The Golden Circle

On By DbmakesIn Iceland Sept 2025

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.

Anytime I see some clear sky ….

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.

Using local plants and herbs, she dyes the yarn many colors
Except for not using urine, she is following the traditional way of dyeing wool

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

My first view literally took my breath away
I’ve seen this on the internet, but it doesn’t compare to seeing it in person
Yes, I did walk the 107 stairs to see and feel it up close.  So refreshing!

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

Signature Tomasdottir became Iceland’s first environmentalist

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

It blows about every 6 minutes, and I did see it.  But I like this shot better.  Look at the sky!

We made a lunch stop at the Frioheimar Tomato Farm. 

The place was very crowded, so we were lucky to get our own table in a side room.  I had a bowl of tomato soup, bread, and a lovely glass of Ramon Bilboa Reserva from Spain
We made one quick visit to the greenhouse, and hit the road again

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!

I had on every stitch of rain gear that I brought.  But it’s true …. the rain/hail will dump and then stop just as fast
Here is the magic of the park …. we walked down the middle of the rift between two tectonic plates: the Eurasian (right) and North American plate (left). 
The Earth is literally splitting apart an inch per year.  I was hoping for a baby earthquake

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

This is also the location of the world’s oldest Parliament dating back to 930. 

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.

I purposely walked right through big puddles, and my feet never got wet.

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

And so did this lovely glass of Malbec from our hotel Happy Hour

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

Baejarins Betzu Pylsur hot dog.  And as luck would have it, there is a stand in the parking lot behind the hotel.  And the cars are lined up!

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.

13 thoughts on “The Golden Circle”

  1. luna2754's avatar luna2754

    Northern Lights, Northern Lights, Northern Lights!
    I really hope that works to bring the lights to you!
    Totally loved that you got to walk between two continents! Amazing!
    Thank you so much for sharing your journey with us!
    🖖🏼🌈💖

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  4. The Gullfoss waterfall sounded amazing! Of course YOU walked 107 stair steps to get an up close view & feel. From the mouth of my favorite teacher… Carpe diem!
    I’m not sure why, but so far, I think this has been one of my favorite of your adventures?
    You got to see Puffins, now I hope you get to see the Northen Lights.
    Hugs from home!

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  6. Kathy Weyand's avatar Kathy Weyand

    What a wonderful blog this is! I never would have thought that Iceland could be so very interesting. The photos are fantastic, Diana.

    On a personal note, I am so proud of you for taking this trip by yourself. In the words of Alex Lee – that take b___ s right there :).

    Continue to travel safe. I love you, Diana –

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