Beginning our exploration of Iceland

Today got off to an inauspicious start as I didn't set my alarm properly, slept in, was woken by the hotel calling me on behalf of the group and me getting ready, out the door and fast walking to the van in 15 minutes. 🥵

Once we were on the road, our first stop is Thingvellir. This is the location where the N. American and Eurasian tectonic plates meet and for Icelandic history, place where the Viking parliament met. It was also a filming location in Game of Thrones.

The park has a paved walk way with several lookout points. The area is a large rift valley where the two plates meet with a large lake now. Along the paths are many tiny pretty flowers, moss and lichen. In general, Icelandic flora are very low lying. 

From here we head out eventually getting on a gravel road that will take us close to a couple of glaciers. The terrain around us becomes very rocky and barren. All along the roads we took today are sheep, cows and horses grazing. On this road, we see no life at all. At the glacier lookout, it's very windy and cold. This is just the front edge of the glacier, the rest of it is gigantic as we saw later on our drive.

Once we are off the gravel road, we head to Snaefellnes peninsula. Our first stop there is a spot where we can see several waterfalls. The views are spectacular and Kristian expains to us that these are glacier fed waterfalls. 

We later see dozens of falls along the road. They all appear to spring out of nowhere, there's no river feeding them. 

Leaving the falls area, we make a brief stop at a hot spring that provides hot water to much of this area along pipes that we will occasionally see along the road. Our lunch stop today is a farm/campground/cafe where they serve soup made from their own produce. Today's was mushroom, tomato or carrot. We self served and could choose any of a combo. 

After lunch, we stop at a photo spot for a view of Church Mountain as well as a brief stop with a local artist who works under the name Liston. He works in paint and sculpture. Every scenic stop today is better than the last. The view is so unique but parts of it remind me of a colder Southwest US, or areas of Easter Island or the desert around Las Vegas. 

Our final stop of the day is at the Bardur Snaefellnes statue and the Arnarstapi Cliff Site. The statue represents the local mythical guardian figure and the sculpture reminds me of Inukshuk monuments.

From here is a short walk to the cliff site with a stunning view of the ocean, cliff dwelling fulmar bird colonies and a vast expansive sky.

This is our last stop and we head to the hotel for the night where dinner in the restaurant is a giant lamb shank, mashed potatoes and tiramisu for dessert. Delicious!