Iceland Day 2

Today’s words: cold (6 degrees C, 42 F), wet, windy.  We picked up the rental car, experienced the technical vagaries between Google maps (not that connectable), Apple maps (better, surprisingly) and the Garmin that came with the car (excruciatingly slow to render, so relegated to hiding under the front seat), and found a grocery store with more brands of rice cakes (6 ?!?) than anything else in the store.

Þingvellir (anglicized as Thingvellir) has political origin of importance to the Icelanders. More important to us (Deborah), it lies in a rift valley that marks the crest of the Mid-Atlantic Ridge, which is dominated by lake Þingvallavatn, the largest natural lake in Iceland. The fissures are everywhere, and the most prominent feature in the park is a huge lava wall. The guide books talked about a delightful 3.5 hour hike, which we quickly 86’d because of the despicable weather. We also didn’t partake in the snorkeling/diving opportunities in the last 2 pics. Man, that looked cold!

“The Silfra fissure, is known as one of the top dive sites in the world two main reasons. First, the Silfra fissure is actually a crack between the North American and Eurasian continents, meaning that you dive or snorkel right where the continental plates meet and drift apart about 2cm per year. Silfra is the only place where one can dive or snorkel directly in the crack between two continental plates. Secondly, the underwater visibility in the Silfra fissure is over 100 meters, which creates an underwater experience that will rarely, if ever, be surpassed. The reasons for this astounding water clarity are twofold: the water is cold (2°C – 4°C year round ) as it is glacial water from the nearby Langjökull and this water is filtered through porous underground lava for 30-100 years until it reaches the north end of Thingvellir lake, seeping out from underground wells.”

Geysir was next up. Yes, Geysir is the origin of our word geyser. Geysir itself doesn’t go off much anymore, but we saw it’s neighbor go off twice in a quick, drenching spray.

Then we got drenched at the Gulfloss Waterfall. There was no avoiding the water drops on the lens, from the wind-blown rain and falls.

Finally, some warm and toasty views from *inside* the hotel. (Sorry about the links to video rather than embedded. This is a learning playground.) [fixed]