We took a Golden Circle Tour the next day, which included visits to Thingvellir National Park, Geysir, and Gullfoss waterfall.
Thingvellir is the site of the Law Rock, where the Icelandic parliamentary meetings began in 920 AD. The park is also where the North American and Eurasian tectonic plates meet.
The terrain is ruggedly beautiful.
From there we headed to Geysir, for which all geysers are named.
Ready and waiting! (and there’s my new headband!)
The geyser erupts every 5 minutes or so, on average. The ground on the short walk to the geyser is steamy; you don’t want to go off the path!
And our third stop was at the very impressive Gullfoss waterfall.
Our tour included a stop at Laugarás Lagoon, a new resort that’s been open for a year or so. Very different in feel from the Blue Lagoon; it’s quiet and relaxed. Lovely places to sit and enjoy.
Just what we needed before our 3:30 am bus to the airport, heading to our next destination!
I finished my headband (no blocking) in time to wear it to the Northern Lights tour that night, but it was too chilly to wear it. Silly me; I should have worn it OVER my brioche hat! We did buy DH some heavier gloves before the tour.
This was a quick and fun project. The colors didn’t have quite as much pop against each other as I wanted, but the color selection was limited and I didn’t want to buy more ash gray, because I had more of it at home. There is plenty of yarn left to make mittens later.
The aurora decided to come out and play! Our guide with East/West Tours told us it had been cloudy for a couple weeks, but we had a stellar evening. We made three stops.
the purple isn’t visible to my naked eyeReflected in the lakeAurora borealis with Ursa Major (Big Dipper)this photo from our tour guide; the rest are mine
The colors are much brighter through a camera than they are to the naked eye. So beautiful. I think I took a hundred pictures.
Photo from our tour guide. Check out the crown of my brioche Deep End hat!
Just catching up from 2 weeks away; it feels like a lifetime! Cats are glad we’re home. We took a 2 part vacation; a 3 night stopover in Reykjavik, then on to France. Iceland Air has a stopover program that allows you to stay up to one week on the way to somewhere else, and just counting it as a layover on your itinerary. Sold!
We landed at 7 in the morning. The Blue Lagoon is on the way into town from the airport, and lots of people stop here while waiting for the afternoon hotel check-in. The water is geothermally heated, 38° C/100° F, and pumped from 6000 feet underground. And it really is this milky blue, due to the high silica content in the water. This is a nice way to relax after flying overnight. Check out the lifeguard attire; it’s definitely not Bay Watch material.
After check in, we took a walk around town and found the Handknitting Association of Iceland, where you can purchase pre-knit sweaters, or yarn to make your own.
Lots to choose from, and more on hangers
I brought my blue Stopover sweater with me, and bought yarn to make a coordinating, but not quite matching, headband. (Stopover sweater pattern is by Mary Jane Mucklestone, who designed it on her stopover in Iceland.)
Sun Voyager on the waterfront, and Stopover sweater on stopover!
The next day, we walked along the waterfront to Harpa (music theater) to meet our food walk. I doffed my coat for this chilly picture! The food tour was great, five stops with lots of interesting things to taste. Lots of fish and lamb. We did not go hungry.
The famed fermented shark, Hákarl, with a shot of Brennevin. One cube is enough! A definite ammonia taste at chew 8. The Brennevin (flavored with caraway) definitely helped wash it down. The walk gave us time to digest between stops, and passed several local viewpoints.
We ended at Cafe Loki across from Hallgrimskirkja Cathedral. The rye bread ice cream with whipped cream and caramelized rhubarb syrup was divine.
Hallgrimskirkja and Leif Ericsson statueRainbow street below the cathedral
After the food tour we wandered our way back to our hotel for knitting and nap. We were gearing up for a Northern Lights Tour.
Find my patterns on Ravelry: Michele Bernstein Designs
Here are some of my favorites, and the newest. Many of my designs are also available through my Payhip store.
