05/07-08: Iceland - Reykjavik and the Golden Circle

05/07:

Friday after putting the last touches on my packing we hit a cab out to the airport to say "Hej då" to Stockholm. Up until our last day or two we hadn't really allowed ourselves to think about our brief stopover on my way back to the Land of Freedom. However when we jumped on the plane and saw the Swedish soil getting further away from us we both found ourselves getting excited about seeing Iceland and visiting Tumi, Mary Frances and 5 week old little Elsa María.

When we arrived we went through a typical Scandinavian tradition: buying as much alcohol in the duty free as possible. This proved to be a bit more difficult than it sounded, but ultimately we were able to figure things out and we went on to meet Tumi, appropriately clad in a Kevin Durant Sonic's jersey (little known fact: David Stern also was behind the plot to move Tumi from Seattle).

We then cruised to Tumi's parents place where we were staying and then on to Tumi and Mary Frances's place to meet little Elsa.
Rock stars: She takes after her dad.
The evening we hung out and enjoyed some gin & tonics. By all rights we should have gone out that night but I was pooped and so instead we called it a pretty early night. This turned out to be a bit of a shame because it was our only real chance to experience the quite legendary Reykjavik weekend nightlife. Sadly this will have to wait for our next time out there.

05/08:

The next morning Tumi and Mary Frances took us out for a stroll around Reykjavik. On the right is the Alþingi (Parliament) and the left is the National Cathedral.
Stjornarrad:
We then headed to Hallgrímskirkja, Reykjavik's most dramatic landmark. This church, as well as the statue of Leifr Eiríksson, made us jump for joy!
Again, only more normal:
Elsa was apparently unempressed with the architecture.
After seeing the church we continued the tour. Here's Mary Frances and Elsa out near the city hall.
After getting a feel for the city the five of us hopped in the car and headed out for Iceland's "Golden Circle", a close concentration of super rad sights that impress all of Iceland's visitors (aside from the occasional German couch surfer - if you want the story you'll have to ask Tumi).

The first stop was Þingvellir (pronounced: Thingvellir). This site is known for a couple different reasons. From a cultural point of view, the location was the site of the Alþingi, or the first parliament which was first established in 930 A.D. and remained there until 1789.

The site also has some pretty cool geological significance as you can clearly see evidence of the continental drift between the Eurasian and North American plates. The cracks and faults are clearly seen all across the area.

The place was fun for exploration ...
and Gollum impersonations.


The crew:

The girls:
Courtney snapped a neat photo of some native Icelanders in their natural environment.
We hiked through the canyon and explored a bit, coming across the following beautiful waterfall.

Courtney's got a little Captain in her:

While I was jumping over rocks and exploring, Courtney captured this priceless moment.
I then went off to go and explore and snap some photos.




Tumi and Elsa (Courtney's handiwork)


After exploring we headed off to the second sight, which is the most culturally significant statue in all of Iceland!
No, okay that doesn't make the cut as part of the Golden Circle sights, it just happened to be situated right next to the geothermically active valley of Haukadalur.
The area you've probably never heard of, but you may recognize the name "Geysir". This geyser gave all others in the world its name. The famous geyser was known to shoot 70 meters into the air, sadly it doesn't erupt very frequently anymore.

Strokkur however is the most active geyser in the area, erupting every 5-8 minutes or so.



We then headed to the third and final site in the Golden Circle ... another waterfall (yawn). This waterfall was the spectacular Gullfoss:


Tumi and Courtney:

Courtney and me:
After we completed the sweep we took a moment to reflect what we had the good fortune to see. We managed to see 3 impressive sights all the while nearly completely avoiding crowds. The latter point was largely due to the fact that tourist season hadn't kicked into full gear and also because the long day hours allowed us to go touristing well after most of the tour buses had called it a day. On top of it all we were lucky to get some really fantastic weather.

After hitting the top sights we went to Tumi's cabin where we were excited to stretch our legs, some more than others.
After we ate we saw Elsa was getting a bit tuckered out, so Court and I decided to give the family a little space and we went for a stroll.
The countryside:
Some locals:
After having dinner, Tumi took Courtney and me to a nearby hot-spring, which was quite literally a hole in the ground.
If Carlsberg made hot-springs, they'd probably be the best hot-springs in the world.
The water temperature was perfect, and at least to Courtney and I, felt like a fantastically genuine Icelandic experience.

After a long and eventful day we finally allowed ourselves to call it a night.