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We woke up to slightly better looking weather. I’ve heard it said that a good day of weather in Iceland isn’t when it’s warm, it’s when the wind isn’t blowing. The wind was howling. It was at least light in the sky and not raining. We should have known then that that wouldn’t last. We had a nice breakfast of granola, bananas, blueberries local skyr (yogurt) and lots of coffee. We made our own coffee for the first time on the trip. We have been drinking really strong European coffee during the whole trip so our batch tasted a lot better. We are staying in a house just a couple blocks from a huge lake. We’re about 20 miles north of the nearest decent sized town, Selfoss. We are within a half hour’s drive of the major parks in the area. It’s a convenient spot. We were out of the house by 9 am and on our way to Gellfoss. Gellfoss is the furthest destination on the Golden Circle from Reykjavik. So our plan was to start there and work our way back.
The weather started looking ominous. It would come in waves. We started driving up and up gaining elevation on our way. We drove right into and out of several cells before arriving at Gellfoss. We spent several minutes in the cold and wind attempting to purchase a parking ticket and then started for the falls. Since it wasn’t currently raining, I wore my wind jacket instead of my rain coat and, for the first time in a couple of days, pulled my big camera out of the bag. I hadn’t walked 50 feet before we were engulfed in 50-60 mph winds and driving sleet. I sprinted for the car to change.
Meanwhile Juli and Nancy were already on their way. We followed the paved path that runs along the rim of the giant rift valley above the falls and river.
The path starts on top and then slowly descends. At the bottom, the blowback from the falls engulfs you in mist. Choosing not to get soaked on purpose, we didn’t go all that way. Our pictures taken, we retreated to the shop. The girl’s shopped while I wandered around and warmed up. Gellfoss has a big, modern visitor’s center. There is a huge store and cafe along with exhibits. It’s very well done.
Next we headed for the geyser. Interestingly, the word geyser is derived from the Icelandic word “geysir”, and you can see why. The geyser area is a series of hotpots and an overlook into the valley beyond. Again the sleet storm struck. Susan and Nancy raced to the car to get out of the weather while Juli and I continued our walk.
There is one actual geyser that still spouts. It erupts about every ten minutes. Crowds of tourists were waiting, cameras poised for the big moment. Juli had already gotten some great video of the moment, but I had to witness it for myself. So I waited with everybody else, poised and ready. At a certain moment, the pot starts bubbling more and more until it does a quick “flush” and a spout erupts. If you’ve ever been to Yellowstone, this a minor moment, but for all of us, it was cool.
The walking path circles the hotpots and eventually takes you up a steep path to the top of a nearby low mountain. The only benefit of the hike to the top is a vast vista of the hotpot area and the valley on the other side of the mountain.
Once we had taken our pics, we headed back to the car. Cold and wet, we were anxious for our next stop, the Freidheimer Farm and tomato hothouse. Built originally back in the early 1900’s and in operation up until the 1980’s, it was bought by the current owners back in the late 80’s after it had been idle for a few years. The facility is beautiful. It is huge and complex with piping and electrical going everywhere.
There are sensors to automatically regulate heat and turn on and off the grow lights. The warm water is piped in from the geothermal under the ground. There are bees that roam free and provide pollination. They have released specific insects to combat the pests that could debilitate the bees. It is fabulously warm and humid after a cold and wet Iceland morning. The tables where people sit and eat are literally set up amidst the growing vines. They grow four kinds of tomatoes at the facility and supply ¼ of the tomatoes to the country. They harvest two tons of tomatoes daily!
Naturally everything on the menu includes tomatoes. Nancy, Juli and I ordered the tomato soup and bread. The soup is in a serve-yourself tureen along with a mountain of fresh breads. Susan got the pasta on recommendation from our server. For dessert we had apple-tomato pie and cheesecake. It was all sublime. This is truly a really innovative and fascinating place.
Full up and satisfied, we headed next to Thingveiller National Park. It’s also on the rift between the tectonic plates.
There it is manifested as a large crack in the rock. The site plays a very important part in the history of Iceland. It is the place where the tribal chieftains would meet annually to discuss their disputes and resolve any issues. It was called the Allthing. This started back around 900 a.d. It is considered the oldest form of democracy in the world. There are still houses below the rocky wall and beside the river. It is the summer home of the prime minister and where the government still occasionally meets. A paved walkway leads from the parking lot down to the river level. There is also a waterfall at the bottom. We stopped to take a look. At this point, sadly, Nancy was starting to come down with Covid and was not feeling well.
Done with our daily tour and ready to be warm and dry, we headed back to the cabin. We once again drove through some epic weather. When we pulled into the driveway, we were horrified to see the front door wide open. Apparently it had not latched properly and had blown open in the wind. God only knows how long the heaters had been running. The floors were a little wet but otherwise nothing seems to have been damaged. We dropped Juli and a tired and sick Nancy, and then Susan and I headed for Selfoss to pick up some dinner. We stocked up on food and located a wine store with the help of some friendly locals.
Back at the cabin, we cleaned up, had a little dinner and put Nancy to bed. Susan, Juli and I stayed up and played cards and Quiddler until the alcohol ran out and then hit the sack.