We started the day by going Horseback riding on Icelandic horses which are bred them to be the exact same way the Vikings who brought them over looked. We spent an hour and a half going in the surrounding lava fields. My horse was a complete butt and kept trying to cut in front of all the other horses in line. One of my classmates was getting really annoyed with my horse getting along the side, but her horse also kept stopping and slowing down because it was so not going to go fast. I still have saddle soreness from it.
In the afternoon, we had an amazing time going on a golden circle tour where we stopped at four big must-see areas of Iceland. We started Thingvellir where the law rock of the democratic parliament of Vikings, the Althing. Several of my classmates discussed their topics of Geography and Law of the land. The sight was gorgeous, but we were unable to go down more of the trails surrounding the area, as we had to get back to the bus to move on to the next stop.
Our second stop, aka dinner stop, was cool because we were able to see the Geysir – The Great Geyser that gave its name to the geological phenomena. I was able to get a short video of one of the eruptions of the ‘smaller’ cousin to the Great Geyser called Strokkur. Strokkur erupts every 5-9 minutes and is surprisingly the only one that now erupts as the original has stopped for quite a while. Fun Fact: it actually ‘spittled’ a bit early this year, the first time in over three years apparently. After watching it erupt four times, we had dinner at the Hotel Geysir Restaurant – delicious food, succulent chicken and mushrooms and a lovely citrus gelatin.
Once dinner finished, we rushed to the bus to get to Gullfoss, the golden waterfall that falls 32 meters in two stages coming from the glacial river Hvita. The view was stunning and had a marvelous trail down to the cliff hanging close to the water. The mist was refreshing, yet made the rock slippery. It cast a full rainbow across the waterfall as the sun lowered slowly. I can’t really describe the way it truly was because pictures cannot so there is no way I ever could.
Finally, at around 10 we arrived at the final stop, Skaholt, the center of learning for over 700 years. It’s a cathedral which started the Vikings change of religion in Iceland. An 18th century earthquake wiped out the original cathedral. It was rebuilt using funds and materials donated by the Scandinavian countries.
We did not get back to the hotel until 11:30 and I still had to put some final changes on my presentation, but otherwise, it was a completely exhausting, gorgeous day.
AN: Post wifi didn’t want me to post earlier
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