The Iceland Adventure Continues

Sunday morning, we woke up on time, but I was a minute late because we had to have coffee and bagels and things just take a bit longer than you think they will. Maybe I was stalling a tad because I was a wee bit nervous about swimming between the continents at the Silfra Fissure. Why? Because the water is about 0° Celsius (which I think sounds worse than 32° Fahrenheit).

If you know me at all, you will know that fear doesn’t stop me from doing things, but it’s one thing to want to get into the cold water and it’s another to make your body do it. I told Steven that if I didn’t get in the water, he should shove me, but he didn’t seem keen on the idea (not true! I would have totally shoved her into the water if she didn’t walk in on her own). We were wearing a base layer and the tour company gave us a warm jump suit to put under a dry suit. We were covered head to toe, including three-fingered wet-suit gloves except for our lips, which we were warned would become numb.

Apparently, as our guide described the cold water and how to handle it, I was reacting strongly through my facial expressions. When it came down to it, we stepped down to a platform in the water and I discovered that it really wasn’t as bad as I imagined. The water is glacial melt filtered through lava, so it is crystal clear and tastes delicious. We snorkeled between the Eurasian and North American continental plates. Crazy to see the Earth’s crust tearing apart.

We spent about 30 minutes in the water, followed by a quick change and a cup of hot chocolate. Our clothes weren’t even wet (and the numbness from our lips abated pretty quickly). From there we had booked an afternoon tour of the Golden Circle, so the driver dropped us off at Þingvellir National Park. Þingvellir means “fields of assembly,” and it is so named because it is where Iceland’s first parliament, Althingi, was held in 930 AD. Althingi is also the oldest running parliament in the world.  The park is also a UNESCO World Heritage Site in a rift valley created by the Eurasian and North American tectonic plates drifting apart. There is a continental plate viewing area where we would meet up with our new tour guide (and have a chance to buy some Icelandic sweaters at the gift shop). We didn’t buy anything, but we did walk along and above the rift.

Next, we headed to Gullfoss Waterfall, a double cascade that drops 32 meters or 105 feet. into Gullfoss Canyon. We hopped back into the van and made a stop at the Geysir Geothermal Area, which has a geyser that’s not quite as faithful as Old Faithful, but erupts about every 9-14 minutes. Just as we walked up, it spewed majestically and the following eruption wasn’t nearly as impressive, so no great photos, but the area was dotted with bubbling and steaming pools as well as the Great Geysir.

Finally, we stopped at Kerid Crater lake, a bonus stop because we had time. The crater was formed when a volcano’s magma chamber emptied out and the ground above it collapsed. Steven and I are not big on bus or van tours, but we figured the Golden Circle was a must. I think we were both glad that we weren’t driving after the morning’s snorkeling.

We were pretty tired when we got back to Reykjavik, so we decided on an easy pizza dinner and called it a night.

Monday, we did a self-guided tour starting with Kleifarvatn Lake with black sand beaches. We learned quickly that the weather in Iceland really is moment-to-moment and we got rained on while admiring the lake,. Our next stop of the morning was Seltún Geothermal Area—much less crowded than the day before and with many stunning colors of rock amid the mudpots, fumeroles and hot springs despite the rain.

A few more minutes down the road (and a change in direction) and we were in the sunshine again. We were worried about the gravel road that led to the Krýsuvíkurbjarg Sea Cliffs and decided to hoof it. When we realized it wasn’t so bad, we turned around and headed back to the car, a lucky decision since clouds were rolling back in as we hit the road again for our final stop of the morning, the Bridge Between Continents. It’s exactly what it sounds like—a bridge between the Eurasian and North American plates. We walked over and under and then decided it was time to head to our airport hotel before our very last adventure in Iceland, the Blue Lagoon.

On the way there, we passed through Grindavik, the town evacuated in April because of a volcanic eruption. Most of the laval fields in Iceland are green from the growth of moss, but the ones around Grindavik are fresh and we could see where the road had been overtaken by lava and rerouted. We were told that there are only about 40 houses are occupied.

We were told the Blue Lagoon wasn’t the best hot springs, because it’s the most touristy because of its proximity to the airport, but that’s exactly why it worked for us. We checked into our airport hotel, took a break and then headed over. OK, it may not be the best hot springs in Iceland, but we had a fabulously relaxing time in the sauna, steam room and the pools themselves. We finished off with a meal at the lava restaurant, which we were a little disappointed to realize was not a lava cave, but a restaurant carved into the lava cliff. Nevertheless, we enjoyed our meal.

Finally, we returned the car, took a cab back to the hotel and prepared for our airport stopover in Oslo on Tuesday and our flight to Svalbard on Wednesday.