Wednesday, Sept 24th, was our Golden Circle day.  This is where tourists visit if they have limited time in Iceland.  I am so grateful that today was only Day 6 for me!

What a blessing to watch this sunrise over breakfast.

What they say is true …. if the weather is good or bad, just wait a few minutes.  The weather changes very quickly here.

Our first stop was only 10 minutes away …. a wool studio where the owner explained the traditional way of dyeing wool.  What started as her thesis, turned into a hobby, and is now her business and entire life.  It was much more interesting than I expected.

We then drove about an hour to our next stop:  Gullfoss waterfall (gull = golden). 

There were men who wanted to put a power plant here, but a woman stood in their way. 

Our next stop was the Geysir,  the geyser from which all others take their name

We made a lunch stop at the Frioheimar Tomato Farm. 

Next was Thingvellir National Park.  It was much prettier than I imagined as all of the leaves are turning.  But boy,  did it rain and even hail!

Iceland is the only place where one can see this.  All of the other rifts are underwater. 

It wasn’t all nice.  If an unmarried woman became pregnant, they would drown her right here.  Many savage penalties were carried out in this area.  Hey …. they were the Vikings after all.

It was nice to get out of our wet outer garments for the 45 minute ride back to our hotel. But I’m happy to report that my new Vessi boots lived up to its claim of being waterproof.

But getting back to my room and stripping down felt SO good.

Instead of heading out to dinner, I decided to try the famous Icelandic hot dog with my wine in my room.

It’s almost 10 pm and I still need to shower before crawling in.  And MAYBE I won’t be in bed too long as my name is on The Northern Lights list.  If the lights come, the front desk will call our room and we’ll tromp over to the cemetery next door for the best view. 

I won’t miss ANY opportunity.

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