Thingveller, Geysir, Gulfoss (The Grand Circle in Iceland)

So on day three of our Icelandic journey, Natalie and I hired a car. Our lovely little Toyota Micra, equipped with a manual transmission and an american sided steering wheel, proved interesting, and we only nearly crashed the car three times. We started early though and managed to make it to Thingveller National Park (where the viking congress was held back in the day), Geysir (geothermal water shooting up like old faithful), and Gulfoss (Iceland's second largest waterfall).

Iceland is a literally a hotbed of geothermal and volcanic activity, which was exciting for the earth science teacher in me. At Thingveller, we walked along the most visible plate rift in the world--where north america and eurasia are diverging away from one another. At Geysir, we watched Strokkur geyser blow, drank very hot hot chocolate and made our way to Gulfoss. Nearly there, it started power snowing, we missed the sign and skidded the car into a two-foot drift. Icelandic people are quite friendly and hospitable, and the electrician at the lodge helped us push the car out so we finally made it to the quasi frozen waterfall. From there, we found an English family to follow and made our way slowly back to the motorway.

From there we notably navigated our vehicle around inactive volcanoes, various tiny towns, and made it to the Blue Lagoon--a nearly undescribable outdoor bath of sulfrous, silicate water that ranged from 88-104 degrees F in different spots. Wooden boardwalks dotted the lagoon, geothermal steam filled the air, and between bouts of white steam, the MOST AMAZING stars gave us their love. I have no pictures; it is difficult to find a place to conceal a digital camera within a swimsuit or towel in -5 degree celsius weather. But it was the essential end to a very long, adventure filled, near death experience filled day.