Much like the headline to this post, my second day in Iceland was much more structured and I'm bushed. I keep seeing how bright it is out and wondering why I'm tired, but I've been ups since 5 am, did an 11 hour Golden Circle tour, and now it's 10 at night.
When I walked outside the hotel lobby this morning, I was met with an immediate burst of wind. (Is there any way to be wind burnt?) The tour was fantastic, and a total recommend. We started out by going to Thingvellir National Park where the North American and European tectonic plates meet. The driver, who only guided us in the van, so at each destination we got to walk around and enjoy the incredibly beautiful nature.
We saw so much stuff it's almost impossible to list it all. But I'll try. After walking the grounds in the Thingvellir, traversing between the tectonic plates first on foot, then by car, we went off to Geyser. Literally the name of the area is Geyser, and guess what is there? A bunch of geysers, only one of which was really big. Kind of crazy that the water comes shooting out every 5 to 10 minutes. After Geyser, we continued on to Gilfoss, a breathtaking waterfall with a view of a volcano in one direction and a glacier in the other. Our next stop was at the Kerid Volcano Crater. The water is such a rich color this time of year, and its the closest I've ever come to a volcano crater.
All of this was just leading up to our grand finale stop at Iceland's Blue Lagoon. Carved into a field of lava rocks, with water pulled from 200 meters below the surface where geothermal activity heat the water to about 38 degrees C, or about 100 degrees F. The water, which is salty and a little sulfuric, is supposed to have healing qualities. The tour included a silica facial treatment, and a drink (hard cider for me) in addition to the admission ticket. I added a lava scrub exfoliating mask as well. The place was truly amazing and after spending nearly two hours in the hot water on an otherwise cold day (it was a high of 50, but had sustained 30-40 mph wind all day), I am good and relaxed and ready for bed.
Another big tour awaits tomorrow morning, this time it's a tour of the Southern coast.
