{"id":12109,"date":"2017-08-13T08:48:08","date_gmt":"2017-08-13T12:48:08","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/gallivantinggrandma.com\/?p=12109"},"modified":"2017-09-10T17:07:51","modified_gmt":"2017-09-10T21:07:51","slug":"iceland-the-golden-circle","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/gallivantinggrandma.com\/?p=12109","title":{"rendered":"Iceland & The Golden Circle"},"content":{"rendered":"

Sunday – August 13, 2017<\/p>\n

\"DSC<\/p>\n

The sky was a bit cloudy this morning. \u00a0I knew the crystal clear day we had yesterday in Reykjavik was a rare gift. \u00a0I hoped for another sunny day because we signed up for an excursion called The Best of the Golden Circle which took us out of the city to see geysers, waterfalls, hot-springs, and other natural phenomena. \u00a0We met our excursion bus at the ship\u2019s terminal and rode away from Reykjavik. \u00a0The vast landscape was treeless and barren. \u00a0<\/p>\n

\"IMG<\/p>\n

The first place we visited was the Thingvillir \u00a0National Park. This is where the first Nordic settlers of Iceland established their parliament in 930 AD. \u00a0The Parliament was held outdoors at \u201cLogberg\u201d – Rock of the Law. \u00a0Thingvillir is also the only place on land where people are able see the rift between tectonic plates of the Mid-Atlantic Ridge. \u00a0In the middle of the Atlantic Ocean there is an extended geological fault which continues up through Iceland. \u00a0The distance between the walls of the rift is growing by two centimeters every year. \u00a0Our bus-load of people joined other tourists on a high viewing platform to see a large lake and the rift.<\/p>\n

\"DSC<\/p>\n

\"DSC<\/p>\n

We were able to descend and walk between the walls of the massive geological fault. \u00a0With hundreds of tourists, we continued along between the huge rock walls of the rift. \u00a0It was an amazing experience!<\/p>\n

\"DSC<\/p>\n

\"DSC<\/p>\n

Our second adventure was to visit the bubbling cauldron of Geysir Geothermal Area to see it shoot up from the earth. \u00a0This geyser reliably spews hot water and steam every five to ten minutes. \u00a0Of course, everyone compared it to Yellowstone National Park. \u00a0Similarly, steam emanated from the earth and there were several pools of bubbling water.<\/p>\n

\"DSC<\/p>\n

\"DSC<\/p>\n

Another interesting place we visited was to see a huge waterfall called Gullfoss. There were two observation levels to see the falls. \u00a0We chose the high road above the falling waters. \u00a0Far in the distance we could also see one of Iceland\u2019s largest glaciers. \u00a0<\/p>\n

\"DSC<\/p>\n

\"DSC<\/p>\n

\"DSC<\/p>\n

The last place we visited before returning to Reykjavik was a hydro-electric plant. \u00a0The people of Iceland have worked to harness their natural resources to create energy. \u00a0The plant utilizes hot water to generate electrical power.\u00a0<\/p>\n

\"DSC<\/p>\n

\"DSC<\/p>\n

We had enjoyed a sunny day but on the way back to the ship, clouds grew darker and it began to rain.<\/p>\n

\"IMG<\/p>\n

Later onboard, we watched the huge Koenigsdam ship push off from the dock and head out to the Ocean. \u00a0This gigantic ship had been tied up to the dock ahead of us. \u00a0Finally, our pilot boat pulled up next to the Rotterdam and we slowly moved away from the port of Reykjavik. \u00a0Iceland was a great place to visit and we were so happy to have seen the city and part of the countryside. \u00a0We both would like to return and see more of Iceland. \u00a0It\u2019s a wonderful country!<\/p>\n

\"DSC<\/p>\n

\"DSC<\/p>\n

\u00a0<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Sunday – August 13, 2017 The sky was a bit cloudy this morning. \u00a0I knew the crystal clear day we had yesterday in Reykjavik was a rare gift. \u00a0I hoped for another sunny day because we signed up for an excursion called The Best of the Golden Circle which took us out of the city […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[31],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-12109","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-cruising"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/gallivantinggrandma.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/12109","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/gallivantinggrandma.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/gallivantinggrandma.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/gallivantinggrandma.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/gallivantinggrandma.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=12109"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/gallivantinggrandma.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/12109\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":12110,"href":"https:\/\/gallivantinggrandma.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/12109\/revisions\/12110"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/gallivantinggrandma.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=12109"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/gallivantinggrandma.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=12109"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/gallivantinggrandma.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=12109"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}