The snow storm the day before our tour brought several inches onto the mountain roads that we travel today. The road was closed for most of the day yesterday which was unusually early for the winter that has yet to arrive.

The landscape was filled with volcanic debris.

First stop the greenhouse Friðheimar. It’s the largest in Iceland and grows primarily tomatoes. They are all organic/ biodynamic as they bring in ants and bees (and maybe others) to do the work. The tomatoes picked one day are on the shelves in the grocery store the following day.

On the same property is a winery in a greenhouse. It wasn’t open yet… too early in the day, but it looked cool from the windows as the vines were everywhere with tables scattered around them.

There were also several Icelandic horses on the property. This is a pure breed and not allowed outside Iceland. On the occasion horses are purchased and sent to other parts of the world they are not allowed back in. They are serious about keeping the breed pure as they can easily survive the cold winters, where other breeds cannot. They are handsome horses!

Next stop was the Geyser geothermal area. It was so windy and cold but we marched up the trail to Strokkur and waited for the explosion of steam and water. After about 5 minutes of gloves off and holding my phone in “ready to go video mode”, my phone went to sleep. I tapped it gently and didn’t realize I started a recording. When the geyser blew, I missed the event. Oh well we saw it and it was cool.

I will just say it was cold and windy today. The hike up to the geyser did not inspire many additional steps beyond the main area.

Next up was Gullfoss Falls. They are beautiful, powerful and mesmerizing to watch.

Our final stop was in Thingvellir National Park. This is where the North American and European tectonic plates meet. It’s a beautiful spot loaded with history…

Þingvellir (Thingvellir) is a historic site and national park in Iceland, east of Reykjavík. It’s known for the Alþing (Althing), the site of Iceland’s parliament from the 10th to 18th centuries. On the site are the Þingvellir Church and the ruins of old stone shelters. The park sits in a rift valley caused by the separation of 2 tectonic plates, with rocky cliffs and fissures like the huge Almannagjá fault. ― Google

Tour complete! That was an 8-hour tour where we traveled about 150 miles. If this was summer, renting a car would definitely be the preferred method of transport. The tour bus was comfy and warm, but your time at each site was limited, and made it difficult to get a coffee or food. The lines were long and neither of us wanted to stand in line and risk not seeing what we came for. Food is overrated at times like these!

Dinner upon returning to Reykjavik was at Reykjavik Fish Company. Tracie and I ate there in 2019 and enjoyed it enough to have a couple meals there. I had the fish and chips and Rick ordered fish soup. He said it was amazing. I tried a bite of the broth and liked the flavor which is big for me as I’m picky on fish flavors. We shall see if a return trip is in the cards.

#Iceland2023