothermal bakery tour, which took us down near the shore of the lake where there was geothermal activity right near the surface. They brought a pot with rye bread dough wrapped nice and tightly inside, and showed us how they buried it under a mound of sand to cook for 24 hours. Then they dug up the loaf from yesterday and served it up warm with plenty of butter. We had a nice soak in their different temperature baths, with the fun added feature of being able to walk into the lake for a cold dip in between hot soaks. This spa was really scenic, and we would recommend!

Our last sight of the day was Kerið Crater, a water-filled volcanic crater that Björk once played a concert in on a raft, and then we headed for dinner in a quaint seaside town.

The next day was our last full one in Iceland, and we made the most of it with a morning Icelandic horse ride accompanied by the farm’s dog who came along to keep the pastures under control. We got to experience Icelandic horses’ unique gait called the tölt and saw a geyser erupt in the distance–we were in the area of Geysir, the namesake of all geysers!

Before heading back to Reykjavik, we made a quick stop at Gullfoss for one more waterfall. Back in the city we got our COVID tests (very impressed by the efficiency of this process!) and then headed to Sky Lagoon for our last Icelandic bath experience. It was the most luxurious of all the baths we visited, and it was a scene on a Saturday afternoon. Many Instagram influencers were seen, I’m sure. But it was also incredibly beautiful and relaxing, and we spent at least 3 hours there. Then it was into downtown for dinner on the street and enjoying a much livelier, festive weekend atmosphere than when we’d arrive the weekend before (that was a holiday weekend when we think many folks were out traveling; this was the end of Pride!).

The next morning Jenna and Mike had to leave early for the airport. Scott and I had a relaxed morning checking out a coffee shop and bakery and then wandering around the city a bit more by scooter and foot. We stopped at a Viking museum on the way to the airport to brush up on some Viking history and see a replica ship. We took lots of deep breaths of the cool, fresh air before heading back to the smoky, hot Colorado summer air!